Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between trade unions and young workers in the UK using the Young Members’ Network of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union as a case study. Design/methodology/approach – Findings are based on semi-structured...

It is claimed that the main challenge facing Britain at present is razor‐sharp international competition, with increased specialisation, growing demands for specialised services and fast technological advance all having an influence. Priorities are reviewed for national action on training, and...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how research that is approached from multiple perspectives, using multiple methods, can help to illuminate the complex and contested nature of the purpose and practice of apprenticeship schemes in England. The author contends that understanding...

Purpose – This paper aims to explore how particular organisational spaces and practices are constructed as mechanisms to encourage desired behaviours. Through the example of learning/working spaces within Further Education Colleges, the paper aims to examine how vocational courses, such as the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between an employer’s brand image (i.e. symbolic and functional attributes) and job seekers’ attraction to the firm among a sample of young workers. Design/methodology/approach – Job seekers completed a questionnaire...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify whether there is some common pattern between organizations that give primacy either to younger workforce or to older one. Design/methodology/approach – It depicts the empirical evidence of eight case studies and some theoretical...

Child labor was more prevalent in 19th-century industrializers than it is in developing countries today. It was particularly extensive in the earliest industrializers. This pattern may be a source of optimism signaling the spread of technologies that have little use for child labor and of values...

We examine whether the Colombian government's expansion of social programs in the early 1990s, particularly the publicly provided health insurance, discouraged formal employment. Using household survey data and variation across municipalities in the onset of interviews for the SISBEN, the...

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to benchmark the use of process improvement techniques among US health care organizations that won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Design/methodology/approach – The applications from 13 Baldrige award winning health care organizations were...