scholarly journals Peering Inside the “Black Box”: The Impact of Management-Side Representatives on the Industrial Relations Climate of Organizations

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-272
Author(s):  
Shelagh Campbell ◽  
Johanna Weststar
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Labor Relations ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Labor Management ◽  
Proactive Approach ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Impact

The labor climate of an organization can have a great impact on productivity and efficiency. Managing this climate is often left to union stewards and management-side labor relations representatives. While there is a large literature on the role of union stewards, little is written about the role that management-side labor relations representatives play in establishing or maintaining positive labor-management relations. Building from a series of interviews with labor relations representatives in Canada and a nationwide pilot study of frontline industrial relations workers, we model the role of the labor relations representatives and their specific job actions in the established model of labor climate. Considering personal, structural, and attitudinal antecedents and measures of individual effectiveness, the study reveals that flexibility and informality matter more than formal education in industrial relations for creating positive labor climate. The study results indicate that labor relations representatives have the potential to play an important role in maintaining positive labor climate, if given more opportunity to take a proactive approach.

scholarly journals Environmental key performance indicators: the role of regulations and stakeholder influence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewelina Zarzycka ◽  
Joanna Krasodomska
Keyword(s):  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Key Performance Indicators ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Proactive Approach ◽  
Stakeholder Influence ◽  
Corporate Decisions ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Reporting Decisions

AbstractEnvironmental protection is of vital importance and needs to be considered in the context of business strategies, including companies’ reporting decisions. This paper aims to investigate the importance of stakeholders for environmental key performance indicators (KPIs) and the significance of different types of environmental KPIs to various stakeholders. The study is based on a content analysis of the disclosures provided by large public interest companies operating in Poland. The data were processed to produce descriptive statistics as well as classification and regression trees (C&RTs). According to the study results, the sample companies provide a variety of environmental indicators, with a total of 735 KPIs identified. The research confirms the importance of stakeholders interested in environmental issues for corporate decisions regarding environmental KPI disclosure. The study contributes to the extant literature by providing new insights into the importance of different stakeholder groups for the disclosure of environmental KPIs. It may serve as an incentive for standard setters and practitioners to take a proactive approach in further developing and improving environment-related reporting regulations.

Practitioner Review: Continuity and Change: The Fair Work Act in Aviation

2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Bussell ◽  
John Farrow
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Aviation Industry ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
National Debate ◽  
New Development ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

This article begins by discussing the specific industrial relations challenges of the highly competitive aviation industry. It then reflects on the outcome of the recent intense national debate over industrial relations, exploring the consequences of that debate for practice and policy, and discusses some key issues that remain in play. Although the Fair Work Act 2009 may have come about as a reaction to what many perceive as the ‘excesses’ of Work Choices, the new Act does not so much ‘wind back the clock’ as represent a significant new development in Australia’s long and unique industrial relations history. This article will discuss the impact of the changes, to date, made by the Fair Work Act on one organization, including the expansion of the ‘safety net’, and how the new compromise between the role of the ‘collective’ and the role of the ‘individual’ struck by the Act has the potential to fundamentally change the nature and structure of bargaining. We offer these comments as practitioners who have worked under successive industrial relations regimes since the early 1980s.

The role of perceived social media agility in customer engagement

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Gligor ◽  
Sıddık Bozkurt
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Customer Engagement ◽  
Measurement Scale ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The concept of agility has been applied to several domains to help firms develop the capability to quickly adjust their operations to cope and thrive in environments characterized by frequent changes. Despite the soaring number of social media users and the benefits associated with agility in other domains, the application of agility in a social media context has yet to be explored. Further, little is known about how agility in a social media context impacts desirable customer-related attributes, such as customer engagement and customer-based brand equity (CBBE). This paper aims to address this gap by adapting the construct to social media (i.e. perceived social media agility) and exploring its impact on customer engagement and CBBE. Design/methodology/approach This paper conducted an online survey with 200 adult subjects. This paper used multivariate regression analyzes to empirically test a scale for perceived social media agility and explore its impact on CBBE and customer engagement, along with the moderating role of customer change-seeking behavior. Findings The study results show that perceived social media agility directly and indirectly (through customer engagement) positively influences CBBE. Also, results show that the positive impact of perceived social media agility on CBBE is further magnified for customers high on change-seeking. However, customer change-seeking does not affect the strength or direction of the impact of perceived social media agility on customer engagement. Originality/value This paper contributes to social media literature by adapting and testing a measurement scale for the construct of perceived social media agility and exploring its role in enhancing customer engagement and CBBE.

