Purpose – To analyze the role of construction site supervisors, including foremen and general foremen, as front‐line managers. The role is treated as a critical labor function and a source of value‐added for construction management. Design/methodology/approach – An original model based...

Purpose – The paper examines the operational impact of project management systems on the management of human resources and the practical implications of this for practitioners in two project‐led engineering contractors Design/methodology/approach – The paper achieves these objectives...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of contingent labour in the construction and civil engineering sector in the UK. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents the findings of a national postal survey of employment practices within the UK construction and civil...

Purpose – To establish the differences between the perceptions of white‐collar managers and blue‐collar workers with respect to the factors that affect construction labour productivity, and to show that integrating the differences could lead to productivity improvements....

Management and organisation literature often characterises managing in Africa as 'the challenge of' and rarely do scholars look to the continent for novel ideas, inspiration, best practice, or theoretical insights. Yet, in the last five years or so, the African organisational landscape has...

Evaluates the levels of strategic “integration” of human resource management (HRM) into the corporate strategy and “devolvement” of responsibility for HRM to line managers in the UK manufacturing sector. Summarises, initially, some of the primary theoretical debates existing in the HRM...

Until recently UK universities have paid little attention to managing the personnel function. However, matters changed in the 1980s, and surveys at the beginning of the 1990s suggested that all institutions had established personnel departments. Discusses research recently completed in 14...

Considers the relationship between business strategy and approaches to HRM. Theory suggests that certain approaches to HRM align more appropriately with different business strategies. Hence a new approach to business might suggest the need for a new approach to managing HR. Examines this...

Purpose – This paper examines the functioning of performance ratings of the human resources (HR) function of National Health Service (NHS). In particular, it looks at the star ratings system and the response of workplace HR managers to this system. Design/methodology/approach – The paper...

Purpose – To examine how an external performance review process introduced as part of the public sector modernisation agenda in England and Wales has impacted on HR service provision and processes in local government and the extent to which it has acted as a catalyst for the development of...