HRM is a continuously changing practice – not only in the firm, but also in inter-organisational relations between firms or between firms and (self-employed) individuals. As a consequence, we experience a massive change in practices of HRM, in the respective constellations of actors in HRM and employment relations. A growing digitalisation of (multinational) firms as well as their business relationships, new business models based on digital technologies (e.g., crowdwork) leading to a “Gig economy” and the use of artificial intelligence impacts on the quality of work, HRM practices and employment relations.
The Macro-Micro-Link revisited
Wenzel Matiaske, Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg
This presentation argues that a socio-economic explanation of the organization of work and labour relations is advised to remember the macro-micro-link debate and the method of decreasing abstraction. Existing contributions in behavioral economics and micro economics tend to forget these traditional insights.
impacts on leadership and HRM practices
Sabrina Weber, Pforzheim University
In recent years, new forms of organization and work have gained ground in the context of in many companies digitalization (Jürgens et al., 2018). A prominent keyword in this context is ‘agility’. Agile principles of organization and work, including self-organized, collaborative forms and team-based methods, have spilled over from the world of software engineering and smaller companies including start-ups to companies in other fields and of other size. With new forms of organization and work, roles and responsibilities of individuals change (Pfeiffer et al., 2014). These changes also challenge established instruments and practices of human resource management (HRM) and leadership (BMAS, 2017).
What does agility mean in companies and what impact does it have on the organization’s established leadership and HRM instruments and practices?
An explorative study including 15 companies based in Germany reveals that there are – although there is some variety in the concrete meaning and implementation of ‘agility’ – significant challenges for established leadership models and HRM instruments and practices. Whereas some companies have redesigned their instruments and practices, others are still about to do so. For instance, personal development and career development (have to) change. Classical hierarchical career paths are no longer feasible in agile organizations with new roles instead of positions. Specific roles furthermore tend to be of temporary nature. Personal development in agile organizations is regarded as an individual, employee-driven process.
Agility furthermore implies changing roles for managers/leaders and for HR. HR’s role is mostly described as a coach or companion, in some companies also as a driver of agility. Managers/leaders often struggle with a re-definition of their own role and new forms of leadership, such as ‘empowering leadership’ (Amundsen and Martinsen, 2014). In this context, new tasks in executive development arise for HR.
Finally, our study reveals both perceived advantages, but also disadvantages of agile forms of organization and work. Respondents acknowledge a (positive) increase in autonomy and responsibility of individuals and highlight positive effects of social collaboration, which are both said to lead to job satisfaction. However, some of our respondents also notice (potential) stress at the workplace due to increased autonomy, responsibility, and transparency.
Findings are based on qualitative interviews conducted in 2016 in 15 companies in Germany in the context of an explorative study. In sum, 45 face-to-face interviews had been conducted with mainly managers and leaders (executive board members, HR, and other departments such as research and development).
The case of the German care service
Peter Wegenschimmel, Regensburg University of Applied Sciences
This presentation has been cancelled.
The case of German ground handling operations
Dominique Ziehe, University of Innsbruck
Markus Helfen, University of Innsbruck
In today’s service economy, the interorganizational collaboration in service delivery networks (SDN), i.e. networks of firms involved in the provision of a service (Tax et al., 2013), has become a widespread phenomenon. Over the past decades, the governance of SDN and similar inter-firm networks on the inter-organizational level has garnered considerable theoretical and empirical attention in various streams of the management literature (for an exemplary overview see Provan et al., 2007). In contrast, the question of how the multi-employer work arrangements constituted within these SDN are managed remains a gap in the employment relations and HRM literature (but see Rubery et al., 2002; Swart & Kinnie, 2014). And although there is an informative stream on front-line service work (e.g. Bélanger & Edwards, 2013), it rarely touches upon the profound consequences of an interorganizationally fragmented labour process, i.e. situations in which single work tasks of a single service delivery process are assigned to independent organizations and their employees.
Against this background, we aim for a better understanding of how service work is managed in SDN, by distinguishing the business relationships between firms from the work relations between service workers in an inter-organizationally distributed labour process. For doing so, we focus on how the networking between firms is translated through relational coordination (Gittell et al., 2010). The concept of relational coordination argues that dependencies between tasks and people across organizational boundaries are managed more effectively if the network of relationships is reflected upon and communication adapted accordingly (Gittell, 2000).
For our purpose, however, we need to modify the concept of relational coordination by using a practice lens on the service labour process (Nicolini, 2012). Thereby, we emphasize the inner connection between the structuring of the SDN and the practices actually deployed to manage the networked labour process.
