On the basis of studies of 35 personnel managers who had introduced computerisation and a detailed comprehensive case study of the introduction of computerisation into the personnel function, the factors that differentiate adoptors into the categories of “Stars”, “Radicals”,...

Creative problem‐solving techniques such as brainstorming and lateral thinking are relatively well known. A less well known set of techniques make use of the metaphor as their primary mechanism for stimulating insights into problems. Prominent amongst these techniques is synectics (TM) which...

This article aims to show through a case study analysis how a UK company has adopted policies that in practice appear to signify a move towards HRM techniques. The analysis discusses first the industrial setting that encourages the flourishing of HRM; second, organisational changes at corporate...

Most organisations attempting to implement equal opportunity with regard to race issues have concentrated on policy formulation, monitoring and training. Despite recent criticism, racism awareness training has been frequently adopted, often in isolation from developments in other human resource...

Reporting on ongoing research within a major life insurance company, the difficulties in managing a salesforce are examined. Contradictions and strains created by the mode of management, particularly affecting the salesforce and customers, are explored. It is argued that a “professionalisation...

Paradoxically, the emergence of Human Resource Management (HRM) represents both a challenge and an opportunity to the practice of personnel management. Conventional personnel management is being out‐moded to be superseded by an approach to employees which seemingly promises to put “people...

To what extent have personnel managers recaptured their enthusiasm for manpower planning, especially recruitment planning, in the light of projected demographic change in the 1990s? A survey conducted on behalf of the Institute of Personnel Management explores the issue. Its findings are...

The results of a survey on personnel practices and the way different members of an organisation perceive the personnel function are reported. The article focuses on the manufacturing sector, comparing personnel practices in high‐ and medium‐technology companies. The relative importance which...

The purpose of this article is to consider the main issues for managers in dealing with problem drinking. It reviews legal and medical criteria, and society’s ambivalent attitude towards alcohol. The importance of the work nexus in devising policies and approaching situations is explored....

This article questions whether a core objective of HRM – to manage organisational culture – is feasible, other than at a most superficial level. On the basis of an in‐depth case study analysis the authors argue that the dominant values of society at large are implicated in what appears to...