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Employment polarisation in developed countries has been of central focus for research and policy circles. An important question that has not been explored extensively is the spatial dimension of this polarization and the underlying processes that generate it. This is the main research topic of this thesis and is examined empirically for Britain over three papers. The first paper examines the spatial patterns of employment polarisation for Britain in the past decade. Econometric techniques are used to investigate whether employment polarisation happens within regions or just across regions and whether it is a predominantly urban phenomenon. The main result found is that all regions experience some degree of employment polarisation during the 1990s. Remarkably, London appears unique in terms of the magnitude of its employment polarisation. It experiences disproportionately higher growth in the employment share of both high- paid jobs and low-paid jobs compared to the other regions. Amongst the various proposed explanations for employment polarisation, the consumer demand mechanism has been relatively under-researched. According to this account, the presence of high educated, high income individuals in a locality boosts the demand for local low-skill, low-pay services. Since these services are non-traded and given an upward sloping labour supply, the increased labour demand would induce an upward effect on the wages and employment of the relevant low-pay occupations in the localities with higher human capital. In that context, the second and the third paper of the thesis examine how high human capital in a locality affects the labour market outcomes of the individuals of the locality in terms of wages and employment respectively. Different econometric specifications are employed in order to shed light on the positive effect found and discern the existence of a consumer demand mechanism in contrast to plausible production driven accounts (productivity spillovers and production complementarities). The strong significant effect on the local low-skill individuals compared to the other skill groups is suggested as preliminary evidence of the existence of the consumer demand mechanism.

This thesis examines the recent growth in pay inequality in Britain that can be traced to change at the top of the distribution. It takes a broad perspective on the subject that draws on insights generated across multiple branches of social science, and tests these insights against comparative data. It argues ultimately that top-tier growth in British pay inequality is strongly connected to rising demand for the skills of upper-and middle-managers created by the reshaping of production systems in British organizations. On the way to this conclusion, the thesis addresses three main research questions: 1. What lies behind the apparent 'top pay' bias in pay inequality growth in Britain since the 1990s. The thesis tests multiple explanations for the distributional bias observed in Britain in comparative perspective. It concludes that rising pay inequality at the top in Britain is connected to an apparent increase in relative demand for certain types of manager that is specific to that country. 2. Have organizational governance factors contributed to the rise in pay inequality at the top. It is tested whether the apparent rise in relative demand for managers in Britain is in fact a byproduct of shifting patterns of organizational governance. The empirical analysis finds little evidence that governance factors have contributed greatly to the rise in pay inequality at the top. 3. Have changes in production systems contributed to the apparent rise in relative demand for managers in Britain. The thesis tests the idea that recent changes in the typical approach to production have made certain types of manager relatively more valuable to British organizations. It finds firm evidence that this is the case, and that this trend has contributed to the rise in top-tier pay inequality.

This thesis is concerned with techniques of changing the design of jobs in organisations. Current job design theories appear to be derived from four theoretical components: a theory of motivation, a model of the situation to be changed, a statement of desirable job characteristics, and a method of identifying and implementing appropriate changes. Tho problems of current theories appear to arise from inadequate conceptualisation of the situation to be changed. Changes in job design generally begin at the interface between managerial and non-managerial tasks and it is argued that a model of the management function is required in order to identify design options. A method of organisational analysis, derived from a model of organisational information processing and control, is developed, and a general theory of job and organisational design is postulated incorporating the four basic theoretical components. Emphasis is placed on provision of continuous learning as a desirable job characteristic. This theory predicts that learning is related to involvement in organisational information processing and control. The production control systems of two manufacturing units are analysed and the value of the model in identifying design options is demonstrated. These analyses also indicate that the transfer of information processing tasks to operators may affect several levels of the management hierarchy. Behaviour of conventionally structured and autonomous unstructured groups in a manufacturing simulation game are compared. The results of this experiment suggest that learning is related to involvement in information processing and control. Unstructured groups performed better, avoided some typical production management problems, and focused participants' attention on problems of organising work. This research indicates that existing job design theories cannot fulfil their objectives without also undertaking radical organisational design.

