Flexible Work Practices Research Articles

Introduction: What work? What life? What balance?

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to initiate critical reflection on the assumptions and evidence underpinning the work‐life balance debate.Design/methodology/approachThe article reviews a range of international literature focused on and related to the work‐life balance debate and issues.FindingsIn the work‐life balance debate, over‐work is perceived as the problem. Nevertheless, beyond working time and the provision of flexible working practices to enable child care, there is little in the debate abut the need to change work per se. The debate also narrowly perceives “life”, equating it with women's care work, hence the emphasis again of family‐friendly polices.Research limitations/implicationsThe article suggests that reconceptualisation is required in analyses of both work‐life balance and the relationship between work and life.Practical implicationsThe article implies that current work‐life balance policies are myopic in terms of addressing the needs and aspirations of employees.Originality/valueThe article offers a synthesis of evidence that is wider than that typical in current analyses of work and life.

Freedom or fallout in local government? How work–life culture impacts employees using flexible work practices

This exploratory study investigates five conceptually distinct dimensions of work–life culture which account for the gap between work–life policy provision and utilization: ‘Manager Support’; ‘Organizational Time Expectations’; ‘Career Consequences’; ‘Gendered Perceptions of Policy Use’ and ‘Co-worker Support’, among 22 employees using flexible work practices (13 women, 9 men) in a local government organization in Australia. The findings inform the development of targeted strategies that help alleviate the cultural barriers preventing the use of work–life policies by eligible employees and contribute to the emergent area of organizational work–life culture as a theoretical construct.

Why work–life balance now?

In the vast literature on work-life balance one question remains seriously under-elaborated: Why now? The paper opens by recognising that flexible working practices can be employee friendly or employer friendly, and that current employer friendly practices tend to constrain, rather than enable, possibilities for work-life balance. Part two introduces neoliberalism, interpreting it as a new class strategy: the iron fist of a renewed ruling class offensive is wrapped in the velvet glove of freedom, individualism, and (re-habilitated) discourses of flexible working practices. Part three introduces socio-linguistics to overcome an elision between work-life balance as a set of practices and as a set of discourses. We then see that discourses of flexibility have been un-coupled from discourses associated with employee unfriendly flexible working practices, and re-coupled with discourses associated with employee friendly working practices and, hence, with work-life balance. Data show that current flexible working practices are characterised as much by employee unfriendly working practices that tend to constrain work-life balance, as they are by employee friendly practices that tend to enable work-life balance. Shorn of its employee unfriendly connotations, the term 'flexibility' has been discursively 'rehabilitated' such that it no longer connotes any negativity. In conclusion one of New Labour's work-life balance policies (the right to request and the duty to consider flexible working practices) is analysed in an attempt to answer the initial question: 'Why work-life balance now?'

Task-Specific Training and Job Design

This paper provides a simple theoretical framework based on a new type of human capital introduced by Gibbons and Waldman (2004), called task-specific training, to understand job design. Mainly, in the presence of task-specific training, promotions might result ex-post in the underutilization of human capital and thus firms at the time of designing jobs should attempt to diversify this risk. The results of the model are used to study the rationale for flexible work practices such as job rotation and ex-post task relocations, and to understand the college and experience premium.

Local Unions and the Restructuring of Work within the Multinational Company: Internal Solidarity and Local Context

This article focuses on the influence of a multinational corporation (MNC) on the reorganization of work and labor relations in two Canadian plants. The MNC used coercive comparisons and created a regime of cooperative competition in an effort to promote rational ization and the adoption of flexible work practices. The research used qualitative techniques including interviews, observations, informal conversations, and the study of company and union documents. The results show that both plants modified work organization and work rules in a way that was consistent with the requirements of the MNC. In one plant, however, the union was seriously weakened and unable to influence the process of change. In the other plant, the union pre served a central role and negotiated the implementation of new work practices. These differences are explained with reference to the local context and union capabilities.

