This thesis examines the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and voluntary labour initiatives (codes of conduct and standards) with special reference to banana production in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is the third biggest supplier of bananas to the United Kingdom (UK), but market access is determined by the major UK supermarket groups, and the terms and conditions dictated by these powerful actors impact the labour conditions on banana plantations. In this regard the banana supply chain is increasingly viewed as 'buyer-driven' and as such, the theoretical framework employed in the research is based on global commodity chain studies (Gereffi 1994, Gereffi et al. 2005). The thesis draws on interviews and focus groups organised with banana workers and their representatives over a two month period in 2006. However, the banana supply chain is not a simple linear model in terms of control and influence there is a high degree of complexity regarding the social relations within it. The chain includes major transnational producers and trade unions, and an international framework agreement (IFA) is in place on some plantations, and there are also other interested parties - audit groups, NGOs and civil society groups---concerned with labour conditions on plantations. Interviews were conducted with these social actors both prior and following the period of fieldwork in Costa Rica. The thesis also reports on the Second International Banana Conference held in April 2005, a forum for the major players to debate the issues and conditions within the industry. The thesis shows that the leading supermarkets have considerable power over suppliers/producers. However, it is argued that the supermarkets' professed desire to act socially responsibly to those workers employed on plantations is contradicted by the downward pressure exerted on the price of bananas and that this contributes to a downward spiral of labour conditions.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to investigate PRP practices in Thailand where is a collectivist society whereas PRP schemes are initiated from the Western management based on individualism. The research focused on the differences between two groups of employees working under PRP plans. Also the study examined the elements of PRP and work-related aspects (teamwork, career advancement and organisational commitment) by examining whether or not the nationality of an owner was related to such variables. The study relied upon survey data collected from 6 companies representing the manufacturing sector in Thailand. Using descriptive and inferential statistics: Mann- Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test and partial correlation, the study has found that PRP practices are typically deployed in a specific cultural context, that HRM aspects fit, regarding culture, leads to improve PRP perceptions. Moreover, female, lowly-educated workers, those with children and non-union employees exhibited greater perceptions of PRP, unexpectedly. There were no significant differences found among employees in the three groups in terms of setting objectives, system design and pay-performance links. However, the differences of performance appraisal, fairness and communication were addressed. Surprisingly, there were no significant differences among employees working within Thai, Japanese and American companies with respect to teamwork and career advancement. Regarding organisation commitment, statistically significant differences were found according to affective and continuance commitment. The implications, suggestions and limitations for further studies of PRP plans are presented. This research serves to consolidate the HRM's learning and direct for future work such that it may continue growing and contributing to HRM knowledge.

This thesis explores Taiwanese privatisation in the context of global neo-liberalisation. It is a study of the relationship between the state, capital and trade unions in relation to privatisation and the policy-making process in Taiwan and the Taiwan Railway in particular. It pays attention to exploring the three dimensions: first, how the state plays its role in the privatisation process second, what private capital does in order to extend its financial interests and third, whether trade unions have capacity to shape privatisation policies. The thesis draws upon extensive fieldwork that took place in Taiwan and the Taiwanese railway industry in particular between May 2005 and November 2007. It documents how Taiwanese public sector unions, dependent on the party-state system, sought to transform themselves into independent unions during the period of privatisation. Using qualitative and participant observation methods, including semi- structured interviews, fieldnote taking, and documentary analysis, this thesis provides, for the first time first-hand, rich, deep, holistic and contextual data on issues that had previously been hidden from public debate. These are discussed and analysed with particular reference to British and former Soviet Union's experience in the context of privatisation. Although the research was explicitly located in the context of Taiwan and the Taiwan Railway, it is hoped that it has more general significance. Taiwan's experience, until now neglected in debates on privatisation, could extend contemporary debates on the topic especially in relation to the various roles of the state, capital and trade unions. In particular, it raises for discussion the finding that under certain circumstances, instead of being marginalised by privatisation, certain trade unions could gain strong bargaining capacity, weakening the role of the state and private capital, and significantly shaping the policy process.

