Teleworking remains a limited practice in organisations despite its widely reported potential to produce benefits for employers, employees and society as a whole. The reasons for the limited spread of telework are not wholly understood. Past research contributes to this lack of clarity by excluding from analysis data relating to those who refrain from permitting or practising telework, and by neglecting the contextual and situational conditions within which teleworking is implemented. The central aim of this thesis is to address these deficiencies in previous research by examining factors which influence the differential diffusion and practice of teleworking within organisations, through contextually-based, multi-level, qualitative research. Four specific research questions focus the study towards: examination of industry, organisation and job specific factors; senior and lower-level managers’ attitudes and approach to telework; non-teleworkers’ attitudes and approach to telework; and teleworkers’ individual characteristics and experiences of telework. The research draws upon one hundred semi-structured interviews with teleworkers, non-teleworkers and ex- teleworkers, as well as with managers and senior managers in three organisations: a local authority; a telecommunications organisation and a high-technology firm. The analysis also makes use of focus group and observational data. The study identifies a reinforcing relationship between industry, organisational and job specific factors which influences organisations’ strategic use of telework. It highlights senior managers’ strong influence on lower-level managers’ approach to telework and the manner in which telework is experienced within the workgroup. Teleworkers’ experiences and expected gender roles are also shown to influence employees’ differential participation in telework. The research develops typologies of different 'types' of job roles and voluntary teleworkers in relation to these factors and so clarifies the different imperatives governing use of telework within organisations.

It has been widely recognized that a properly designed HR system contributes to organizational competitive advantage through attracting, retaining and developing valuable human resources. However, little has been written to examine the construction of HR systems in acquired units after acquisitions to maintain and restore the value of the acquired human asset although researchers have given increasing attention to human issues in acquisitions. In addition, most existing studies on acquisitions focus on firms from the developed economy with limited efforts on emerging economies where acquisitions become increasingly vibrant. The purpose of this study is to explore the process of constructing HR systems for Chinese acquired units after acquisitions by foreign invested companies and investigate factors determining HR system elements. Drawing on theories of universal perspective, contingency approach, bargaining power perspective, and institutional theory, an integrated framework is proposed to reveal the interaction between factors at various levels that contributes to the development of HR systems for acquired units. Based on in-depth case studies on four international acquisitions in China, the findings show that while acquisitions as levers of changes open up opportunities to disseminate some Western HRM elements to Chinese firms, the extent and degree of change are mediated by acquired firms' political forces and the institutional arrangement, especially in appraisal and reward and employee relations subsystems. The change nature and process also varies among different levels of elements within the same subsystem. The theoretical framework is therefore developed towards a dynamic model to capture changes across different subsystems and different levels of components, particularly under the Chinese transitional institutional environment and its increasing integration with the global economy. This study contributes to the body of knowledge of human issues of acquisitions through extending the insights into a developing economy background and exploring the evolution process of HR systems for acquired firms. It also adds knowledge to the literature on Chinese HRM by examining the possible change trend of HR systems at Chinese acquired units under the interaction between acquisition partners and macro institutional arrangements.

Although empowerment is acknowledged as a beneficial form of work design for both employees and organisations, there is limited research into the concept within call centres. Two studies were conducted to explore four dimensions of psychological empowerment, job satisfaction and employee well-being for employees in call centre environments. Study 1 compared the perceptions of empowerment, job satisfaction and well-being of customer service agents, administration staff and supervisors within six call centres. Overall working as a customer service agent offered less autonomy, but was no less satisfying, than working in administration at the same level. However, all non-supervisory call centre workers reported poorer well-being than the general working population. The results for the customer service agent role revealed that more empowerment led to higher job satisfaction, improvement in employee wellbeing and a reduction in intention to leave. However, an inverted U-shape relationship between empowerment and job satisfaction suggested that too much empowerment decreased job satisfaction and impaired employee wellbeing. Comparisons between diverse service management models suggested customer service agents felt "high commitment" models to be the most empowering, satisfying and best for well-being. However, the introduction of limited empowerment practices into "mass service models" could reduce unwanted turnover. The second study used a longitudinal design in one call centre. Study 2 evaluated the effect of an organisational development programme on empowerment, job satisfaction, employee well-being, and performance for customer service agents. Study 2 . substantiated the inverted U-shape relationship between empowerment and job satisfaction. The organisational "development programme improved business performance and employee wellbeing, but reduced satisfaction and perceptions of empowerment, and could result in an increase in unwanted turnover. The findings suggest a cautious approach when introducing empowerment practices. From the employee perspective some empowerment is beneficial. However, from the organisational perspective, unless empowerment is introduced unequivocally, and in a controlled and supportive way, the result may not produce a commensurate improvement in performance and outcomes desired. Limitations of the studies are discussed and recommendations for future research are proposed.