Factors affecting supply and demand of anesthesiologists in Western Europe

Current demographic and macroeconomic trends indicate that, in Western Europe, the demand for anesthesia services will continue to increase. It is, however, questionable whether there will be sufficient supply. In Western Europe, admission to medical schools is typically restricted. The European Working Time Directive has decreased the clinical exposure of residents. Also, increasing feminization of the physician workforce and the aging of current practitioners may change the available workforce. Current healthcare reforms that include demand-lowering elements may also negatively affect supply and demand for anesthesiologists. Steps must be taken to augment the number of practitioners to ensure a sufficient number of anesthesiologists. Employers will have to offer flexible working practices and adequate compensation to attract new anesthesiologists. Alternatively, more responsibilities and tasks may be allocated to well-trained anesthesia assistants (e.g. nurses). National anesthesia associations must improve and coordinate resident training, which may alleviate the recruitment problem. A European training standard in anesthesia might adjust the regional disequilibrium of supply and demand, as might salary competition. In the long run, the undersupply of anesthesiologists may be offset by factors such as more procedures being performed non-invasively and further demand-lowering healthcare policies.

Leader framing and follower sensemaking

Alternative workplaces are increasingly prevalent, combining flexible work practices, open landscape settings and a variety of acceptable working locations, especially for technology-enabled workers. In this article we examine the sensemaking response of technology-enabled, nomadic workers to the firm’s downsizing event at Telenor, Norway’s premier telecom company, in late 2002. We find two opposite interpretations of the firm’s employee database efforts and project-based structure emerge after the downsizing event. Our findings suggest the lack of geosocial boundaries in the organization influences sensemaking. Nomadic workers adopt frames that drive their interpretations and actions idiosyncratically. We suggest further research is needed to understand the influence of alternative work-places on patterns of behavior and human processes.

Effective Diversity Management of Expecting and New Parents

This article reviews the literature relating to the workplace issues of expecting and new parents within the framework of diversity management. Family status is a secondary dimension of diversity, and organisational responses to pregnant workers, new parents and those returning to work have rarely been explored in the context of diversity management. The concepts of diversity, diversity management and the benefits of effective diversity management are explored in relation to new and expecting parents. The issues of working mothers, pregnancy, breastfeeding, discrimination, industry segmentation, organisational commitment and organisational social responsibility in relation to diversity management are discussed. Recommendations are made regarding maternity leave, paternity leave, return to work strategies, flexible work practices, organisational culture and the role of supervisors.

Local Unions and the Restructuring of Work within the Multinational Company: Internal Solidarity and Local Context

This article focuses on the influence of a multinational corporation (MNC) on the reorganization of work and labor relations in two Canadian plants. The MNC used coercive comparisons and created a regime of cooperative competition in an effort to promote rationalization and the adoption of flexible work practices. The research used qualitative techniques including interviews, observations, informal conversations, and the study of company and union documents. The results show that both plants modified work organization and work rules in a way that was consistent with the requirements of the MNC. In one plant, however, the union was seriously weakened and unable to influence the process of change. In the other plant, the union preserved a central role and negotiated the implementation of new work practices. These differences are explained with reference to the local context and union capabilities.

Age Management in Norwegian Hospitality Businesses

This study investigates how managers direct issues of an ageing workforce, and whether this has implications for the hospitality industry. Managers' experiences with managing age‐mixed workforces are outlined, and implications of an ageing workforce for the hospitality industry are discussed. The study is centred on five human‐resource areas; (1) Job recruitment, (2) training, development, and promotion, (3) flexible working practice, (4) job design, and (5) younger versus older workers. The latter includes managers' attitudes towards older employees. Data was collected by interviewing 20 Norwegian hospitality managers. Results indicated that managers have more positive than negative experiences with balancing the workforce with younger and older workers. No explicit age‐barriers were found in recruitment, but few managers planned to actively recruit older workers. Training programmes were not designed specially for older workers. Flexible working practices are difficult to organize in hospitality jobs. The study indicated that there are positive outcomes of creating age‐balanced workforces in the hospitality industry, because younger and older workers complement each other. No overt negative attitudes towards seniors were expressed, and older managers seemed to be more positive towards older workers.

Managers' perceptions of older workers in the hotel and restaurant industry

The purpose of the study was to investigate how managers direct issues of an aging workforce, and whether this has implications for the hospitality industry. Further, managers' experiences with managing age-mixed workforces are outlined. Implications of an aging workforce for the hospitality industry are also discussed. Qualitative data were gathered from 20 hospitality managers in Norwegian hotels and restaurants through employing interviews. A three-step analysis indicates that in organizations employing an age-mixed workforce, managers have more positive than negative experiences with balancing the workforce with younger and older workers. No age barriers were found in recruitment, but few managers plan to actively recruit older workers. Training programmes are not designed specially for older workers. Flexible working practices are difficult to organize in hospitality jobs. There are positive outcomes of creating age-balanced workforces in the hospitality industry, because younger and older workers complement each other. No overt negative attitudes towards seniors were expressed, and older managers seemed to be more positive towards older workers.