This thesis investigates the inter-relationships between industrial restructuring, labour demand and unemployment through detailed case studies in the Travel to Work Area (TTWA) of Stockton-on-Tees in the North-East of England. After examining the legacy of previous rounds of investment in the TTWA the changing labour demands of six local employers are monitored and analysed over a one year period to July 1987. Focus of attention is on how employers adjust their labour inputs to meet changes in labour demand, as derived from the requirements of the production process. By selecting employers known (or thought) to be establishing new working patterns and practices it was possible to study the 'dynamics of employment' in a variety of settings. These include a 'branch plant' employing mainly female labour, investing in new technology and changing from full-time to part-time workers; a joinery company which has suffered from the decline in public sector housebuilding and has been the subject of a series of takeovers; the District General Hospital attempting to cope with cash constraints in the public sector; a small engineering firm 'sandwiched' between large suppliers and customers; a recently arrived Japanese company producing electronic components and an historic engineering company that attempted (unsuccessfully) to diversify into the offshore supply industry. In each case, an attempt is made to assess the net impact of 'flows' of labour to and from employment on the (official) unemployment count, drawing on data held on the National Online Manpower Information System (NOMIS).

The financial and competitive positions of most industries in Nigeria (private and pub1ic) have deteriorated steadily over the last ten years. This decline has been attributed to several factors (such as economic and political issues) but the single factor most frequently blamed for this is the 'detective1 system of wage determination in the country which has been accused of being responsible for widespread dissatisfaction and unprecedented levels of industrial unrest among workers in the country. This study attempts to examine the various forms or mechanisms of wage determination in the country such as (1) the Collective Bargaining Process, (2) Arbitration by way of wage commissions, (3) the National Minimum Wage, (4) Attempts at Prices and Incomes Policy. A special examination and evaluation of the role of trade unions in wage determination is also being carried out. Further, the impact of wage policy in economic development is being discussed. The general hypothesis which has been developed for this study is that "In Nigeria, Industries or Companies using the Collective Bargaining Process for the determination of their workers remuneration have a lower strike incidence, lower labour turnover, lower absenteeism rate, and enjoy high productivity". This hypothesis is used to generate other sub-hypotheses such as (a) workers under collective bargaining industries derive more job satisfaction from their jobs; (b) Labour-management relationships are more cordial in industries or companies under collective bargaining arrangements; (c) Union density and worker participation in decision-making are higher in industries under collective bargaining; and (d) middle managers in companies or industries under the collective bargaining arrangements have a greater sense of belonging, achievement and self-actualisation. The hypotheses were tested using a sample of 1,000 workers of comparable occupations drawn from two companies situated in Apapa and Ikeja, the highly industrial areas of Lagos, the capital of Nigeria. One was Nigeria Airways Ltd., a state-owned organisation where wage determination is by the Centralised or arbitration wage system. The other was Lever Brother (Nig.) Ltd., a private multi-national company using the Collective Bargaining process to determine its workers levels of remuneration. In order to obtain as reliable data as possible the fieldwork which was carried out in Nigeria was done in two phases. In Phase One, all the proposed techniques to be used for obtaining data such as questionnaire structuring, interviewing - structured and unstructured - were pretested to minimise any possible anomalies. The questionnaire was structured in two parts. The first, Part 'A' contained factual questions(age, marital status, academic qua1ifications, work career and social background). While in Part 'B', general opinion and attitude questions were included. Phase Two of the field work involved the main data collection task. Also, during this period, selected managers from both companies were interviewed, together with some Nigeria Employers Consultative Association and Central Trade Union officials, using the unstructured interviewing technique. The data was processed through the SPSS computer programme. A battery of statistical tests such as factor and item analysis, the Gutman and Likert techniques were used for attitude scale measurements. Correlation coefficient and the ordinary least squares equations were also applied to establish evidence of association. The fieldwork revealed that, firstly, wage settlement through arbitration is very defective in nature and operation in the workers eyes. Secondly, it revealed that workers in the firm using the collective bargaining process for the determination of their wages were more satisfied with their jobs. The Collective Bargaining firm had a lower strike record, lower labour turnover, lower absenteeism rate and enjoyed higher productivity rates and good labour-management relationship. It had a higher union density and more articulate trade union officials. Finally, it was discernable from the study that managers in Lever Brothers were more satisfied with their pay, jobs and conditions of service and more interested in their workers. What's more, the managers have more sense of achievement, belonging and feelings of self-fulfilment. This was quite unlike the managers in the company under the centralised wage system, who were found to be anomic, have feelings of estrangement, alienation and find their work meaningless. Furthermore, the study will evaluate the role of the sound wage policy in the process of economic development, particularly in agricultural dominated economy such as Nigeria. Finally, because of the government's apparent deep-seated interest in wage determination issues, coupled with the relatively 'fragile nature' of the Nigerian economy, a tripartite mode1 of the collective bargaining process (embracing government, employers, and workers representatives) is suggested to illuminate these relations in a developing society.