Conclusion

2018 ◽  
pp. 165-178
Keyword(s):  
Personal Development ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Practical Philosophy ◽  
Science Philosophy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

After a quick reminder of this project's main objectives and their outcomes, this chapter considers the impact of a cross-disciplinary approach on education, arguing that it is not only a fruitful pedagogical method, but also a deeply enriching path for personal development, in the same way that mentoring and international journeys are. We also consider what we have learned about the way in which science, philosophy, and narratives are intricately connected. We make recommendations for further research, especially on the role of narratives and philosophy in other cross-disciplinary fields, such as culture, psychotherapy, and the challenges currently posed by technology. We encourage further exploration of the ways in which narratives may be abused to advance particular interests in various fields of public life. We end with a reminder of the prolific role of both stories and practical philosophy in the process of formative education (or personal development in general). Here, mentors and journeys have a key role, equivalent to that of internships in formal education.

scholarly journals Do German Works Councils Counter or Foster the Implementation of Digital Technologies?

2019 ◽  
Vol 239 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Genz ◽  
Lutz Bellmann ◽  
Britta Matthes
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Works Councils ◽  
Employment Agency ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Establishment Survey ◽  
The Impact

Abstract As works councils’ information, consultation and co-determination rights affect the decision process of the management, works councils play a key role in the implementation of digital technologies in establishments. However, previous research focuses on the potential of digital technologies to substitute for labor and its impact on labor market outcomes of workers. This paper adds the role of industrial relations to the existing literature by analyzing the impact of works councils on the implementation of digital technologies. Theoretically, the role of works councils in the digital transformation is ambiguous. Using establishment data from the IAB Establishment Survey of 2016 combined with individual employee data from the Federal Employment Agency and occupational level data about the physical job exposure, empirical evidence indicates an ambivalent position of works councils towards digital technologies. The sole existence of works councils is associated with statistically significant lower equipment levels with digital technologies. However, works councils seem to foster the equipment with digital technologies in those establishments, which employ a high share of workers who are conducting physical demanding job activities. Thus, this study highlights the importance of establishment-level workforce representation for the digital adoption process within Germany.

Ever-Widening Ripples: The Impact of Specialist Industrial Tribunals on Management Practice

1994 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Thornthwaite
Keyword(s):  
Management Practice ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
Employment Decisions ◽  
Public Role ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

While conciliation and arbitration tribunals have been at the forefront of Austral ian research on industrial relations institutions, numerous specialist tribunals enforcing individual workers' rights in employment have been virtually hidden from view. This paper examines the role of two such tribunals in New South Wales, the Government and Related Employees' Appeal Tribunal and the Equal Opportu nity Tribunal. It argues that although their most direct and public role is to resolve individuals' grievances, equally significant is the contribution of these agencies to the detailed regulation of employment relations and hence the increasing sophisti cation of labour management in public sector organizations since the late 1970s, and the institutionalization of management prerogatives and conflicts over an increasingly wide range of employment decisions.

scholarly journals The Infant Cuddler Study: Evaluating the effectiveness of volunteer cuddling in infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 414-418
Author(s):  
Amanda Hignell ◽  
Karen Carlyle ◽  
Catherine Bishop ◽  
Mary Murphy ◽  
Teresa Valenzano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Surrogate Marker ◽  
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Abstinence Syndrome ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Objectives St. Michael’s Hospital launched a volunteer cuddling program for all infants admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit in October 2015. The program utilizes trained volunteers to cuddle infants when caregivers are not available. This was a pilot study to assess the impact of a volunteer cuddle program on length of stay (LOS) and feasibility of implementation of the program. Methods A mixed methods approach was utilized to measure both quantitative and qualitative impact. A pilot cohort study with a retrospective control group assessed the feasibility of implementing a volunteer cuddling program for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Length of stay was used as a surrogate marker to measure the impact of cuddling on infants being treated for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. Focus groups using semi-structured interviews were conducted with volunteers and nurses at the end of the pilot study. Results LOS was reduced by 6.36 days (U=34, P=0.072) for infants with NAS in the volunteer cuddling program. Focus groups with both bedside nurses and program volunteers described a positive impact of cuddling programs on infants, families, staff, and volunteers alike. Conclusions The study results suggest that the volunteer cuddling program may reduce LOS in infants with NAS and have potential economic savings on hospital resources. However, larger prospective cohort studies are needed to confirm these results.