HRM practices and MNC knowledge transfer

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to determine and empirically examine the effect of human resource management (HRM) practices on knowledge transfer within multinational corporations.Design/methodology/approachIt is suggested that the employment of human resource practices, which affect absorptive capacity of knowledge receivers and support organizational learning environment, is positively related to the degree of knowledge transfer to the subsidiary. Moreover, the higher degree of knowledge transfer is expected when HRM practices are applied as an integrated system of interdependent practices. Hypotheses derived from these arguments are tested on the data from 92 subsidiaries of Danish multinational corporations (MNCs) located in 11 countries.FindingsResults of the analysis indicated the existence of two groups of HRM practices conducive to knowledge transfer. The simultaneous effect of the first group of HRM practices consisting of “staffing”, “training”, “promotion”, “compensation” and “appraisal” on the degree of knowledge transfer was found to be positive and substantial. The hypothesis regarding the effect of corporate socialization mechanisms and flexible working practices (the second group of HRM practices) was not supported by the data. The analysis also indicated that some HRM practices have a complementary effect on the degree of knowledge transfer when they are applied as a system.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this study makes a contribution to our understanding of the relationship between HRM practices and knowledge transfer in the MNC, clearly, additional research is needed to develop this link further, which until now has been largely black‐boxed.Originality/valueMakes a contribution to our understanding of the relationship of HRM practices and knowledge transfer in MNCs.

Temporary Agency Work, the Changing Employment Relationship and its Impact on Human Resource Management

The increasing use of temporary agency work in Germany has implications for the nature of the employment relationship. The notion of a clearly defined employer-employee relationship becomes difficult to uphold in triangular relationships like in the case of temporary agency work where the agencies employees are working at the site of the client company. The blurring of the boundaries of organisations and of the employment relationship leads to ambiguities that affect Human Resource Management. Given the dominance of new institutional economic approaches in the analysis of temporary agency work, it is not surprising that the ambiguities and the effects and consequences of the use of temporary agency workers on the Human Resource Management of client companies have been underestimated and not been explored in detail. This paper wants to close that gap by adding a Human Resource Management perspective to the current debate in order to gain insight on the role of Human Resource Management in triangular relationships. By building on theoretical discussions and empirical studies the implications of the use of temporary agency workers for the Human Resource Management of client companies are analyzed with a special regard to commitment and identification with the client company. Different suggestions how to organize Human Resource Management instruments for temporary agency workers are presented to illustrate the value of a diverse Human Resource Management for different groups of the workforce. Key words: Temporary Agency Work, Employment Relationship, New Institutional Economics 1. Temporary agency work as an example of non-standard employment relations The notion of a clearly defined employment relationship becomes difficult to uphold as changes in the organization of work facilitated by technological improvements have blurred the boundaries between standard and non-standard employment relations. Consequently, non-standard employment relations such as temporary agency work have become increasingly prominent ways of organizing work in recent years (Nienhuser/Matiaske 2003: 467; Bothfeld/Kaiser 2003: 489; Jahn/Rudolph 2002: 1ff.). There are many different terms used in the literature to describe non-standard employment relations (Kalleberg 2000). For example, non-standard employment relations have been referred to as flexible staffing arrangements (Abraham 1988, Houseman 2001), market-mediated arrangements (Abraham 1990), flexible working practices (Brewster et al 1997) or more generally as atypical employment (Delsen 1995; De Grip et al 1997; Cordova 1986). However all definitions imply that non-standard employment departs from the standard work arrangement. Standard work arrangements are generally associated with full-time positions that are based on an indefinite contract and are performed at the employer's site under the employer's direction (Muckenberger 1985: 429; Bosch 1986: 165; Talos 1999: 417/418; Rogowski/Schomann 1996: 224ff). Though, global economic changes, increased competition and uncertainty among companies put greater pressure on them to push for greater profits and more flexible work arrangements, non-standard employment relations are not new. There have always been employment relations that did not fit the standard model of full-time work (Peck 1996). This is also true for temporary agency work that first emerged in the United States after the second World War (Mitlacher 2004: 9). As an example of a non-standard employment relation, temporary agency work involves the externalisation of administrative control and responsibility (Pfeffer/Baron 1988). Temporary work agencies employ workers and hire them out to a client company where they work at the client's premises and direction while the agency charges a fee for this service (Kalleberg 2000: 346). This creates a triangular relationship where a worker establishes connections with different companies (Bronstein 1991; Vosko 1997). The following section illustrates the recent development of the temporary work industry in Germany. …