Our empirical case for studying the management of networked service work are ground handling operations at three German airports. Ground handling is a formidable case to study networked service work, because in the aircraft turnaround process SDN of various service providers (loading, fuelling, catering, etc.) are involved and the cooperation of the different service workers in handling an aircraft can be observed in one location. Ground handling itself, however, is characterized by task dependencies, uncertainty and time constraints posing considerable challenges for coordinating the labour process interorganizationally.
Here, we zoom-in (Nicolini, 2012) into the networked work process by focusing on the ramp agent’s work role. Having conducted 39 interviews with ramp agents, managers as well as worker representatives, our key informants are the ramp agents who are assigned operational responsibility for coordinating and controlling the process through dispatching all relevant information and resources and connecting the various work tasks of the different service providers to ensure a proper service sequence. At the same time, the interorganizational structuring of the work process implies limits to ramp agents’ hierarchical decision-making. Hence, studying the ground handling process through the view of the ramp agents provides insights into whether and how relational coordination is deployed to manage the networked process and to what extent interorganizational structures and other context conditions might intervene in such a deployment.
Our comparative analysis reveals that ramp agents use relational coordination in contradictory ways as they are constrained by organizational jurisdictions and performance pressures. Especially, the interorganizational context of the work process and the overall work load set limits for ramp agents to use relational coordination across organizational boundaries according to the Gittell model. Rather than managing by supporting shared goals, shared knowledge and mutual respect as well as adequate communications (frequent, timely, accurate and problem-solving), ramp agents used different practices to ensure coordination. We identified five practices ramp agents developed to accomplish aircraft handling despite disadvantageous working conditions: reflecting the own work role in a network context, modifying routines and anticipating emergencies, problem solving through co-working, filtering and buffering information and building, maintaining and terminating personal work relationships.
Although our findings are restricted to one service delivery process in one peculiar SDN setting, we expect these practices to be rather widespread across service operations involving a multitude of organizations which are coordinated through similar boundary spanning roles on the operational level. Inasmuch as these and similar practices can also be identified in other networked work processes, our findings allow to qualify the antecedents of relational coordination and enlarge the variety of management practices used to steer networked service delivery. As for the antecedents, the practices of relational coordination may be used in settings described as high-performance work systems but are modified and replaced in other settings which are marked by strict performance targets and cost pressures. In these cases, and related to the second aspect, other practices may support service workers better in coordinating their work activities. Further research is needed to clarify how improvements in interorganizational collaboration on the level of the work process might also affect other strategically important outcomes such as quality, speed, customer satisfaction, and worker well-being.
Analysing employees’ experience of internal redeployment
Chris McLachlan, University of Leeds
Robert MacKenzie, Leeds University Business School
Employees who are subject to organisational restructuring processes typically experience a range of social and economic effects, whereby the loss of employment has implications for future employability, future earnings and disruption to career trajectories. For employees displaced through redundancy, the transition to new employment typically involves retraining for a new job and engaging with institutional support mechanisms externally. In this sense, displaced employees face a period of employment instability and the experience of labour market ‘churn’ (Brand, 2015; Jolkkonen et al, 2017). One organisational approach to limiting the impact of restructuring and avoiding compulsory redundancies has been through the implementation of internal redeployment processes. This paper thus explores the consequences of the implementation of internal redeployment processes for affected employees, provoking a wider debate around the function of internal labour market systems and the notion of internal labour churn in relation to organisational restructuring.
The rationale for organisations implementing internal labour market systems is traditionally understood as a means of protecting job security and job instability through employer-led solutions (Grimshaw and Rubery, 1998; Grimshaw et al, 2001; Capelli and Neumark, 2004). The organisational practice of internal redeployment has therefore sought to insulate employees affected by restructuring from the vagaries of the external labour market by offering them alternative employment internally. Rubery (1994) notes the importance of organisational contingencies on determining the condition of the internal labour market yet remains critical however of a tendency to over emphasise the organisational focus at the expense of neglecting the firms relationship with the environment in which it operates. Therefore, defining the existence of an internal labour market in terms of its distinction from the external labour market raises the question of the effect of the state of the external market upon the operation of the internal market. The point is to demonstrate the need to go beyond the tendency for asserting the dichotomy of the internal and external labour market and adopt an integrated approach in recognition of the interplay between the internal and external markets. As argued by Grimshaw and Rubery (1998), internal and external competitive pressures mutually interact to shape employer’s strategy and the labour market status of employees.
