Suchergebnisse

We discuss experience of worker representation in occupational health and safety in the European Union, using findings from a large qualitative study of practices in 143 establishments in seven Member States. This study was a follow-up to the second EU-OSHA European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks. We focus on the experience of the operation of the institutional forms of representation of workers in safety and health and draw attention to the extent to which statutory provisions largely conceived in pluralist industrial relations contexts are currently operationalized in more unitary ones. We discuss the consequences for the model of representation that previous studies have identified to be most effective.

Part 16: Strategies I ; International audience ; The migration of manufacturing into Asia, notably China and India, has been accompanied by varying degrees of concern by western (traditional) businesses. Initially the use of offshoring by high volume/low value manufacturers was seen as a means by which they could remain price competitive; however the more recent moves by Asian manufacturers into the high value/low volume markets has become both an economic and a political issue in what currently is shaping up to be a more serious economic downturn than the "2008/9 GFC". The move towards reshoring has been driven by the equalisation of wage rates in Asia and the softening of labour attitudes in western manufacturing countries, specifically in North America: where recently some runaway plants returned home, and there are some positive economic incentives to encourage more domestic sourcing. The paper discusses the current and future opportunities for Western companies in this scenario and suggests there is scope for collaboration between Asian and Western organisations.

This study examines the influence that field of study and level of post-secondary education have on the earnings of recent graduates in Ontario. Graduates of trades, community college, and university programs are compared. Results suggest that graduates of applied and technical programs obtain higher earnings within two years of graduation than graduates of liberal arts programs. University graduates also fare better than college and trades graduates, whereas male graduates of trades programs are found to obtain higher earnings than college graduates. This study provides updated information for policy officials involved with allocating government funding to post-secondary education in Ontario. ; La présente étude observe l'influence que peuvent avoir le domaine ainsi que le niveau d'études postsecondaires sur les revenus des nouveaux diplômés dans la province d'Ontario. Pour cela, nous avons mis en relation les diplômés du secteur technique, des collèges communautaires et des programmes universitaires. Les résultats suggèrent que les diplômés de programmes techniques et appliqués perçoivent un salaire plus élevé dans les années qui suivent l'obtention de leur diplôme que ceux des programmes des arts libéraux. De même, les diplômés universitaires sont plus rétribués que ceux des collèges communautaires et du secteur technique, alors qu'il s'avère que les hommes certifiés des programmes techniques sont plus rémunérés que les diplômés des collèges communautaires. Cette étude fournit des dernières informations en date aux fonctionnaires responsables des régulations et impliqués dans la redistribution du budget de l'état pour les études postsecondaires en Ontario.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address the question: how are members of the value chain aligned to a common goal? It attempts to demonstrate that the brand is the one mechanism that unites both the supply and demand sides of the value chain.Design/methodology/approachMission, vision and transaction models are critically evaluated as aligning mechanisms to the value chain. Illustrating that transaction model with an e‐procurement example it is argued that all approaches are deficient in aligning stakeholders, particularly customers. In stressing the sociotechnical qualities of the supply chain, it is argued the brand is the only common element to the entire demand chain.FindingsBrand strategy management should be both a demand and supply chain priority, in contrast to its general demand chain focus.Research limitations/implicationsThere needs to be empirical demonstration of the role that the brand plays in value chain dynamics, particularly the behaviour of participants in the supply chain.Practical implicationsThe responsibilities of marketing management become more focussed on to the requirements of the supply chain.Originality/valueWhile the role of the brand in the consumer and customer markets has been widely discussed its importance as a value chain coordinating mechanism is highlighted in this paper.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to broaden the performance measurements of total supply chain performance.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model is presented based on the balanced scorecard. The new model formulates a model for the tangible aspects that measure the success of the total chain which is then extended to incorporate the intangible value adding aspects to measure total value chain success.FindingsA framework is presented showing the importance of intangible value adding aspects of the total value chain.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research may address in depth research associated with the five key intangible aspects given in the current model.Practical implicationsThe practical implementation of the required metrics in such a dynamic area as the supply chain industry needs to be focused on the aspects most required at particular times depending on the varying levels of market activities.Originality/valueThis paper provides a broader performance model than the balanced scorecard or any other framework currently used in the supply chain literature.

