Economic and Industrial Democracy

There are in the UK ownership forms different to the characteristics of Britishness – British-based foreign-owned firms where dominant owners may have differentiated control interests. These may contain, that is, override, national institutional characteristics embedded in a particular national capitalism. Accordingly, separating the agency of these firms from presumed business system structures may reveal how diverse patterns of firm ownership – those associated with British-based foreign-owned firms – can inform dynamic ownership developments in British capitalism which contain and hyper-activate Britishness. The article theorizes British-based foreign-owned firms and provides empirical detail on how ownership characteristics influence financial commitment and strategic control in 10 of these firms.

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.

This article analyses if and to what extent labour market segmentation and labour market mobility influence trade union density. Some industries and sectors have stable employment domains and employees stay to a high degree within the industry even if they change jobs. Other industries and sectors have more unstable employments domains and employees to a higher degree shift to employment in other industries and sectors when they move to another job. In this article, it is analysed how differences in segmentation and employee mobility out of an industry influence union density. The analysis is based on a statistical analysis of registry data from Denmark and contains almost 2 million employees employed in 111 different industries (NACE-coded). The analysis shows that trade union density especially in the private sector industries is significantly influenced by level of segmentation and level of mobility.

In the course of worldwide reforms in health care systems, flexible employment is of increasing relevance in medicine and also includes the highly skilled workforce of hospital physicians. With reference to Hirschman’s seminal work on exit, voice and loyalty, this article analyzes the phenomenon of deploying locum tenens physicians as independent contractors in hospitals. The results of two qualitative empirical studies drawing on 30 qualitative interviews show conditions and consequences of exit–voice–loyalty behavior on different levels. On the meso level of organizations, locum tenens physicians help to enforce improvements in everyday hospital practices because as independent contractors, they gain a new, more autonomous position – they receive voice through exit.

This study investigates the austerity HRM practices implemented in European airports during the economic crisis, the subsequent deterioration of working conditions and possible recovery policies. The survey results indicate that austerity HRM practices, especially work flexibility, increased workload and workplace discrimination, are strongly and positively correlated with work deterioration. Moreover, the impact of the crisis is not homogeneous across airports, since public airports and those located in South European regions and in countries displaying a high Economic Crisis Index suffer the most. Notwithstanding, a combination of micro-, meso- and macro-policies has the potential to alleviate the detrimental effects of the crisis on airport workplaces.

This article discusses the changes in workers’ identity as blue-collar or salaried staff with respect to changing work content due to new models of industrial systems. Within these new industrial models, traditional blue-collar work is moving into areas of work previously held solely by salaried staff. This article argues that the merging of work content will cause a process of identity-mergers, a process calling for increased collaboration between blue-collar unions on the one hand, and salaried staff unions on the other. Reporting on four company cases, the authors argue that this process is caused both by labour unions’ efforts to increase workers’ motivation in work, as well as by market demands generating new models of industrial production. The authors conclude that the models of industrial relations must change so as to encompass cross-union collaboration and the diversity of professions.

This article examines the contribution of human resource management (HRM) and information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the retention of motivated employees. The author uses a representative random sample of private sector employees from Western Europe. The data set contains information on employees’ motivations, on-the-job search and workplace environment. The results show that HRM and ICT bundles are positively related to motivations. Being motivated for intrinsic and personal growth reasons decreases the likelihood to search while being motivated for rewards or compulsion reasons increases it. HRM strengthens the likelihood to search in the same way, while ICTs tend to increase the likelihood to search of all employees.

This article is about creative cities and their largely invisible and largely neglected workforce, the ‘ordinary people’ who provide the work- and life-place services upon which creative workers depend. The article considers the nature of creative cities, their labour markets and the precarious nature of much employment within them. The ambiguous relationship between different employment groups within the creative city is illustrated. The analysis forms the basis for reaching conclusions and helping to formulate advice for policy makers in developing approaches that are inclusive and accessible. The article is set against and acknowledges the importance of the rising tide of populism as a real challenge to an elitist mainstream creative city discourse.

Labour market segregation continues to be a major barrier to gender equality, with the construction industry an example of a particularly male-dominated sector. Drawing on evidence from the Women into Construction project, established to increase women’s opportunities to work on the construction of London’s Olympic Park, the article argues that public procurement is a potentially powerful tool for breaking down gender segregation. This is particularly effective when new forms of responsive and reflexive legislation require private sector contractors to achieve social objectives. The authors argue that this could be made more effective through greater powers of engagement for stakeholders, including trade unions.