Most research on open source software communities has focused on those that are community founded. More recently, firms have founded their own open source communities. How do sponsored open source communities differ from their autonomous counterparts? With comparative examination of 12 open...

This paper examines the effects of two high-involvement approaches to organizing work in retail bank branches: worker discretion and cross-functional flexibility. Both discretion and flexibility have positive effects on productivity and sales effectiveness. The effects of discretion and...

This case study in retail banking reviews the work of a Wharton School research team which has been tracking the process of change at one of the larger American commercial banks. The bank is referred to by the pseudonym "National Bank." The team's research focuses on how a bank chooses what...

Using data from extensive on-site interviews conducted in 1997, 1998, and 1999, the authors examine trends in job content and earnings in selected jobs in two American banks. Firm restructuring and technological changes resulted in higher earnings for college-educated workers. The banks followed...

Using data from interviews and a 1991 survey of Massachusetts nursing homes, the author examines employment practices across establishments for the entry-level job of nursing assistant. Practices characteristic of good jobs came in bundles: wages, benefits, employer-provided training, and...

This paper, drawing on interviews conducted in 1989 and 1990 with directors nominated by unions to American corporate boards of directors, shows that union choices in the establishment of board representation in the 1980s reflected union strategy and structure. Those choices, in turn,...

Quantitative industrial relations research frequently relies on data collected from large surveys of establishments that use complex sampling designs, such as stratified and unequal probability sampling. The authors analyze two complex surveys of establishments, the National Organizations Survey...

This paper examines employee reactions to the introduction of work teams, reduced job classifications, and skill-based pay as established through the Modern Operating Agreement (MOA) between Chrysler Corporation and the United Auto Workers. Survey data suggest that workers responded favorably to...

Using 1994–95 survey data on customer service representatives in 303 U.S. bank branches, the authors investigate the effects on wages of information technology (IT), of work practices, and of those two factors in combination. Offline high-involvement practices (measured by the presence of...