Organisational flexibility and HRM in the hotel industry: evidence from Australia

The hotel industry is renowned for its poor pay and employment conditions and a low take‐up of HR practices. It is generally believed that the industry has relied on a lowcost, numerically flexible and disposable workforce. Recently, however, there has been debate concerning the extent to which managers in the hotel industry are embracing high commitment HRM and functionally flexible work practices. This study seeks to shed light on this question by analysing large‐scale survey and interview data on the hotel industry in Australia. While hotel workplaces in general continue to be associated with high levels of numerical and temporal flexibility and greater informality of HR policies, it was apparent that larger luxury hotels were adopting more systematic employee management techniques and strengthening their internal labour markets through functional flexibility initiatives. Such firms were also pursuing numerical and temporal flexibility strategies, although in rather different ways.

The role of the senior health care worker in critical care.

This article identifies that the introduction of the support worker role in the critical care team facilitates flexibility when organizing and managing patient care. Qualified nurses' time can be used more effectively, enhancing the quality of the patient care delivered. Aspects of the qualified nurses' workload in critical care can be shared and delegated successfully to unqualified staff. It is our view that staffing levels in critical care environments need to be reviewed with more flexible working practices to meet the current and future demands of critical care. There is a need for national consensus amongst qualified nurses to clarify and define the role of the support worker and develop a critical care competency framework to standardize training. To ensure proficiency, adequate training and appropriate accountability, support workers require regulation by a nationally recognized body.

The Flexible Workforce in the Knowledge Economy: A case study examining the perceptions of call centre staff and influence of flexible work practices to job satisfaction in a multi-national call centre operating in Australia

The Flexible Workforce in the Knowledge Economy: A case study examining the perceptions of call centre staff and influence of flexible work practices to job satisfaction in a multi-national call centre operating in Australia

Atypical Employment Relationships and Commitment: Wishful Thinking or HR Challenge?

Nowadays, simultaneously maintaining flexible working practices and commitment is an important topic for HR managers since they both can contribute to organisational success. However, many HRM researchers and practitioners are unsure whether these can go together as job security is often seen as a necessary condition for commitment. Since relatively little research has yet been completed, this article contributes to this discussion. The aim of this article is to explain how flexible workers can be committed. Since knowledge on the matter is very limited, it was decided to conduct an exploratory, qualitative study, observing and listening to welders and fitters in two Dutch companies. The results show that there are more congruencics than differences in terms of commitment between the two groups of workers (typical and atypical). Moreover, the findings also indicate that the commitment of atypical workers depends on a whole range of Human Resource Management choices. HRM for these workers does not begin and end with choices made about human resource flows and specific contract policies. Therefore, an active approach to the whole HRM territory (work systems, rewards, human resource flow, and employee influence) would seem desirable. It was found that all employees want employers to listen to their views regarding policy choices that affect them personally. Key words: Atypical Employment Relationships, Commitment, HR Policies for Atypical Workers Introduction IBM has halved its number of direct employees from 440.000 to 225.000 worldwide but we still have the same overall number of jobs as before, around 500.000. We have just shifted their status. The group will never go back to full employment in any way. It got its fingers too badly burned in the 1980s (Peter Hagger, business Director Global Services in Purcell/Parcel! 1998). Also, statistical evidence on a larger scale seems to support the changes in human resource flow policies and more specific strategic decisions concerning employment relationship policies as reflected in the comment above. In the European Union, 42 million people (27 per cent of the total working population) have so-called atypical employment relationships (CIETT 2000): non-permanent or temporary contracts, freelance contracts, and temping relationships. The last category refers to contractual triangles a 'menage a trois' between one employee and two employers - such as temporary work through agencies (TWA), personnel on loan, and labour pools. In terms of atypical or flexible work rankings, the Netherlands - the country in which the current research was completed - occupies fourth place in the European Union: only surpassed by Portugal (49.7%), Spain (47.7%), Italy (36%). More than 31 per cent of the Dutch working population have atypical employment relationships: 3.3 per cent do agency work, 14.4 per cent have non-permanent contracts, and 13.8 per cent work as freelancers. Only in the United Kingdom do more people work through agencies than in the Netherlands (3.8% c.f. 3.3%) (Randstad 2004). Therefore it is not surprising that one of the sessions of the third international HRM conference 'Innovating HRM?' organised by the Dutch HRM Network in 2003 was devoted to 'Innovating the employment relationship'. Atypical employment relationships imply less job security for employees. Less discussed is the extreme challenge that flexible labour places on the HR function. Many HRM researchers and practitioners believe that increasing labour flexibility not only decreases labour costs, but also reduces HR managers' (and companies') responsibilities since temp agencies appear to reduce the time that has to be invested in recruitment, and rewards. Here, it is argued that these assumptions, and not only from a legal point of view - such as the forthcoming European directive on private agency work, are open to question. The concept of organisational commitment lies at the heart of any analysis of HRM. …