The Working Class Goes to the Movies: Labour Law and Thatcherism in British Films

Pólemos ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Peruzzi
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
British Perspective ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Individual Dimension

AbstractThe essay focusses on the employment relationship as a privileged perspective for the analysis of the binomial “power of voices/voices of power.” In such context, the right to strike is presented as a meaningful example of the power stemming from a collective organisation of voices, the voices of the workers, granted as a means to counter-balance the power and the voice of the employer. The analysis highlights the enduring relevance of the British perspective towards the topic, from the liberalist policies fostered by Prime Minister Thatcher in the Eighties until the critical approach recently adopted by the British Government with regard to the protection of the right to strike at international level. British filmography is chosen as a lens for observing such perspective, in particular to the extent it describes the impact of Thatcherism on the British model of industrial relations as well as the economic and social consequences of such political measures in the Nineties. After a general overview, aimed at highlighting common features across the films, like the pivotal role of music and dance in the storyline, the analysis focusses on Billy Elliot, examining the ambiguous relationship between the collective and individual dimension in its narration.

Labor in a Massachusetts Cotton Mill, 1853–60

1954 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray Ginger
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Labor Force ◽  
Wage Differential ◽  
Labor Relations ◽  
Textile Workers ◽  
Current Consumption ◽  
Wage Earners ◽  
High Degree ◽  
The Impact

Skilled textile workers migrated from Scotland to Massachusetts in the 1850's because of a large wage differential and low steerage rates for the transatlantic passage. For each one of 56 women weavers in the Lyman Mills, expenditures on current consumption took less than 75 per cent of income. But the circumstances were unusual, so this sample does not permit any conclusions about the role of wage-earners' savings in the accumulation of capital in New England. In this mill, two-thirds of the labor force in 1860 had been working there less than three years. The impact of this high degree of labor mobility on labor relations and on the technology of the industry is tentatively assessed.

scholarly journals CHANGE IN COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT ROLES DUE TO GLOBALIZATION: A CASE OF COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES MAPPED BY INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS ASSOCIATIONS (2015–2020)

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-86
Author(s):  
Renata Matkevičienė ◽  
Lina Jakučionienė
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Management Competencies ◽  
Communication Management ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Managerial Training ◽  
Management Roles ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Constant Improvement

Research background: The role of communication has now become much more critical than during previous periods, not only to compete with other organisations in the stream of communicating messages but also to develop and implement organisational strategies and support the organisation’s top-level managers and decision-makers. The goal of public relations (PR) associations is to develop PR professionals’ competencies. Comprehensive research at the European level signals the need for constant improvement of competencies, especially business development and technologies (Zerfass et al., 2020; Adi, 2019). A vast majority of practitioners across Europe highlight the importance of digitalising stakeholder communications and building a digital infrastructure to support internal workflows (Zerfass et al., 2021). However, instead of technical and managerial training, PR practitioners continue to overwhelmingly offer communication training and development opportunities (Tench et al., 2013; Zerfass et al., 2018; MacNamara et al., 2017; Feldman, 2017; The USC Annenberg Centre for Public Relations, 2017; Communicating AI, 2019). There are discrepancies between the perceived importance of competencies and the current qualifications of professionals due to digital transformation and changes impacted by globalisation. Purpose: To identify changes in PR specialists' competencies due to the impact of globalisation. Methods: Content analysis of information provided in the webpages of international professional PR associations for the period 2015–2020. Findings and value added: The study results show that professional PR associations do not respond to the challenges of the changing environment in a timely manner by providing training, but present and discuss relevant topics with the help of specialists from other fields while encouraging the sharing of good practices. Such a functioning position occupied by professional PR associations in developing the model of competence for PR specialists reveals that PR associations are engaged in strengthening or maintaining competencies, but not developing them.

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