Sector In Britain Research Articles

Opposition to Unions in the Non‐Union Sector in Britain

As the overall level of union membership and density has fallen in Britain throughout the 1980s (and into the 1990s), researchers have begun to pay more attention to the non‐union employment sector. For instance, considerable use has been made of the second national Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (1984) to investigate the determinants of non‐union status. The major limitation of such work, however, is that it treats the non‐union sector as essentially homogeneous in nature. Such an approach sits rather awkwardly with the following facts and findings:

Where do You Draw the Line? Functional Flexibility, Training & Skill in Britain & France

This article argues that the concept of functional flexibility fails to make a clear distinction between a deliberate strategy to enhance skills and training, in contrast to where task enlargement has developed in an ad hoc manner, as a result of restructuring. By drawing on detailed research conducted in the retail banking sector in Britain and France it is argued that the flexibility debates need to be more clearly situated in the specific social and economic context of a given society.

State regulation and the hospitality industry: the case of hot food take-aways

Government regulation of the hospitality industry is extensive and frequently has a direct Impact on managerial decision making. Although the legitimacy of the state to intervene in firms' activities is no longer questioned, there is no guarantee that the implementation of regulations is uniform or always fair. The paper examines this question by considering the regulation of the hot food take-away sector in Britain under town planning legislation. The results of the research project reported here suggest variation in the manner in which planning authorities deal with applications, some divergence between government directives and planning practice and a low level of understanding of the planning system by the hot food take-away sector. In considering the implications of these findings the paper suggests ways in which hospitality firms might influence the planning process at a local level.

The Take-up of Business Growth Training Schemes by Ethnic Minority-owned: Small Firms in Britain

SUSAN MARLOW IS A SENIOR LECTURER in the Leicester Polytechnic Business School, England. A feature of the growth of the small business sector in Britain has been the emergence of the ethnic minority-owned enterprise but ethnic-owned firms do not appear to be benefiting from or even using professional advice. This research takes the example of a business development scheme sponsored by a government advice agency, using it as a test case to assess what level of interest exists in such programmes from minority group business owners. The evidence indicates that minority group entrepreneurs and white small firm owners with a substantial proportion of their employees from ethnic minorities have a genuine and considerable interest in developing their businesses through the use of formal business growth training and professional advice.

General Sports Magazines and “Cap’n Bob”: The Rise and Fall of sportsweek

This paper directs attention to a sector of the press that is largely ignored by academic media research: weekly and monthly sports magazines. The birth and death of the British general sports magazine, Sportsweek, is considered as a case study from which some critical observations can be made about research into sport and the mass media on both sides of the Atlantic. The magazine industry as a whole is little discussed in mainstream media studies, even though magazines are highly significant in terms of the reproduction and sustenance of what has been called consumer culture (Featherstone, 1983, 1987; Winship, 1983). For this reason, and because most media sport research tends to focus on the textual rather than on production and appropriation, this paper outlines the economic forces shaping the consumer magazine sector in Britain and provides a comparative account of the sports magazine and press industry in the USA, Europe, and the UK. The case study of Sportsweek is considered in terms of its implications for understanding sport and leisure culture in contemporary British society.

Banking on flexibility: a comparison of the use of flexible employment strategies in the retail banking sector in Britain and France

This paper examines the flexibility debate with reference to an empirical study conducted in the retail banking sector in Britain and France. The first part of this paper discusses the theoretical context within which this research was conducted and argues that the dichotomous categories formulated in previous debates are too simplistic to explain the diversity of employer rationales for developing flexibility. The second half examines the use of functional flexibility, temporary work, subcontracting and part-time work on the basis of evidence collected from the case studies in each country. The paper concludes that in order to examine employers' strategies and the comparative organization of work a wider perspective is required which not only takes account of business needs and developments, such as product market competition and new technology, but which also looks at the social and regulatory factors which affect the terms in which different labour arrangements can be used by employers in different countries.

The strategic challenges of cooperation and competition in British Voluntary Organizations: Toward the next century

AbstractThe interrelationships between public, private, and voluntary sectors in Britain have witnessed increasing levels of change in recent years. This article argues that there have recently been identifiable trends within the voluntary sector, namely, increased levels of competition between sectors, increased competition between voluntary organizations, and increased pressures toward professionalization in voluntary sector management and organization. Predominantly competitive strategies and modes of professionalization have often been borrowed uncritically from commercial “best practice” by voluntary organizations. Thompson's (1967) typology of strategies is used as a basis for proposing cooperation as an alternative to competition in the British voluntary sector.

Leadership and Change in British Retailing 1955–84

From the mid-nineteenth century until the early 1950s the development of the retail sector in Britain was marked by steady evolutionary change centred on the expansion of multiple trading. But since the Second World War, radical changes in the retail environment have led to the emergence of new forms of retail operation which denote a distinct break with the past. This article traces corresponding changes in the leadership of some of the largest firms in the sector, and suggests that these changes have played an important part in the post-war transformation of British retailing.