Achieving competitive differentiation: the challenge for automakers

The automotive industry is at a crossroads. The key to survival and prosperity will be to achieving and sustaining competitive differentiation. Competitive differentiation depends on distinguishing quality, cost/value, and timeliness attributes. The industry is experiencing significant changes: (1) Quality – the definition of quality has moved on from traditional objective measures (such as reliability, durability, noise) to expanded definitions that are more subjective, experiential and emotional criteria. (2) Cost/value – the price of an auto has decreased due to the declining real cost of goods (competitiveness has forced automakers to take out costs and pass saving on to consumers), and the margin shrinkage that is the result of information transparency. Internet sites are offering retail prices, dealer invoices, rebates, financing, online buying services, etc.; this has enhanced the consumer’s power. (3) Timeliness – bringing a product to market quicker than the competition will mean that an OEM can nimbly translate market trends into products eagerly sought by buyers. Attractive products require fewer incentives to move them over their lifetimes. The implications of how automakers approach and execute differentiating strategies: attributes are continually being redefined by creative designers and engineers, new materials, and new technology; a greater focus is being placed on features that are useful and valued by consumers; experiential attributes are increasingly significant as sources of differentiation; customer handling excellence (while important) will always be outweighed by product attributes; and competitive benchmarking is useful only up to a point. For all automakers, the foundation for competitiveness are: invest in fresh, attractive, affordable, consumer‐driven products rather than incentives that push product to consumers; nimbleness must be achieved through accelerate product development; push for the use of intelligent platform, subassembly and component sharing; target flexible manufacturing and work practices; optimize order to delivery processes; cap production of individual car lines to control supply; and focus on key developing markets (the last “battlefields”).

The Determinants of Flexibility and Innovation in the Government Workplace: Recent Evidence from Canada

This article analyzes the adoption of flexible work design and employee involvement practices in Canadian government workplaces. It uses information from a representative survey of government middle managers. The survey, which was specially designed for the government sector, was carried out in five Canadian jurisdictions. A high incidence of both flexible work design and employee involvement practices, much higher than in the Canadian private‐sector, was found in government workplaces. The most significant correlation between the two sets of practices is perceived public pressure for more better‐quality services and for increased employee involvement in the design and implementation of these services. Budget constraints are important in explaining the adoption and spread of employee involvement techniques. There is also a strong positive association between the adoption of flexible work practices and the extent of managerial autonomy. Various supporting human resource management practices are also complementary to the successful adoption of flexible work practices in Canadian government workplaces. However, the characteristics of the work, the work unit, and the workforce have a rather limited effect on the adoption of these practices. Our findings indicate that there might be differences in the determinants of the adoption of flexible workplace practices in government and private‐sectors, pointing to possible institutional forces at work in government workplaces.

Critical factors in career decision making for women medical graduates.

Within the next 30 years there will be equal numbers of women and men in the medical workforce. Indications are that women are increasing their participation in specialties other than general practice, although at a slower rate than their participation in the workforce as a whole. To inform those involved in training and employment of medical women, this study investigated the influencing factors in career decision making for female medical graduates. A total of 305 women medical graduates from the University of Auckland responded to a mail survey (73% response rate) which examined influences on decision making, in both qualitative and quantitative ways, as part of a larger survey. Most women were satisfied with their careers. The principal component analysis of the influencing factors identified four distinct factors important in career choice - interest, flexibility, women friendliness and job security, although the first two of these were rated more highly than the others. Barriers to full participation by medical women in training and employment need to be systematically examined and removed. This is not only to allow women themselves to reach their full potential, but for workforce and socio-economic reasons. Initiatives that allow and value more flexible training and work practices, particularly through the years of child raising, are necessary for women and the health care workforce at large.