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Most British firms adjusted employment practices in some way in response to the 2008 recession, though compared with previous recessions there were fewer redundancies than might have been anticipated given the severity of the downturn. While it has been suggested that employers may have utilised alternative flexibility strategies which ameliorated the need for downsizing, there are few studies of how employers responded as they did at the company level. This article presents an in-depth case study of an automotive parts manufacturer deeply affected by recession but which did not make large-scale redundancies. The study reveals how existing labour flexibility strategies, and especially numerical flexibility, helped the firm navigate recession. However, the study also reveals how staffing practices have been modified since the recession as part of an organisational attempt to improve efficiency. This is achieved by segmenting the workforce into three groups with different levels of certainty and security.

Offering a critical assessment of the main conceptual debates concerning labour management partnership and cooperation at the workplace, this book evaluates the search for positive employment relations in five countries. The provision of collective employee representation, normally through trade unions, is central to most definitions of labour management partnership, and the aim is to develop collaborative relationships between unions, employers and employee representatives for the benefit all parties. While traditionally associated with employment relations in the coordinated market economies of the continental European nations, partnership approaches have attracted increasing attention in recent decades in the liberal market economies of the UK, Ireland, USA, Australia and New Zealand. Developing Positive Employment Relations assesses the conceptual debates, reviews the employment relations context in each of these countries, and provides workplace case studies of the dynamics of partnership at the enterprise level.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to ongoing debates regarding the human resource management (HRM)-firm performance relationship. In seeking to provide a more complete picture of the relationship, the paper discusses the existing literature and proposes an integrative framework that draws upon different literatures and multiple theoretical perspectives.Design/methodology/approachThis review includes nearly 100 research studies published in this field. The review includes papers published in mainstream HRM journals and broader management journals with strong ties to HRM literature. Importantly, the paper also identifies a gap – a missing link – that concerns the importance of incorporating insights from corporate governance (CG) literature when considering strategic HR decision-making.FindingsA significant contribution of this paper to theory is to propose an integrative framework that conceptualises the elusive relationship between HRM and firm performance, and which draws on different literatures and multiple theoretical perspectives in to offer more holistic insights into the relationship. The paper discusses the implications of the integrative perspective for theory and practice.Originality valueThis paper argues that one of the main stumbling blocks for developing a better understanding of the mechanisms through which HRM creates value in an organisation is the fragmentation of the HRM literature between "HR as practices" and "HR as the department/profession", as well as a tendency to neglect insights from the CG literature.

This article uses a large matched employer–employee dataset to assess the outcomes of workplace partnership for British firms and workers, and the HR practices associated with 'mutual gains'. The findings suggest that HR practices which promote employee voice and participation can deliver mutual gains for both employees and employers, but that it is the combination of direct and indirect participation which appears to be most useful in generating superior outcomes for all stakeholders. However, some practices such as high levels of job flexibility and team briefing procedures are found to be negatively associated with work-related attitudes and/or organizational performance.

Over the last decade, the notions of workplace partnership and labour—management cooperation have resulted in distinctive and vociferous debates regarding forms of employee voice in the UK. It is proposed that there is a need to reconsider how we actually evaluate both the process and outcomes of partnership. This article reports on detailed case studies conducted in three diverse banking organizations in order to understand more about the process and outcomes of partnership. The study then applies the 'efficiency, equity, voice' framework developed by Budd, which has not been widely employed in industrial relations research. Accordingly, the article examines if and how partnership contributes to the balancing of efficiency, equity and voice. Judged in this light, the case studies demonstrate various degrees of success in terms of the extent to which partnership has facilitated voice and promoted more considered decision-making, for both management and employees. The article also demonstrates the usefulness of the Budd framework as a device in analysing employment relations processes and outcomes.