The Internationalisation and Commercialisation of Health Care in Britain

The spatial impacts of the processes of internationalisation and commercialisation on the health sector in Britain are considered. It is argued that the key influence on the strategies of multinational corporations in the health sector is state policies regarding the provision of health care and the organisation of support, or ‘ancillary’, services. Multinational involvement in the acute hospital sector and in the provision of ancillary services is discussed, and attempts are made to relate this to wider processes and patterns of uneven development in the United Kingdom. It is argued that, despite the high profile of multinationals, their actual impact is still relatively limited, but in the long term the qualitative effects on the way health care is delivered will be of greater significance.

The market behaviour of local utilities in pre-World War I Britain: the case of gas

m he development of the urban infrastructure and related services was a 1 major feature of Britain in the 40 years or so before the First World War. While national output was growing at i.8 per cent per annum in I873I9I3, the services sector's output was growing at some 2.3 per cent. Within the latter, gas, electricity, and water experienced increases in labour and capital inputs above 3 per cent per annum and, with total factor productivity growing at i.6 per cent per annum, the overall rise in output was 5.I per cent per annum.2 Yet little is known about the general characteristics of these local utilities. Moreover, analysing the market behaviour of local utilities is an important building block in understanding the growth of the public sector in Britain. Many of the services provided by local utilities exhibited problems both of externalities and of natural monopoly. In the case of water works in Britain, the USA, and Germany the pattern of growth was linked partly to questions of public health and amenities but the growth of income levels was perhaps just as important.3 In the case of gas, in addition, the generation of financial surpluses to relieve the rates has been seen by many as a strong inducement to municipalization. The undertakings had many choices to make; whom to supply, what volume, which areas? Were they simply interested in profit, or were their operations influenced more by empire-builders concerned with the growth of sales, or, especially in the case of municipals, were they reflecting the electoral interest of the councils by reaching as many consumers as possible? They were constrained both by their local environment (access to coal and labour, levels of income) and, nationally, by price regulation. How did these constraints affect their behaviour? There are now several original studies linked to particular localities and several samples of undertakings have been examined but without any detailed analysis either of the determinants of prices and costs or of the statistical significance of the results.4 This paper focuses on the behaviour of local

Holiday parks: current issues and trends

Caravan and chalet parks are facing a potentially prosperous future in Great Britain as the 1990s progress. Demographic factors, in particular, are favourable to the industry's expansion. The parks have sought to upgrade their facilities, and now consider themselves to be holiday parks rather than caravan parks. The trade organizations for the parks have sought to promote a new image for the industry, and to initiate a co-ordinated promotional strategy among parks. New markets have also been considered by the trade organizations, although many park operators remain to be convinced of the value of deflecting their energies, even in part, from their traditional markets. Staff training is a concern of the industry nationally, although again individual operators are less sure of the benefits of this, particularly as many of their staff are temporary employees in the summer season. The implications of these issues for the holiday park sector in Britain are reviewed, paying particular attention to Wales where this sector is especially important.

A survey of the delayed discharge of elderly people from hospitals in an inner-London health distric

Older people (aged 65+) are the main consumers for the services provided by the hospital sector in Britain. A concern often expressed by clinicians is the ‘blocking’ of acute beds by older people who cannot be discharged but who no longer need the facilities provided by an acute unit. To identify the number of beds blocked by the elderly in an inner London health district, a census of all wards was undertaken in the two district general hospitals within the health authority. Medical/nursing staff were first asked to identify all patients aged 65+ who they considered to be inappropriately placed on an acute unit. Standard demographic and medical data were collected as well as the reason why the patient could not be discharged. A total of 563 patients were enumerated, of whom 287 (51%) were aged 65+. According to medical/nursing staff 24% ( 68 287 ) of elderly patients were classed as inappropriately located. The definition of a ‘bed blocker’ was refined by relating to a length of stay of 1 month, which reduced the proportion of such elderly patients to 15%. Such patients were significantly more likely to be demented and incontinent. The study showed that comparatively few elderly patients were inappropriately occupying acute beds. The inappropriate use of acute beds is not a feature unique to elderly patients; younger clients may be similarly categorised. Furthermore bed blocking is not something patients actively choose to do; rather it reflects the failure of services to appropriately respond to the needs of such patients.

Measuring University Performance: Never Mind the Quality, Never Mind the Width?

AbstractAfter setting perfmance measurment in the context of the broader changes affecting universities the paper enquires how far the actual measures used to date by British universities reflect that wider environment. Detailed analysis of the indicators concerned indicates that most – particularly those developed by the CVCP/UGC – are narrowly conceived. The research selectivity measures of the UGC/UFC are more ambitious, but even these take little account of ‘value‐added’ issues – and entirely fail to address teaching. Comparison with the best of US practice indicates that greater sophistication is technicalt) achievable. The failure, as yet, of the British system fully to explore issues of quality and relevance may be connected to the different snucture of the higher education sector in Britain, and in particular to the combination of a powerful, economy‐minded central government with weak consumer power.

