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This work examines dispute resolution in the construction industry, namely arbitration under the Arbitration Act 1996 and adjudication under the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, in the light of The Right Honourable the Lord Woolfs definition of access to justice. 1 Both a theoretical and an empirical approach have been adopted by this study so as to provide a robust analytical methodology. The theoretical analysis of arbitration and adjudication conducted by this work highlights both the potential successes and failures of the reforms with regard to the promotion of access to justice. Broadly speaking, whilst both statutes were compliant with Woolfs criteria for affording access to justice, three main areas of concern were highlighted, calling into question the compliance of the mechanisms with the civil procedure reforms. These areas of concern were identified as relating to: procedure; cost; and juridification. Turning to consider the procedural concerns, loopholes were uncovered in both Acts that demonstrated a potential avenue for exploitation by disputing parties who were seeking to gain a tactical advantage over their opponent. For example, the speed with which proceedings must be conducted once notice to arbitrate or adjudicate has been given provides parties with the ability to prepare their case in advance and then ambush their opponent with dispute resolution proceedings. In a complex dispute, such ambushing tactics may confer a procedural advantage that may be exploited so as to confer a unilateral benefit. With regard to issues of cost, the financial structure of arbitration and adjudication was seen to raise issues as to the equal access of parties to proceedings. That is, without state aid, can it be said that all parties to a dispute have an equal opportunity to pursue the method of dispute resolution of their choice?

This thesis is an exploratory study that examines the political contingency and the implementation of workforce localisation policy through an intensive case study on the oil-and gas-based industries (OGBI), the most significant economic sector in Qatar. In particular, the thesis identifies the strategies and mechanisms that the government utilises in its efforts to gain commitment from public enterprises to replace its expatriate workforce with nationals. The empirical analysis focuses on three main themes: the state influence on public organisations, obstacles to localisation, and the HR practices used to enhance workforce localisation. The findings reveal that the government has adopted some innovative control strategies that are not widely acknowledged within the literature. These include its continuously reshuffling and replacement of decision-makers and key personnel in state enterprises. Moreover, the government is dominating an active role in forming OGBI strategies through appointing the Minister of Energy in the highest hierarchical positions, such as chairman and managing director, in the industries. However, state enterprises' reaction to the state-led localisation policy varies considerably. The study provides new evidence that public organisations do not always comply with politically-determined policies. The evaluation of the implementation of localisation strategy shows that there are three approaches toward what may be called 'Qatarisation', namely, strategic engagement; pragmatic acceptance and implicit avoidance. The approaches are strongly associated with understanding of the policy aims and linking of the policy to HR practices. According to the findings of this study, several policy implications have been suggested as strategies to enhance the implementation process of workforce localisation.

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The establishment of European Works Councils (EWCs) as a formal mechanism to foster the provision of international information and consultation has been well documented in industrial relations literature. The creation of the Single European Market (SEM) led to corporate restructuring amongst multi-national companies but deprived employees of an opportunity to influence decisions, which were invisible. EWCs were intended to contribute to redress that gap through providing information and consultation at a multi-national level. The implementation of the European Works Council Directive (1994) has stimulated considerable research and debate. The mainly quantitative literature has considered the content of agreements, implementation rates, structures and sector distribution. Some academics have seen an opportunity for union and employee representatives and have written in positive terms about the potential of EWCs. However qualitative research with longitudinal comparative studies, which explore the views of managers, trade union representatives and working people, are less evident in the literature. Comparatively little is known of the views of "ordinary" employees who do not attend but are expected to be beneficiaries of activity at a forum. Some forums have now been in operation nearly a decade and it is time those issues were addressed. Through drawing on 43 semi-structured interviews and numerous secondary sources, this thesis examines the impact of EWCs on six British based companies to evaluate the extent of their contribution to industrial relations. Interviews were undertaken in 2001 and 2004 with strategically placed managers, trade unionists, employee representatives and other working people whom they aspire to represent. In particular this thesis is placed within existing theoretical debates concerning the desirability of statutory intervention as a mechanism for employee involvement and its consequences. Forums were carefully selected and a balance was sought in terms of companies that are indicative of the sector distribution of EWCs. In each instance the forum was steeped in the Anglo-Saxon approach to information and consultation, although the ownership of parent companies was more diverse. The aims of this research concern the role of EWCs in industrial relations hi British companies and the evaluation of the: (i) contribution made to industrial relations in case study companies and its impact on the lives of people at work (ii) pattern of representational arrangements for forums and the issues that arise, (iii) methods used by management to exercise control over EWCs. The thesis challenges the prevailing optimistic interpretation of the development of EWCs and the research methods used to arrive at that theoretical view. A detailed insight is provided into how a forum works. An analysis is given of the nature of the limited contribution to industrial relations in British companies and, in the process, the lives of working people. Apparently insurmountable representational issues are revealed, as are an extensive range of methods for ensuring managerial control through manipulation. It is argued that the statutory role and minor input will be enough to ensure that in at least unionised sectors forums survive.

This PhD by published works falls entirely within the field of industrial relations and contributes to three distinctive areas of the subject - general industrial relations, industrial relations in the steel industry and the operation of labour markets in Central and Eastern Europe. A vigorous debate is currently taking place about the future of industrial relations and whether the subject should be narrowly defined and be about trade unions and collective bargaining, or alternatively about all aspects of employment relations, including the non-unionised. Concern has also been expressed that most research was conducted within a very narrow definition of the subject. The publications submitted for this PhD contribute to widening the field of industrial relations by examining various aspects of how labour markets actually operate in practice. The research was mainly empirically based and consistently advanced arguments and conclusions which went against the orthodoxy of research at the time. A paper on good industrial relations questioned widely held assumptions underpinning public policy. A study of multi-unionism argued against the view that it was a widespread problem. Industrial relations in the steel industry needed to be viewed in an historical and environmental context. The loss of management control implicit in the operation of seniority promotion systems was found not to inhibit efficiency. Studies of the Latvian labour market found serious discrimination on the basis of ethnicity and language. While the collapse of communism was often assumed to have resulted in radical changes in industrial relations in Poland, my research discovered substantial continuity, albeit through informal systems. And finally, despite widespread concern about the level of immigration from Eastern Europe, my analysis of data obtained from the worker registration scheme, suggested that much of this concern was misplaced.