Research was carried out into the structure of inter and intra plant standard weekly earnings and the labour wastage of workers in eight manual occupations employed by a sample of 20 manufacturing plants located in North West London covering the period Autumn 1969 to Spring 1975. Information on travel to work patterns and the accuracy of information concerning pay rates within the local labour market area was also investigated. The results have been compared with earlier studies into local labour markets in an attempt to clarify the degree of economic rationality that prevails in the earnings of manual workers. (Analysis of the travel to work patterns of a sub sample of these manual workers established the practical usefulness of the concept of the local labour market). Whilst a wide range of median standard hourly earnings was found for similar jobs, the coefficient of variation was appreciably lower than that found in earlier local labour market studies. Most of the 20 firms retained their general rank order in relation to each other over the period, and a common internal hierarchy of earnings by manual workers was displayed. During the period inter and intra occupational differentials decreased in a marked fashion. The labour turnover and completed length of service patterns of the manual workers showed wide variations as between firms, in line with earlier studies. However a significant differences between occupations was uncovered, which points to the importance of occupational analysis. In the case of certain manual occupations a statistically significant negative correlation was found to exist between variations in standard hourly earnings and labour turnover. Local unemployment levels appeared to exert little influence on labour wastage, but again some variation between occupations was discernable. Taken together these results indicate a more economically rational structure of earnings and labour mobility than had been found in earlier studies, but also suggest that the 20 firms together form a 'submarket' within the local labour market. These results also underline the importance of local labour studies in understanding pay structures and the phenomenon of labour wastage, and indicate a need for further research in this area.

No description available.

The John Lewis Partnership was founded in 1929 as an “experiment in industrial democracy” (Lewis, 1948). This thesis explores the meaning of democracy in the Partnership and examines the wider implications of the case. It argues that democracy in work should be viewed as something which is intrinsically valuable because of its connection to furthering justice, equality, freedom and the rights and interests of all workers. The thesis makes three main contributions. Firstly, the production of a historically situated exploration of democratic participation in the John Lewis Partnership – the largest co-owned business in the UK. Secondly, an analysis of power relations in the organisation and an examination of the ways in which disciplinary power and regimes of truth both constrain democratic practice and offer the potential for resistance and challenge. Thirdly, the thesis challenges critics of the Partnership who have dismissed it as a form of “pseudo democracy” (Pateman, 1970: 73) and “suffocatingly paternalistic” (Ramsay, 1980: 52). Despite the constant threat of degeneration and dilution of the value framework laid down by the founder, the Partnership’s continued commitment to democratic participation provides an important contribution to our understanding of co-ownership and democratically organised forms of work. The analysis shows that management have attempted to direct and define democracy in a highly constrained way, assigning it an instrumental purpose, and privileging the ‘business case’ for democratic engagement. However, the study emphasises that the meaning of democracy is heavily contested and fraught with contradictions and paradoxes. This creates a space in which understandings of equality, solidarity and democracy are debated by the 69,000 employees who are co-owners of the business.

This research explores post-16 transitions of a group of Black Caribbean young people, to gain insight into the factors which influence their transitions, the decisions made and executed and the outcomes produced. Biographically, significant details articulated by the individuals about their transition journey are conveyed to elucidate the particular circumstances of this group and to illustrate the dynamic nature of the dilemmas encountered and the responses enacted. In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 respondents ranging in age from 16 to 25, of mixed gender, and reflecting a spectrum of post-16 destinations. The recollections shared by respondents are examined, interpreted and presented using the framework of narrative analysis. This approach emphasises the creation of a discursive space which allows individuals to retell stories of transitions which are meaningful to the narrator. Selected biographical portraits are presented to illuminate the contours that shape experiences of transition. The attainment profile of respondents is heterogeneous and ranges from those with low levels of attainment to those with very high achievements. This disrupts the over-simplified discussions about „ethnic minority underachievement‟ and reveals that attainment is more diverse than is commonly represented. Many respondents have high educational aspirations and are anxious to improve their qualifications (even low achievers). Respondents recognise that credentials are the currency for contemporary labour markets, and have ambitions for greater social mobility than their parents‟ generation; they are discerning about racial stereotyping and the damaging effects this can have on life chances. The research highlights that young people are ill-prepared for making crucial decisions about their post-16 options. Many parents/carers are unaware of the importance of careers information. There is unanimity in the view that careers education is wholly inadequate. Many young people fall through the net and receive no guidance. Young people need to be better prepared for their post-16 transitions; this preparation should include an entitlement to quality careers education prior to leaving school.