The Rise and Rise of Market Relations in the British Public Sector: Implications for Industrial Relations

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bob Carter ◽  
Steven Davies ◽  
Peter Fairbrother
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Trade Unionism ◽  
Changing Patterns

Having outlined a traditional model of British public sector industrial relations, this article focuses on developments from the 1980s to 2001. It argues that there has been a reorganisation of the state through privatisation and an historical shift in employment relations, from the state as a ‘model’, administrative employer to an increasingly managerial employer. In effect, a depoliticisation of employment relations has taken place, with the withdrawal of central government from direct control over operational and organisational activity in the public services. As part of these processes, the public services in Britain have been marketised, with the creation of a public service sector, no longer defined by ownership but by the service provided. These developments are reflected in the changing patterns of industrial relations activity in the public services, with profound implications for trade unionism.

The New Benchmarking and Advisory State: The Role of the British Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service in Facilitating Labour—Management Consultation in Public Sector Transformation

2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 736-751 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Stuart ◽  
Miguel Martínez Lucio
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Driven System ◽  
Management Consultation ◽  
Changing Role

The aim of this article is to examine the changing role of the state in a more market-driven system of industrial relations, specifically in terms of the new roles that are being developed with regard to mediation, advisory and arbitration services. It focuses empirically on the role played by the British Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service in facilitating the modernization of public sector employment relations. We show how the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service has played a `benchmarking' role that assists the development of more strategic forms of decision-making and cooperation in employment relations change, and identify the challenges of developing such an approach in the context of the shift towards a more decentralized and market-oriented system of public service delivery. In conclusion we assert that there is a new `advisory and benchmarking' state evolving based on a soft-market view of industrial relations, and that this mitigates (but is also in tension with) the harder market view within the state concerned with transforming the public sector.

ISO 9001 and the public service: an investigation of the effect of the QMS on the quality of public service organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Armando López-Lemus
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Services ◽  
The State ◽  
Iso 9001 ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence exerted by a quality management system (QMS) under ISO 9001: 2015 on the quality of public services organizations in Mexico. Design/methodology/approach The methodological design was quantitative, explanatory, observational and transversal, for which a sample of 461 public servants from the state of Guanajuato, Mexico was obtained. To test the hypotheses, a structural equation model (SEM) was developed through the statistical software Amos v.21. For the analysis of the data, software SPSS v.21 was used. Regarding the goodness and adjustment indices of the SEM (χ2 = 720.09, df = 320, CFI = 0.933, TLI = 0.926 and RMSEA = 0.05) which, therefore, proved to be acceptable. Findings According to the results obtained through the SEM model, the QMS under ISO 9001: 2015 is positively and significantly influenced tangible aspects (β1 = 0.79, p < 0.01), reliability (β2 = 0.90, p < 0.01), related to response quality (β3 = 0.93, p < 0.01), guarantees (β4 = 0.91, p < 0.01) and empathy (β5 = 0.88, p < 0.01) of the quality related to public services in Mexico. The study’s key contribution is that it discovered that implementing a QMS in accordance with the ISO 9001: 2015 standard has an impact on the quality of public services, with the most influential quality of response. Similarly, the assurance and dependability of service quality turned out to be important in providing public service quality. Research limitations/implications In this paper, the QMS was only evaluated as a variable that intervenes in the process of obtaining quality in public service under the ISO 9001 standard in its 2015 version. In this regard, the results’ trustworthiness is limited to the extent that the findings may be generalized in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico’s public service. As a result, the scientific community is left primarily focused on service quality to promote new future research. Practical implications The ISO 9001: 2015 standard’s QMS is one of the tools for success in both the commercial and government sectors. However, there are practical limitations, which focus on the time during which managers exercise their vision in the public sector: first, the dynamics that managers play in public policy; second, the length of time they have served in public office; and third, the interest of directors of public institutions to improve the quality of service provided by the government. Other practical consequences concern organizational culture and identity, public servant commitment, senior management or secretaries of government, as well as work and training. Originality/value The findings of this paper are important and valuable because they foster knowledge generation in the public sector through the ISO 9000 quality area. A model that permits the adoption and implementation of a QMS based on the ISO 9001: 2015 standard in public organizations that seek to provide quality in their services offered to the user is also presented to the literature. Similarly, the paper is important because there is currently insufficient research focusing on the variables examined in the context of public service in Mexico.