This thesis investigates the current state of education, training and development ofconstruction managers in the UK by undertaking three strands of research. The first research strand undertakes a longitudinal study to determine the structure of the UK construction industry, and how it has evolved into its present form. Using published Government reports the industry is analysed in terms of the levels and distribution of employment within the industry and the numbers, sizes and types of construction companies that comprise the construction industry. The second research strand comprises a study of the current state of education, training and development of construction managers amongst the top 150 UK construction companies. Research, using a postal questionnaire, is undertaken to establish, firstly, company policies and attitudes towards education, training and development of construction managers; secondly, company policies and attitudes towards links with higher education establishments; and thirdly, the extent of ICT availability to construction managers that could be used to support continuing education, training and development of those managers. Questionnaire responses were either cross-tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis using Chi-Square Tests and Symmetrical Measures to establish the statistical significance of the responses; or were ranked using Relative Importance Indices to determine company attitudes and preferences. The third strand of research comprises a desktop study of the continuing professional development (CPD) requirements of seventeen of the principal professional institutions serving the construction industry. The research establishes the various requirements, policies, practices and procedures incumbent on the institutions’ members undertaking CPD activities. This thesis concludes, firstly, that the construction industry is becoming evermore fragmented as the number of small trades contractors continues to increase together with a continued growth in self-employment and agency working in the industry. This has a negative impact on management education, training and development as the increasing fragmentation makes this more difficult for smaller firms and selfemployed workers to accommodate. This thesis concludes, secondly, that construction companies are dominated by a task-culture, resulting from the project-based nature of the industry and the competitive way that work is procured. Consequently, construction companies tend to focus on meeting short-term financial and production objectives rather than longterm development strategies required for effective staff education, training and development. Thirdly, this thesis concludes that the principal drivers for education, training and development of managers in the construction industry are not the construction companies, but the professional institutions to which construction managers might belong. It is the institutions requirements for CPD for admission to, and continuation of, membership that provides one of the key drivers for undertaking CPD by managers. However, the adoption of new Construction Industry Council (CIC) recommendations by the professional institutions is producing a move away from formalised , often time-based, CPD requirements towards a requirement that CPD should be undertaken on an ‘as needs’ basis according to the members position and requirements. This has the potential to create loophole that could undermine all attempts to maintain or raise management standards through CPD. Finally, this thesis concludes that for management standards in the construction industry to be raised, continuing education, training and development of managers must become fully embedded in the culture of the construction industry, not just the professional institutions. CPD requirements should be formally linked to both academic standards and achievement, as well becoming a mandatory requirement of all supervisory and managerial grades of schemes such as the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS).

The subject of this thesis is employees who work mainly at home and who utilise technological tools, in this case the telephone and PC, to carry out their job. In distancing the workers from the conventional workplace, teleworking raises a number of important sociological and managerial issues about the conduct of work, especially as it relates to control, which is the focus of this thesis. The development of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) led to the diffusion of popular images, such as 'the electronic cottage', which emphasised teleworkers' autonomy and freedom. These ideas give unrealistic pictures of the control exercised over teleworkers. This thesis aims to provide a more complex and realistic account of managerial control. Although research suggested control by results is the main problem for managers, other structural and social factors affect control exercised from a distance. Examples include: the organisational and hierarchical structure of the work organisation, the lack of appropriate technological equipment, legal restrictions, the lack of a 'teleworking culture' and the 'eternal' employers' importance of workers' physical presence in workplaces. A series of management strategies, practices and policies have been re-shaped and deployed for controlling teleworkers. Other important factors for teleworking are self-discipline and self-management, and these are also explored. Three Italian case studies were compared: a highly bureaucratic public body, a virtual call centre and a small-medium sized enterprise. The theoretical framework of the 'Social Dimensions of Control' was used. This analyses control along four dichotomised social dimensions, which are: vertical/horizontal control; central/decentred control; external/internal control; visible/invisible control. These proved to be extremely important for exploring the new and complex methods through which teleworkers are managed.

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