Les études déjà réalisées sur l'exode des cerveaux au Canada ont établi l'importance des revenus accrus en tant que facteur qui motive des individus à aller s'établir aux États-Unis. Toutefois, ces travaux n'ont pas mesuré, de façon précise et pour les individus ayant récemment obtenu un diplôme d'études secondaires, cet écart de revenus, ni indiqué si l'écart varie selon les champs d'études le plus touchés. Dans cette recherche, réalisée à partir des plus récentes données de l'Enquête nationale auprès des diplômés, nous comparons les revenus obtenus à l'entrée sur le marché du travail de deux groupes d'étudiants ayant obtenu un diplôme universitaire en 2000: ceux qui sont restés au Canada et ceux qui sont allés travailler aux États-Unis. Nos résultats indiquent qu'un faible pourcentage de ces diplômés ont émigré aux États-Unis; toutefois, dans le cas de la grande majorité de ceux qui l'ont fait, les emplois obtenus sont concentrés dans quelques secteurs seulement de l'économie du savoir. Par ailleurs, les revenus annuels de tous individus ayant émigré aux États-Unis sont plus élevés que ceux qui ont choisi de rester au Canada. De plus, l'écart est plus marqué chez les individus ayant un diplôme de premier cycle en génie ou en informatique.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between reflexive regulation and occupational health and safety (OHS) in small businesses and discuss several related issues relevant to achieving OHS improvements. Recognising the importance of small businesses in post-industrial economies, the paper addresses difficulties in applying modern regulatory strategies to small businesses, when the duty-holders responsible for safeguarding and promoting the health and safety of their workers within them, often lack both the will and the means to do so. We begin with an outline of the characteristics of the small business sector and the key factors that contribute to their resistance to regulation of health and safety. We argue that such factors must be viewed, not as specific problems in relation to health and safety, but as part of the much wider social and economic context in which work takes place in small businesses. We also assert that before effective regulatory strategies aimed at this sector can be developed, it is necessary to understand the contexts that limit or promote compliance. We then present a brief outline of some of the features of modern regulation and some of the problematic issues in its application to small businesses. One aspect that is of particular interest is that in most countries where OHS legislation focuses on risk management, the style of management sought is largely a participative one. This is yes in all countries of the European Union as well as in Australia. Yet in these same countries and in contrast with this ethos, approaches to regulating health and safety in small businesses are typically addressed exclusively to the employer alone. Notions of participation, if they exist at all, are usually couched in terms of a direct relationship between the employer and employees, supposedly facilitated by the absence of the formal barriers conventionally associated with increased workplace size and managerial complexity. While such informality and close relations between employer and their workers are certainly features of small businesses, it is far less certain that they work to enhance participatory approaches to health and safety arrangements. Indeed there is much evidence to suggest that in many cases they have the opposite effect, since within the `structures of vulnerability' with which workers in small businesses are often surrounded, such closeness vastly reduces their willingness and ability to challenge the assumptions and prerogatives of their employers. Further exploration of this apparent paradox leads us to the idea that participatory approaches, like much of the other tenets of self-regulation, cannot operate effectively in these situations without additional supports within the social, economic and regulatory scenarios in which work in small businesses is undertaken. In the final part of the paper, therefore, we explore what are the kinds of structural and procedural supports that are relevant to enhancing and improving small businesses' compliance with health and safety regulation generally and more specifically, their compliance with the participatory risk management approaches that we have argued to be typical of the ethos of modern OHS regulation. To do so we draw on a number of examples of regulatory/para-regulatory approaches and the intermediary actors and processes they harness to aid implementation and dissemination of improvements in OHS in different countries. We review what is known about the positive supports for such approaches both within small businesses and from their wider social and economic environment. We further consider the barriers and constraints to applying such reflective approaches to risk management in small businesses that have so far been identified internationally.

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to argue that a number of organisations focused their efforts on developing sophisticated supply chains such that their managerial focus became myopic, and many lost sight of their markets and their customers, missing the fact that the customers, failing to realise their expectations, switched their loyalties. Thus it is argued here that it is essential to understand the demand chain prior to making supply chain structure decisions.Design/methodology/approachThe first step is to reinforce the point that both supply chain management and demand chain management are about process management. The second step is to re‐validate the notion of the demand chain as a separate entity from the supply chain.FindingsIt is interesting to postulate that the differences between the demand chain‐led organization and the supply chain‐led organisation are based on emphasis. The paper attempts to make this point by suggesting that, while supply chain management is to a degree customer‐focused, the emphasis is on efficiency. Management concern is cost‐led and attempts to provide an adequate level of service. The danger here is that customers may be "aggregated" or fitted into categories that appear to be nearly relevant. Thus the link between supplier relationship management and customer relationship management is tenuous. By contrast the demand chain approach is a broader view of relationship management, taking a view that supplier and customer relationship management overlap, and that effective management is to integrate the two. If this is achieved, it results in bringing often conflicting objectives more closely together.Research limitations/implicationsContrasting the demand chain approach as a broader view of relationship management, and taking the view that effective management is to integrate the two. The view is that, if this is achieved, it results in bringing often conflicting objectives more closely together. Clearly more research is needed before such a view can be held with conviction.Practical implicationsThis paper argues that a number of organisations focused their efforts on developing sophisticated supply chains such that their managerial focus became myopic, and many lost sight of their markets and their customers, missing the fact that the customers, failing to realise their expectations, switched their loyalties.Originality/valueIt is argued here that it is essential to understand the demand chain prior to making supply chain structure decisions.