The paper hence builds on ideas of external labour market churn, viewed as the volatility caused by the voluntary or involuntary turnover of employees for organisations and employees alike, and the consequent impact on employment outcomes and career trajectories. We develop the notion of internal labour market churn and suggest this represents an analogous phenomenon, focusing attention on the way employees’ experiences and outcomes are shaped specifically by internal labour market systems such as through the practice of internal redeployment. Whilst employees can experience such churning due to the vagaries of the external labour market, this paper argues that churn may also be evident, and equally negative, within processes such as internal redeployment. Exploring redeployment process also connects to recent policy developments at European Union level, with the European Restructuring Monitor (2018) emphasising the need to anticipate the consequences for ‘stayers’ – those that remain employed post-restructuring such as through internal redeployment – in order to more effectively manage organisational change.
With regards to methodology, this paper seeks to further conceptualise the notion of internal labour market churn by building upon empirical research conducted at the UK subsidiary of a multinational steel firm (SteelCo). Based on a qualitative case study of an internal redeployment process the findings revealed the challenges faced by redeployed employees. Data was collected as part of a wider case study where 1700 jobs were lost at SteelCo between 2011-2015 over the course of two restructuring programmes. The focus on establishing an internal redeployment process meant employees moved between jobs in the internal labour market. The findings highlight how redeployed employees experienced similarly negative effects of ‘churn’ to those faced in the external labour market. Such effects included career scarring, feelings of displacement, underemployment and poorer terms and conditions. These effects are also often compounded by the external labour market environment, with a paucity of alternative employment opportunities and relative wage levels place constraints on employees and oblige them to engage with internal redeployment processes. Crucially, however, this brings into focus the role of HR in managing redeployed employees. Thus, the paper also points to the wider structural tensions in HR’s implementation of restructuring, highlighting the specific challenges faced by HR in relation managing internal redeployment. Structural tensions emerged in relation to the timing of the process, the availability of internal vacancies and the provision of retraining for redeployed employees. The paper concludes with some reflections on the changing role of internal labour markets and future implications for the management of restructuring processes.
Dong-One Kim, Korea University Business School
» Full paper: ilera-2019-paper-182-Kim.pdf
The academic field of labour and employment relations (LER) is currently in turmoil. Because of decreasing union density and collective bargaining coverage in most developed countries, there are growing doubts that LER is relevant to the changing employment environment. This paper examines how LER researchers have responded to and discussed strategies and the future implications for the field.
There exist two competing views on the evolution of LER. On the one hand, pessimists holding the “change or perish” view argue that the field has not evolved sufficiently with the increasingly dynamic world of work, and consequently it is in a serious crisis. Conversely, optimists arguing for “maintaining status quo” assert that LER is slowly yet steadily adapting to changing world of work, and no radical redirection from the present is warranted. Thus, currently there is much contention as to the future direction of the study of LER.
To resolve this debate and shed light on the future direction of LER research, one should first examine what we did in the past to obtain some implications for what we should pursue in the future. A study conducted by Ki-Jung Kim and I (2018) examined the degree to which LER research has reflected the ever-changing reality. We analyzed the abstracts in major LER journals in the post-World War II era (1947-2014). The data of this study include all the abstracts available in five representative journals in the field of LER representing four Western countries. Analyzing the frequency of keyword appearances and co-occurrence matrix, we found surprisingly that the number of studies researching trade unions has grown more or less steadily since the 1940s. Likewise, traditional topics in LER such as collective bargaining, strikes, mediation and arbitration show little signs of declining. Although research in LER seemed to increasingly embrace new phenomena and new realities such as nonunion, temporary and contingent workers, family, gender, women and immigrants, their share remained to be only minimal. Overall, most scholars in this field tacitly follow the view of optimists arguing for maintaining status quo.
To revitalize academic disciplines in crises, three basic strategies can be identified in previous literature: (1) strengthening the discipline itself, (2) collaborating with other robust disciplines, and (3) reshaping and expanding the scope of the discipline. I believe these strategies are based upon distinguishable assumptions.
The first strategy is to revitalize and reinforce the traditional boundaries separating this discipline from the other related disciplines. This strategy’s effectiveness is predicated upon the assumption that the perceived changing environment is actually temporary and not only can be reversed but will be in due course. The second assumption is that adherents of the disciplines in crisis are resistant to any radical change in the discipline’s core components. Revitalization requires reemphasizes its traditional essence in terms of both theory and practice. This strategy enables the discipline refocus its effort on more academically promising research without straying into the territory of other academic disciplines. The example of this strategy was philosophy at the end of 19th century.
