The Organisation of Employment : An International Perspective

The Organization of Employment explores the diversity in the organization of employment among advanced industrial societies. In particular, it focuses on the implications of distinctive employment systems for international competitiveness, organizational performance, and social divisions and considers the impact of globalization on the sustainability of such diversity. Cover Half Title Title Copyright Contents List of boxes, figures and tables Boxes Figures Tables Abbreviations Acknowledgements Preface 1 Diversity in the organization of employment: an introduction to the subject Why employment matters Introducing national differences The organization of employment: some national comparative case studies Skills and work organization Pay systems Working time Downsizing and retirement Employee involvement Conclusions 2 Making sense of international differences: some methodological approaches Explaining international differences in the organization of employment The universalists The culturalists The institutionalists Developing the societal effect approach Societal effect theory and the role of individual nation states in the world economy Is the nation state the appropriate level or unit of analysis? Does the societal effect approach place too much emphasis on coherence and consensus and too little on conflict and inconsistency? Towards a more dynamic framework 3 The development of employment and production regimes Employment and production regimes From Fordist to post-Fordist production regimes Societal systems and production regimes Four production models explored Japanese lean production German diversified quality production Italian flexible specialization Swedish socio-technical systems Borrowing and learning from other societies’ production regimes? Conclusions 4 The state, the family and gender: from domestic work to wage employment Employment: how much and who does it? Overview Age of entry into employment Impact of marriage and motherhood Retirement Change and continuity Differences in patterns of labour demand and supply: the role of welfare regimes? Overview Some typologies of regimes Employment systems and welfare regimes Job structures Care arrangements and employment Pension systems and employment Gender regimes and employment systems Overview Gender, flexibility and part-time work Gender and employment: a force for convergence? 5 Skilling the labour force Education, skills and productivity Occupational and internal labour markets National systems of vocational training The US: a market-led, weak ILM approach The UK: a market-led, weak ILM/weak OLM approach Japan: a firm-based, consensual ILM approach Germany: an economy-wide, consensual OLM approach France: a state-led, ILM approach The performance of countries’ training systems assessed Training coverage and long term skill development The school-to-work transition Pressures for change Technical change Flexibilization of the labour market Unemployment Globalization Conclusions 6 Labour market flexibility and labour market regulation What is meant by labour market flexibility? Comparing labour market performance Understanding labour market regulation: the role of labour market actors Overview The UK Germany France Italy The US Japan Country mixes of labour market regulation Works councils Wage setting Employment protection Working time regulation Convergence or divergence in national regulatory systems? 7 Employment policy and practice: implementation at the workplace The division of labour Payment systems Job security and redundancy measures Working time Annualized hours Short-time working Part-time work Increasing unsocial hours working Conclusions 8 Multinationals and the organization of employment Multinationals and the survival of nationally-specific employment regimes Multinationals as the agents of diffusion of ‘best practice’ Typologies of MNCs Types of MNCs and international management Employment policies and practices for non-management staff in MNCs Modes of diffusion of best practice Local versus corporate or global influences: some conclusions Summary and conclusions 9 Globalization and the future for diversity Globalization: towards the convergence of employment systems? Is globalization here, and is its progress inevitable? Human resources and comparative advantage in a global market Towards convergence in employment systems? The new production paradigm: towards lean production or global Japanization? The stability of national employment regimes Pan-national governance Global ideology and societal fragmentation? Resistance to globalization? 10 Labour regulation in a global economy Why international labour standards? Establishing international labour standards: the main actors From international to regional labour standards Labour standards and the European Union North American Free Trade Association Alternative methods of enforcing labour standards: consumer boycotts, social labelling and trade union negotiated codes of conduct The way forward Bibliography Index of names Subject index The Organization of Employment explores the diversity in the organization of employment among advanced industrial societies. It focuses on the implications of distinctive employment systems for international competitiveness, organizational performance and social divisions. The book addresses the key issues for the future of employment organizations and poses the question of how far globalization will bring about convergence or permit, or even reinforce, distinct national ways of organizing employment. It illuminates the different ways in which employment can be organized and the effects this has on societies, organizations, individuals and families and debates the need for new forms of employment regulation in the context of a more integrated world economy. The Organization of Employment is essential reading for final year undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers in the fields of employment, human resource management and industrial relations. The Organisation of Employment explores the diversity in the organisation of employment among advanced industrial societies. It focuses on the implications of distinctive employment systems for international competitiveness, organisational performance and social divisions and considers the impact of globalisation on the sustainability of such diversity.Ideal for final year undergraduate and postgraduate students of international business and human resource management, The Organisation of Employment provides a stimulating and wide ranging examination of this dynamic subject. Exploring diversity in the organization of employment among advanced industrial societies, this study focuses on the implications of distinctive employment systems for international competitiveness, organizational performance and social divisions in the light of increasing globalization The subject of this book is employment; and employment matters - not only to those who provide the labour or those who provide the jobs, but also to all of us who have a stake in the well-being of our economies and societies.