The Employment Relationship: Causes and Consequences of Modern Personnel Administration (Springer Studies in Work and Industry)

In 1979, serious research was just beginning on the connections between stratification outcomes and organizations. Data suitable for investigating these connections were scarce, and the general wisdom was that they would remain scarce--since organizational case studies were seen as the only means of gathering linked individual and organizational data. The case study approach does allow one to link the two types of data, but gathering such data on more than a few organizations is prohibitively expensive and difficult, and having only a few organizations limits g- eralizability. To help solve this problem, we developed the idea of a survey of a random sample of several thousand employed individuals, followed by a second survey of their several thousand employing or- nizations. This method, we reasoned, would provide us with a gen- alizable, simple random sample of individuals, coupled with a weighted random sample of organizations (weighted, of course, by size of orga- zation). An added benefit would be that these valuable data could be gathered by a survey organization for the price of two simple surveys. It was not an easy idea to sell. We developed it into a proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF), and though the reviewers were o- erwise sympathetic, they were almost unanimous in their contention that such a survey would not work because "obviously" the great maj- ity of respondents would refuse to reveal exactly who their employers were. In this comprehensive, empirical study, authors Bridges and Villemez systematically examine the types of social arrangements that promote stable employment relationships in a variety of organizational settings. They argue that these intricate arrangements provide a vital link between employers and employees where mutual rights and obligations are founded. Based on the results of a representative survey of thousands of employees and their employers in a large, metropolitan labor market, the book concludes that bureaucratic employment relationships have the potential for both creating dependence on and liberating workers from the arbitrary decisions of managers and supervisors. The Employment Relationship tests various sociological theories on the causes and effects of labor market structures, such as internal labor markets, job ladders, grievance procedures, rule-ordered control systems, and personnel departments. It critically investigates: the ways in which these labor market structures are distributed across a variety of work organizations and industries; the exposure of different groups in an increasingly diverse work force to these elements; the consequences of these factors for workers' earnings, job satisfaction, and commitment to their current employers. In addition, the text analyzes the position of women and minorities in internal labor markets; the effects of industry, the public and private sectors, and organization on bureaucratic employment relations; and the influence of workers' positions in internal and external labor markets on attachment to their jobs. The Employment Relationship offers keen insights into the factors that have contributed to the bureaucratization of employment relationships in contemporary society. It will greatly benefit researchers, professionals, and advanced students in sociology, economics, business and finance, and personnel administration. Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-28 Assembling Data on Employment Relations....Pages 29-51 The Elements of Bureaucratic Personnel Management....Pages 53-70 The Scope of Bureaucratic Management....Pages 71-102 Higher-Level Effects on Bureaucratic Control and Due Process in Organizations....Pages 103-124 Bureaucratic Structure and Attachment to Firms....Pages 125-160 Employment Relations and Earnings....Pages 161-176 Conclusion....Pages 177-193 Back Matter....Pages 195-243 This innovative text systematically examines the intricate social arrangements between employers and their employees in a variety of organizational settings. Detailing the results of two surveys taken from employees and their employers, the authors critically probe how mutual rights and obligations are founded.