scholarly journals “A new labour era?”: Canadian National Railways and the Railway Worker, 1919-1929

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-195
Author(s):  
Allen Seager
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
North American ◽  
New Labour ◽  
The State ◽  
American Industry ◽  
New Era ◽  
The Public ◽  
Trade Unionism ◽  
Railway Workers ◽  
Conventional Picture

Abstract It is conventional to assume that the idea of a 'new era of collaboration among organized labour, capital, and the slate in wartime Canada died still-born with the events at Winnipeg in 1919 and the Big Business assault on trade unionism during the 1920s. This paper suggests that the conventional picture has been overdrawn. Railway workers, and those in the public sector in particular, remained highly unionized, while their organizations became deeply enmeshed in structures of conciliation, arbitration, and 'co-operation' during the period 1919-1929. Under the leadership of President Henrx Thornton, the state-owned Canadian National Railways, the largest employer in Canada at that time, developed a unique strategy of labour-management collaboration seen in some quarters as the harbinger of a 'new labour era' for North American industry as a whole.

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING DYNAMICS IN THE NIGERIAN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS

2011 ◽  
Vol 01 (05) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Anyim C. Francis ◽  
Elegbede Tunde ◽  
Mariam A. ◽  
Gbajumo Sheriff
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Wage Determination ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Freedom Of Association ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public

The objective of this paper is to examine the dynamics of collective bargaining machinery in both the public and private sectors in Nigeria; with a view to bringing to the fore the peculiarities associated with both sectors with regard to the practice of bargaining. To achieve this objective, the paper adopts a theoretical approach. The author observes that the practice of industrial relations as a discipline and that of collective bargaining in particular emanated from the private sector the world over. Thus, much of the practices of public sector collective bargaining are modelled after the private sector collective bargaining. However, in Nigeria, the obverse is the case as collective bargaining gained its root in the public sector owing to the near absence of private sector at the turn of the century. However, in Nigeria, the public sector pays lip-service to the collective bargaining machinery. Governments at all levels (Federal, State and Local) have continued to set aside collective bargaining and to give wage awards to score political points in spite of its commitment to the ILO Convention 98 to freely bargain with workers. The State or the government in the course of regulating wages and employment terms and conditions revert to the use of wage commissions. Thus, wage determination is by fiat. This preference for wage commissions can at best be regarded as a unilateral system as collective bargaining is relegated to the background.Wage tribunals or commissions offer little opportunity for workers’ contribution in the determination of terms and conditions of employment and can hardly be viewed as bilateral or tripartite. Thus, the State preference for wage commissions is anti-collective bargaining. In spite of Nigeria’s commitment to Conventions of the ILO with particular reference to such Conventions as 87 of 1948 and 98 of 1949 which provide for freedom of association and the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively. Thus, the use of wage commissions is antithetical to collective bargaining.

The State as Employer: Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the Public Sector

1988 ◽  
Vol 11 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 54-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Fredman ◽  
Gillian Morris
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
The Public

scholarly journals Trade unions and the sovereign power of the state. A comparative analysis of employer offensives in the Danish and Irish public sectors

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-178
Author(s):  
Imre Szabó
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Sovereign Power ◽  
Government Interventions ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Role Of The State

The changing composition of trade unions has far-reaching consequences for the relationship between unions and the polity. In particular, the concentration of trade union membership in the public sector – a process that has been taking place in most EU countries – implies a shift away from collective agreements towards legislation as the dominant way of managing employment relations. Pluralist models of collective bargaining assume a neutral, mediating role of the state, but in the public sector the state by definition acts as an employer as well. The state is equipped with the sovereign power to circumvent traditional bargaining agreements and force its will upon trade unions through legislation. The article investigates major bargaining disputes in Europe after 2008, focusing on two countries (Ireland and Denmark) that have different political environments and that, although affected differently by the financial crisis, underwent similar government interventions in labour relations. The findings suggest that a shift towards legislation is a tendency that affects all types of industrial relations systems.

