Employment, and in particular quality of work and employment, is the focus of this paper. It covers four aspects identified by the European Foundation as key dimensions of quality of work and employment: career and employment security; health and well-being; skills development; and the...

SMEs constitute the dominant part of the Danish firm structure (Hoff, Jens, Demokrati på arbejdspladsen), especially in the manufacturing industries - dominated by craft-based producers. Many of the findings presented in this literature do not distinguish between SMEs and large firms. But at...

The overall unionisation rate of employees in Finland is very high (96.5%). This literature review examines small business in Finland, including issues of collective representation and bargaining, working and employment conditions, arbitration procedures, size and sector considerations. It...

This literature review defines its terms of reference as an introduction. It then examines small business in France, including issues of collective representation and bargaining, working and employment conditions, arbitration procedures, size and sector considerations. It concludes with policy...

Research on industrial relations in Germany is generally lagging behind if compared to the US or Great Britain. This holds true for all company size classes. Furthermore, most of the existing German studies and investigations are focussed on large enterprises, where organisational structures for...

In the past attention has been paid to industrial relationships in micro and small firms both in analytical and trade union-political terms. Since the first achievement of the phenomenon of the micro and small firms, during the ‘70s, there was the idea that the firm was a “place without...

Among OECD countries, Japan - together with Italy - has the highest proportion of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). According to data published by the Management and Coordination Agency, in the manufacturing sector alone in 1996 were operating 665,540 SMEs - defined as enterprises with...