The readmission of elderly people to hospital in an inner-city health district

The hospital sector in Britain has, over the last decade, achieved substantial reductions in the average length of stay for patients aged 65 and over. One consequence of this may be increased readmission rates. Furthermore, readmission rates are increasingly being proposed as a surrogate measure of outcome after hospital treatment. All admissions of people aged 65 + to two inner-London hospitals in May 1988 were monitored for 6 months after discharge and readmission rates calculated. Of the 386 patients discharged, 130 (38%) were readmitted within 6 months. The 1 week readmission rate was 6%; at 1 month it was 18%. Readmissions showed no variation regarding age or sex of patients but were related to specialty of treatment and length of stay. Consistently, those readmitted has a shorter length of stay than those not readmitted. If readmission rates are to have any utility as a surrogate outcome indicator they must be calculated on a common basis which relates to unplanned readmissions occuring fairly rapidly after discharge, and are related to the index admission.

Cities, Housing and Profits: Flat Break-Up and the Decline of Private Renting

Originally published in 1988, this book documents and explains the emergence of flat ‘break-ups’ – the sale of individual owner occupation of blocks of flats which were previously privately rented and which played a major role in the transformation of the private housing market in London since the 1960s. The book shows that the flat break-up market in London was not a unique phenomenon but one of the most geographically concentrated manifestations of the trend for sales from private renting to owner occupation which has been established in the UK since the 1920s. The interrelationship between the causes of the decline of the privately rented sector in Britain and the features specific to the flat market comprises the second theme of the book.

Lessons from America? Commercialization and growth of private medicine in Britain.

This article examines the transition of the private medical sector in Britain from a mere appendage to the National Health Service to a significant business sector involving multinational enterprise. The author argues that private medicine continues to be in a state of flux because its degree of independence is limited by its links to the dominant public sector, particularly with regard to staffing, and is still vulnerable to attacks from the opposition parties. Private medicine, despite rapid growth in the late 1970s, is beset by mounting costs and intense competition.

Health Care as a Business?: The emergence of a commercial hospital sector in Britain

This paper examines the recent development of the private medical sector in Britain. It argues that while the present Government has acted to bolster the fortunes of private medicine, electoral considerations have formed an obstacle to the pursuit of more radical policies. Nevertheless, the private sector has grown considerably since 1979, which is in some measure due to the favourable climate induced by Government policy. The core features of the private sector are defined and the nature of its provision discussed. It is suggested that the private sector is undergoing a process of commercialisation similar in kind to that which has occurred in the health industry in the USA and partly in consequence organisational features of US health care are gaining currency among supporters of privatisation.

Teacher assessment: a review of the performance appraisal literature with special reference to the implications for teacher appraisal

Abstract Hardly anyone who has read about the teachers’ pay dispute of 1985‐6 can be unaware of the centrality of the issue of teacher appraisal. Government proposals for teacher assessment met with both positive and negative reactions. The general public, including employees in private industry and certain parts of the public sector where staff appraisal is already commonplace, cannot see why teachers whose job, after all, involves assessing and appraising pupils should not be subject to some kind of evaluation of their own competence. In education, on the other hand, there is considerable suspicion about the real intentions of the government in suggesting appraisal at the present juncture, and many believe valid, reliable appraisals of teacher competence will be difficult if not impossible to achieve because of the complexity and variety of demands made on teachers in their professional role. Performance appraisal has been widely practised in both the private and public sectors in Britain and in the USA for 20 to 30 years, and almost as extensively researched. Despite this long experience, there is considerable dissatisfaction with appraisal systems, reflected in a growing literature on new and ‘improved’ approaches. If appraisal is likely to become widespread in schools, the evaluation of appraisal provided in the management literature is clearly relevant to teachers, responsible LEA officers, advisers and policy‐makers.

House building, profits and social efficiency in Sweden and Britain

Abstract The paper examines why the housing sector in Britain performs so badly in producing housing. Completion rates are decreasing, dwelling quality is getting worse, while both construction costs and consumer costs are increasing. It does this through discussion of alternative routes to profitability in house building, supported by a comparative analysis of two contrasting cases: Britain and Sweden. In Britain land development gains and speculative extra profits are significant profit sources for house‐builders. Making profits through building itself is neglected; the concomitant is a fragmented labour process, loss of scale economies, low capitalisation, inadequate technical innovation and stagnant labour productivity. In Sweden house‐builders do not have easy access to land development gains or extra profits. Moreover, they are faced by a well organised and well paid labour force. They are pushed onto the road of making profit through increasing labour productivity and through product improvement. T...

Public and private sector interactions: An economic perspective

The debate about the public-private mix for health care has been dominated by rhetoric and the failure to evaluate the characteristics of the outcomes of public and private health care systems and to relate these to policy targets. After a brief analysis of the competing, liberal (conservative) and collectivist (socialist), objectives, the nature of the private health care sector in Britain is described and it is shown that growth has faltered due to cost containment problems. This outcome is the product of characteristics of the private health care system, paralleled precisely in the NHS: asymmetry information, monopoly power, moral hazard and third party pays. The final section discusses briefly some remedies for the inefficient and inequitable outcomes which are seen in all health care markets and it is argued that competition within public and private health care systems may enable each system type to achieve its own particular objectives more efficiently.