Fragmenting Work Blurring Organizational Boundaries and Disordering Hierarchies

by Marchington, Mick; Grimshaw, Damian; Rubery, Jill; Willmott, Hugh

• ISBN13: 9780199262243
• ISBN10: 0199262241
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-12-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This major new book examines the way in which employment is managed across organizational boundaries. It analyses how public-private partnerships, franchises, agencies, and other forms of inter-firm contractual relations impact on work and employment and the experiences of those working inthese increasingly significant forms of organization. It draws upon research undertaken in eight separate networks comprising over 50 organizations to explore the fragmenting effects of contemporary changes in the organization of work and employment relationships. It considers the consequences of increased reliance upon inter-organizational mechanisms for producing goods and especially for delivering services. It argues that established analyses continue to rely too heavily upon a model of the single employing organization whereas today the situation is oftenmore complex and confused. Public-private 'partnerships' are one high profile example of this phenomenon but private enterprises are also developing new relations with their clients and customers that impinge upon the nature of the employment relationship. Established hierarchical forms are becomingdisordered, with consequences for career patterns, training and skills, pay structures, disciplinary practice, worker voice, and the gendered division of labour. The findings of the study raise questions about the governance of such complex organizational forms, the appropriateness of current institutions for addressing this complexity, and the challenge of harnessing employee commitment in circumstances where human resource practices are shaped byorganizations other than the legal employer. Using an analytical schema of three dimensions (institutional, organizational, employment) and four themes (power, risk, identity, trust), the authors adopt an inter-disciplinary perspective to address these complex and critically important practical,policy, and theoretical concerns.Fragmenting Work will be vital reading for all those wishing to understand the contemporary realities of work and employment.

Table of Contents

List of Boxes	ix
List of Tables	x
List of Figures	xi
List of Abbreviations	xii
List of Contributors	xiv
1. Introduction: Fragmenting Work Across Organizational Boundaries	1	(38)
Damian Grimshaw, Mick Marchington, Jill Rubery, and Hugh Willmott
Appendix: Glossary of Organizations	32	(7)
2. Inter-Organizational Networks: Trust, Power, and the Employment Relationship	39	(24)
Damian Grimshaw, Hugh Willmott, and Jill Rubery
3. Blurring the Boundaries to the Employment Relationship: From Single to Multi-Employer Relationships	63	(26)
Jill Rubery, Jill Earnshaw, and Mick Marchington
4. The Strategic Management of Contracting in the Private Sector	89	(22)
Marilyn Carroll, Steven Vincent, John Hassard, and Fang Lee Cooke
5. Public-Private Contracting: Performance, Power, and Change at Work	111	(24)
Damian Grimshaw and Gail Hebson
6. The Role of Boundary-Spanning Agents in Inter-Organizational Contracting	135	(22)
Mick Marchington, Steven Vincent, and Fang Lee Cooke
7. Employment Policy and Practice: Crossing Borders and Disordering Hierarchies	157	(22)
Jill Rubery and Jill Earnshaw
8. Commitment and Identity Across Organizational Boundaries	179	(20)
Fang Lee Cooke, Gail Hebson, and Marilyn Carroll
9. Changing Boundaries, Shaping Skills: The Fragmented Organizational Form and Employee Skills	199	(18)
Irena Grugulis and Steven Vincent
10. Gender and New Organizational Forms	217	(22)
Gail Hebson and Irena Grugulis
11. Prospects for Worker Voice Across Organizational Boundaries	239	(22)
Mick Marchington, Jill Rubery, and Fang Lee Cooke
12. Conclusion: Redrawing Boundaries, Reflecting on Practice and Policy	261	(28)
Damian Grimshaw, Mick Marchington, Jill Rubery, and Hugh Willmott
References	289	(20)
Index	309