The second strategy is to create strategic alliances with stronger disciplines. To prevent obsolescence and inevitable decline into obscurity, it must collaborate with more promising (e.g., newer) or more robust disciplines. This involves removing boundaries around itself to venture forth into more academically rewarding territory by emulating and adopting relevant theories, frameworks, and approaches prevailing in other disciplines. The example is the case where the soft discipline of sociology merged with the hard discipline, biology, to form a synergistic field of ‘sociobiology.’ This strategy is premised upon three assumptions. First, it presumes that this changing landscape is not temporary, but a permanent paradigm shift. Second, the field has little new to offer by itself. Third, adherents of the discipline have a feeling of crisis consciousness and willing to adapt to necessary changes to preserve the discipline.
The final strategy is readjusting, repackaging and expanding the field to incorporate emerging trends while preserving its core. This strategy may not applicable to all fields but only to those undergoing dynamic developments, such as new trends and paradigm shifts, that are forcing the field to expand. Newly emerging related fields provide unclaimed academic territory, creating new blue ocean strategic opportunities. This strategy is not the negation or displacement of the old; rather, increasing complexity compels the emergence of new approaches to theory, modality and methodology. For example, the discipline of Agriculture rebranded itself in the course of last two decades as life science, thereby providing a much larger context in which to grow in multiple directions. This strategy is based upon three assumptions. First, as the changing environment is irreversible, maintaining the status quo offers no prospect of bringing its old glory back. Second, because of the rapidly changing environments and ever-growing complexity, there are likely to be new areas emerging that other disciplines are not likely to stake a claim over, therefore opportunities. Third, its adherents are prepared to accept adaption in response to rapidly changing environmental factors to maintain the discipline.
Regarding the field of LER, the present study argued for the final strategy of readjusting, repackaging and expanding this field. I propose that we must expand the field of LER for it to remain relevant and survive in the future. That is, it should be able to embrace and explain the new realities of the world of work. However, I do not claim immediate disposition of research on unions and collective bargaining. Rather, I believe that we must not abandon our traditional core, as unions and collective bargaining may rebound in developed countries and either are emerging or remaining important in the public sector and developing countries.
Ragnhild Steen Jensen, Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research, Oslo
Kristine Nergaard, Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research, Oslo
This paper deals with the importance of employment in the retail trade for inclusion in the labour market. The threshold for securing a job in a shop is low compared to many other occupations and industries, and many young people start their careers in retail. The industry recruits many young workers, and has no particular criteria for formal education or work experience upon appointment. Retail work is primarily learned through participation in practical work in the shop, as well as close follow-up by more experienced staff.
The industry is one of few in which employees can still advance to management level based on work experience and without completing a higher education. Shop managers place a strong emphasis on employees’ work ethic and personal characteristics. However, managers also stress that the industry is relatively open and that the threshold for securing a job is not high. In addition, the retail trade is widely used by the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) in connection with work training/the work experience scheme.
In the paper, we examine how the retail industry deals with those recruited from NAV on employment initiatives/work experience placements. Is this sector –with experiences form high turnover-rates and on-the-job training of many young employees with little work experience, well-equipped for work training? Or are the characteristics of the sector, including a potential interest from employers in “cheap labour” an obstacle for the kind of employment training NAV supports?
The study observes that the usual method of training used in the industry, through practical work and with close follow-up, also seems to work well in relation to those sent by NAV. However, those on labour market initiatives receive a longer training period, and are more closely followed up during the process. Some prerequisites must be in place to ensure effective inclusion. First, businesses must dedicate sufficient resources to training and following up those on employment initiatives. Second, it is important that the local NAV office and/or the rehabilitation organisation have a close cooperation with the employer. This entails keeping the lines of communication open during the process, as well as understanding the needs and requirements of a job in the retail trade and taking these into account when selecting candidates for practice placements.
The survey is based on qualitative and quantitative data, but focuses mainly on interviews with employers at different levels in four large retail chains.
Its potential disruption and the need to find answers to its challenges
Jean-Michel Bonvin, University of Geneva
Maria M. Mexi, University of Geneva
The “gig economy” represents an emerging phenomenon with the potential of disrupting traditional labour market arrangements and forms of labour representation in Europe and around the world. While the academic and policy debate is still polarized, we put forward a more balanced and comprehensive perspective drawing on new cross-country evidence.
Rights, wrongs and the gig economy in a polarised context
Simone Baglioni, University of Lodz
Tom Montgomery, Glasgow Caledonian University
The gig economy presents a further challenge to the security of workers in a context where the UK Government and the trade union movement have an antagonistic relationship. Could the impact of the gig economy be a catalyst for coordinated and collective responses to this disruptive force?
The challenges of the gig economy to the German Model
Johannes M. Kiess, University of Siegen
This presentation explores how German policy makers and social partners view and handle challenges of the gig economy to worker’s protection and social dialogue. The main question is: How does the coordinated German Model – its institutions, stakeholders, and ideological base – cope with the disruptive force of the gig economy?
