Using data from the 2004 Workplace Employee Relations Survey on British establishments and two surveys on manufacturing firms located in the North of Italy, we look at the diffusion of new workplace practices in the two countries and at their impact on the firm's value added. We find that the...

This study investigates the influence of socio-cultural factors on the leadership quality of male and female leaders in work organisations that could enhance organisational effectiveness. A descriptive survey research design method was adopted for the study. One hundred and fifty respondents...

High-performance work practices are frequently considered to have positive effects on corporate performance, but what do they do for employees? After assessing the correlation between organizational innovation and firm performance, this article investigates whether high-involvement work...

The micro- and macroeconomic effects of the declining power of trade unions have been hotly debated by economists and policymakers. Nevertheless, the empirical evidence shows that the impact of the decline on economic aggregates and firm performance is not an overwhelming cause for concern....

Flynn (2005) proposes that the degree to which labor contracts are complete may be a major driving force behind the propensity of employees to unionize. We find behavior consistent with this hypothesis in an experimental production game in which subjects are assigned to playing either employers...

This paper presents the case-study of seafarers’ employment procedures applied at a Romanian crewing company. The observations made are completed with employment practices in other world regions.

The use of temporary agency workers is closely linked to the concept of numerical flexibility, entailing a need for additional staff in booms. However, previous research has also revealed a trend towards a more extensive and constant use of temporary agency workers. Even though the long-term use...

The article surveys the main actions, either defined by social partners or by government intervention, which have attempted to encourage firm-level bargaining decentralization in recent years. The overall structure and the relative importance of different levels of bargaining have not however...

Employee Involvement (EI) programs should mainly appear either where `workplace transformation' occurs or where managers create a `disposable workplace.' Cluster analysis of Australian workplace data supports the notion that transformed and disposable workplaces are distinct from each other and...

Italy is not immune from the long term trend towards greater bargaining decentralization under way in Western Europe. The article surveys the main actions undertaken in recent years, either by social partners or by government intervention, in order to reduce the obstacles to this process,...