Past research on manufacturing has not generally included research on the attributes of outstanding manufacturing managers. This information is important as the success of the manufacturing function depends to an extent on the quality of the manager. This study sought then to identify the...

During the recent recession, Australian organizations have undergone major changes focused on improvement of organizational competitiveness. In Australian public sector organizations, strong government control, stringent legislation and powerful trade unions make it extremely challenging to...

The aim of this paper is to explore the reasons why businesses, having adopted total quality management (TQM), fail to sustain their reforms over time. In order to gain insights into the pressures that, despite good intentions, can make full implementation of TQM problematic, a case study...

Manufacturing organizations need to develop and maintain competitive advantage in an increasingly turbulent environment. To do this, manufacturing organizations need to rethink the way in which they manage their business. Are they prepared for the challenge? Analyses the role of Australian...

Discusses strategic human resource management (HRM) which emphasizes the importance of HRM policies and practices being integrated by a longer‐range HRM strategy, which in turn is an integrated part of an overall organizational strategy. Proposes an alternative, more overtly political,...

Considers the implications of Australia′s ageing population for future human resource management practice. Acknowledges that downsizing practices which initially targeted older workers may have contributed to raising the profile of their vulnerability and suggests reforms will be eeded in all...

Summarizes the main objectives of the Australian Best Practice Demonstration Program and identifies a number of key human resource (HR) management issues. Argues that there has been a general shift in HR strategy away from the more adversarial, tightly controlled work regimes towards work...

Describes the development and testing in a factory setting of a model of the employee organizational commitment process. Extended from early work in the field, the commitment‐performance model (C‐P model) builds up a structure which links effort and continuance commitment with employee...

Uses a case study to show how Checkland′s soft systems methodology (SSM) may be used as a vehicle for developing competence profiles in human resource management. The benefits of SSM are based on its underlying interpretive assumptions, the distinctive way in which conceptual models are used...

Workforce diversity has become an important issue in Australia. This study examined the extent to which human resource management practices were being used by organisations in Australia to manage workforce diversity. The study also assessed the perceived challenges and benefits of diversity in...