The Evolution of the Modern Workplace

An authoritative account of how the workplace has changed, and why it has changed, for both workers and employers.

William Brown (Edited by), Alex Bryson (Edited by), John Forth (Edited by), Keith Whitfield (Edited by)

9781107405042, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 July 2012

428 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm, 0.63 kg

'[The Evolution of the Modern Workplace] is full of original and provocative insights: Brown, Bryson and Forth challenge arguments about the impact of globalisation with the finding that it is the intensity of product market competition, rather than its global or international character, which accounts for the decline of collective bargaining coverage in Britain … It covers a wide range of topics, including employee representation, HRM, conflict, equality and diversity, and pay, to name just a few. There is an abundance of data with almost 120 figures and tables, many of which will prove invaluable for lecturers.' John Kelly, Industrial Relations Journal

The last thirty years have seen the world of work transformed in Britain. Manufacturing and nationalized industries contracted and private services expanded. Employment became more diverse. Trade union membership collapsed. Collective bargaining disappeared from much of the private sector, as did strikes. This was accompanied by the rise of human resource management and new employment practices. The law, once largely absent, increasingly became a dominant influence. The experience of work has become more pressured. The Evolution of the Modern Workplace provides an authoritative account and analysis of these changes and their consequences. Its main source is the five Workplace Employment Relations Surveys that were conducted at roughly five-year intervals between 1980 and 2004. Drawing on this unique source of data, a team of internationally renowned scholars show how the world of the workplace has changed, and why it has changed, for both workers and employers.

List of figures
List of tables
List of abbreviations
List of contributors
Preface
1. Researching the changing workplace William Brown and Paul Edwards
2. Competition and the retreat from collective bargaining William Brown, Alex Bryson and John Forth
3. Trade union decline and the economics of the workplace David G. Blanchflower and Alex Bryson
4. Employee representation Andy Charlwood and John Forth
5. Voice at the workplace: where do we find it, why is it there and where is it going? Paul Willman, Rafael Gomez and Alex Bryson
6. From industrial relations to human resource management: the changing role of the personnel function David Guest and Alex Bryson
7. High involvement management Stephen Wood and Alex Bryson
8. Conflict at work: the changing pattern of disputes Gill Dix, Keith Sisson and John Forth
9. Employees' experience of work Francis Green and Keith Whitfield
10. Equality and diversity at work Andrew Pendleton, Keith Whitfield and Alex Bryson
11. The changing use of contingent pay at the modern British workplace Shirley Dex and John Forth
12. Foreign ownership and industrial relations Tony Edwards and Janet Walsh
13. The public sector in transition Stephen Bach, Rebecca Kolins Givan and John Forth
14. Legal regulation and the changing workplace Linda Dickens and Mark Hall
15. Conclusion: the evolutionary process William Brown, Alex Bryson, John Forth and Keith Whitfield
Technical appendix John Forth and Alex Bryson
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Working patterns & practices [KJWX], Personnel & human resources management [KJMV2]