This thesis explores how employees use humour in their everyday experience of fun corporate cultures. Several problems with play as a management initiative have already been noted: management do not always support the initiatives (Redman and Matthews, 2002); employees can be quite cynical (Fleming, 2005); and feel belittled (Warren and Fineman, 2007). Considering these effects of corporate culture, this thesis examines the experiences of employees who engage with the corporate culture to explore how they use humour. In order to do so, the thesis considers the nature of humour as a social phenomenon as a social, emotion and embodied mode of communication. This thesis is concerned with the creative industries in particular, as a context where play is linked to a self-managing workforce. It examines several themes which have emerged within the literature on fun identities, managing emotions and space and materiality in fun corporate cultures. The latter chapters explore the findings from three creative organisations to consider how humour is performative. In order to do so, it analyses how employees use humour as a tactic drawing on De Certeau's (1984) distinction between strategies and tactics within the everyday. De Certeau's work distinguishes how strategies form proper spaces with dominant meanings and the tactics which the users of the space invoke in order to re-appropriate the space. This thesis argues that by seeing humour as a tactic, it is possible to divide the use of fun into four different discourses which work on employees subjectivity. This thesis makes three contributions to the study of humour in fun corporate cultures. First, it contributes empirically through forming a four-way typology linking discourses on fun to tactics of humour and the effect on employees subjectivity. Second, it uses a novel method of studying humour through designing a humour log which encourages employees to be conscious and reflective of humour. Finally, it makes a theoretical contribution through applying De Certeau's work on strategies and tactics to the material and spatial features of the organisations (Lefebvre, 1991).

The main purpose of the study is to investigate the relationships between workplace training related variables (training provision and support for training), and employees' attitudes and behaviours in China. The literature review revealed several gaps in the current understanding of the phenomenon including: (1) lack of research integrating different theoretical perspectives; (2) limited studies have examined the relationships between workplace training-related variables, organisational commitment (OC), job performance (JP), and turnover intentions (TI) in a simultaneous manner; (3) limited studies have examined key mediators such as OC and JP; (4) the need to expand the training and turnover relationship; (5) limited studies have examined the role of employees' occupation in influencing the impact of HR practices (for example, workplace training); and, (6) lack of research in the Chinese retail context. Addressing these gaps, the present study aims to advance knowledge by integrating theories from the labour economics field, the strategic human resource management field and the training transfer literature, and systematically examines their interrelationships between constructs drawn from these theories. Using a multi-method approach (questionnaires, interviews and company documentary analysis), the empirical evidence was collected from a major retailer in China. Structural equation modelling (SEM) procedures were followed using Mplus 5.21 to analyse the quantitative data. Interview data was used at various stages as a source to support and explain findings arising from the quantitative data. Using data from 1,578 employee questionnaires and 17 senior management interviews, the findings demonstrate that: (1) training has different effects on employees' attitudes and behaviours depending on the type of training; (2) peer support contributes positively to employees' OC and JP; (3) significant contribution of OC and JP on employees TI in general; (4) the importance of identifying affective and normative commitment, and task performance as key mediators of the workplace training-related variables and employee turnover intentions relationships in the Chinese setting; and (5) remarkable differences between frontline and backoffice employees with regard to most hypothesised relationships. By this, the study contributes to current understanding on the specific role of different types of training on employee turnover intentions, as well as the influence of supportive work environment on employees' attitudinal and behavioural outcomes. Furthermore, it contributes to the development of a broader theoretical understanding of the relationship between training-related variables, OC, JP and TI relationships in the relatively under-researched Chinese retail sector. Key words: Workplace training, organisational commitment, job performance, turnover intentions, peer support, supervisor support

This thesis develops a micro-model of employee perspectives in the Work-Based Learning (WBL)- motivation process. WBL plays a vital part in promoting employer/employee adaptability in today's dynamic climate. Individual motivation is central to successful WBL, underpinning individual learning, upon which organisational learning is founded. There were three key stages in model construction. Stage one constructed an initial WBL-motivation model through exploration of employer and employee perspectives of WBL; utilising six focus groups with employees (n=34) and semi structured interviews with employer representatives (senior training managers, n=3). Participants were drawn from three large financial organísations. Stage two further developed and refined model factors, focusing on the employee perspective. A research-specific motivation questionnaire was developed to assess model factors, items being based on stage one participant accounts. Following questionnaire completion by cohoñ one (n=100, full-time employees from a range of organisations), factors were refined using Principal Components Analysis and the questionnaire modified accordingly; following questionnaire completion by cohort two (n=98, from two SMEs), factors were confirmed using Alpha Factor Analysis and used to modify the model. Stage three identified significant factors and tested the inter-factor relationships in the WBL motivation model by entering composite scores from the research-specific questionnaire into Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis (participants n=96, from two SMEs). A micro-model of employee perspectives in the WBL-motivation process was produced representing salient motivational factors (valued outcomes, instrumentality, perceptions of the organisation, goal setting, goal acceptance and satisfaction) and emphasising the complexity of inter-factor relationships. This model represents the major contribution of this thesis to current theory and practice: Furthering theoretical understanding of employee motivation in WBL, and raising employer/employee awareness of salient issues, which can be used to inform WBL practice and development. This study contributes to methodology through construction of a questionnaire for WBL-motivation evaluation suitable for researchers and practitioners. Suggestions for future model development are discussed.

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