While some authors propose that the existence of an ESOP will add to firm value by aligning the incentives of employees with those of the shareholders, others argue that ESOP participants will use their ownership voice to push for increasing wages and benefits, to the detriment of the...

Past research on labour-market skills shortages indicates that employers report skills shortages or hard-to-fill vacancies for a variety of different reasons. Nevertheless, there is some consensus that skills-shortages analysis needs to examine such shortages within the context of the local...

Describes a recent management development programme for the managers of a business school. Steve Johnson explains how the programme made him into a “learning manager”. He outlines how the programme contributed to some recent success stories.

Research evidence suggests that SMEs are significantly less likely than larger employers to provide or fund formal training leading to qualifications for employees. The training (or more accurately learning) that does take place in most SMEs tends to be informal, on‐the‐job and related to...

Workforce development is becoming a higher priority for government, both as a means of addressing social exclusion and raising competitiveness. However there is limited evidence of the contribution of training to the success of individual firms and even less evidence of the impact of such...

Considers the implications for the training of people with disabilities of the shift towards a new system for the delivery of publicly funded training schemes, based upon Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs). People with disabilities face a number of barriers to labour market participation,...

Past research on labour-market skills shortages indicates that employers report skills shortages or hard-to-fill vacancies for a variety of different reasons. Nevertheless, there is some consensus that skills-shortages analysis needs to examine such shortages within the context of the local...

In 1999 Geddes and Newman highlighted five key tensions in New Labour's adoption of the 'new centrist' approach to Local Economic Development (LED). This article reflects on the continuing relevance of these tensions in relation local labour markets and in the light of the publication of three...

The authors examine factors that influence the propensity of a firm to take up external business support across four large English towns, using random effects nominal probit regression analysis to capture sector heterogeneity. The results suggest a strong positive association between the...

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