Employment Relations in a Changing World Economy

by Locke, Richard M.; Kochan, Thomas A.; Piore, Michael J.

• ISBN13: 9780262620987
• ISBN10: 0262620987
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-09-25
• Publisher: Mit Pr

Summary

To address contemporary issues, industrial relations as a field of study will have to take an increasingly international and comparative dimension. Accordingly, Employment Relations in a Changing World Economylooks at the critical role employment relations play in firm performance and industry competitiveness worldwide. The essays employ a common framework to examine changes in the employment practices of eleven OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Austria, and Japan. They constitute the first phase in a large ongoing project at the Center for Industrial Performance at MIT to update our understanding of comparative industrial relations and human resource policies. The authors, scholars in economics, political science, sociology, industrial relations and law, first identify a representative set of employment practices and then look at the outcomes of those practices and the changes they are undergoing across different national settings. By collaborating, the contributors seek to clarify the dynamics of employment relations across the world today, and to set the terms of reference for a new generation of international-comparative employment research.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors
Preface
Introduction: Employment Relations in a Changing World Economy
The Limits of Diffusion: Recent Developments in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Practices	p. 1
Change and Continuity in British Industrial Relations: "Strategic Choice" or Muddling Through"?	p. 33
Managed Decentralization? Recent Trends in Australian Industrial Relations and Human Resource Policies	p. 59
Developments in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Practices in Canada: An Update from the 1980s	p. 91
Between Voluntarism and Industrialization: Industrial Relations and Human Resource Practices in Italy	p. 131
Inertial Choices: An Overview of Spanish Human Resources, Practices and Policies	p. 165
Industrial Relations and Human Resources in France	p. 197
Continuity and Change in the "German Model" of Industrial Relations	p. 231
The Swedish Model: Demise or Reconfiguration?	p. 263
A Social Democratic Order under Pressure: Norwegian Employment Relations in the Eighties	p. 297
Developments in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Practices in Japan	p. 325
Conclusion: The Transformation of Industrial Relations? A Cross-National Review of the Evidence	p. 359
Index	p. 385
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