Réflexions sur l'administration intermédiaire

Res Publica ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-167
Author(s):  
Stefan Schepers
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Central Government ◽  
The State ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
The Public

Widespread consideration of the role of the public sector was bound to develop in a society confronted by a serious economic crisis.The reforms of local government carried out in the 60s and 70s have not led to the strengthening of local authorities and their means, as claimed deceptively in politica! speeches, hut towards more influence by central government on these authorities and ultimately to its increased power over the administration of society.There is not doubt that the state in its diligence to run almost everything is not only failing in its task of governing hut is also putting society at risk. The administrations which come under the intermediary authorities could form a useful counterforce against the ever present invasion of the state.For reason of its reduced capabilities local government shows the first virtue of not being able to claim hegemony, but also of being an instrument close to the citizen and his control. Furthermore it could manage many tasks in the best way.

The revolution in the public services sector in Portugal: with or without the unions

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Stoleroff
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
Services Sector ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Deficit ◽  
Public Sector Unions ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship

Since the onset of the public deficit crisis in 2001–2002, three successive Portuguese governments have promoted a transformation of public sector employment relations with the aim of bringing them into line with the private sector. Given the importance both of employment in the public sector and of public sector unions to the overall labour movement, the outcome of these reforms will have a decisive impact upon industrial relations in Portugal. The Portuguese public sector unions have consistently claimed that the government has presented them with preconceived reform packages, has not bargained and has in fact imposed its concept of the reforms. This article analyses the relationship between the government and the unions in negotiating the reforms, focusing on the degree of conflict involved and the extent to which the reforms have proceeded within the framework of social dialogue.

scholarly journals Factors That Would Argue in Favour and Against the Introduction of HRM in the Public Sector: A Retrospective Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 320
Author(s):  
HASSAN ELSAN MANSARAY
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Support Functions ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
User Choice ◽  
The Public ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
The Uk

This study critically discusses the argument for and against the establishment of HRM in the public sector and the challenges faced in terms of staff motivation, cultural change of tenure of office of public servants and downsizing of staff. The study found that the development was slanted by a variety of reasons, comprising amplified competitive pressures triggered by deregulation and globalization, and the inspiration of distinguished scholars in the US and the UK. The aim is to provide chances for a new type of analysis call the new industrial relations. Which is alternative means of individualizing industrial relations - management will now focus more attention on individual employees than collectively. The introduction of HRM in the public sector was as a desire for governments to provide increase quality public services. In this vein, the need for efficient public sector organizations emerged. Moreover, reactions all over the world have centered on pinpointing the main business of government was to exposed the public sector to rivalry; and subcontracting aspect of service provision and support functions. The failure of old-fashioned controls had created customer/user choice. It was on these communities’ expectations that governments are becoming facilitator instead of straight provider of public services. However, the costs of accepting HRM practices and values were contended to have intended to expurgate employees’ benefits and wages. Also brought changes on the culture and structure in the public service accompanied by cutting back staff.

scholarly journals TRUST AND EFFICIENCY OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR: THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF INTERRELATION

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Objective Assessment ◽  
Subjective Assessment ◽  
The State ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government

The issue of trust in government and its efficiency has been a controversial and much-disputed subject within economics, sociology, and public sector management. This study presents a systematic literature review of trust research undertaken with regard to government, its performance (efficiency), and the quality of public services. Theoretical and methodological principles of the interrelations between trust and efficiency of the public sector of the economy are analyzed and deepened, based on the fundamental provisions of the theories of micro- and macro-efficiency. The article considers the concept of trust in the public sector of the economy as one of the main intangible resources that can be used by the state in order to achieve socially and economically beneficial as well as public valuable outcomes. The duplex relationship between trust and efficiency of the public sector is proved, according to which trust is both a condition and a result of the government institutions functioning and services providing. Generalization of key characteristics of the main indicators of state efficiency within the concepts of micro- and macro-efficiency allowed identifying several groups of indicators based on subjective and objective assessment of economic efficiency of the state. Objective indicators that determine the economic development of the country, which is the basis of the quality of citizens’ life, and forms the level of their satisfaction and trust in the state and its institutions, include monetary indicators of macroeconomic efficiency of the state and indicators that characterize public finance and income inequality in the country. Subjective assessment of the economic efficiency of the state, the work of its institutions and the quality of public services includes sociological surveys and quantitative indicators based on self-assessment by economic agents based on their own beliefs, knowledge, life values and worldview, cultural, ethnic, religious, ideological norms, as well as previously accumulated personal life experience of intercommunion with state institutions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document