Almost a fifth of all employees work in the public sector. Employees working in the civil service, NHS, local government, education, the police and fire services also represent a large and growing body of students taking degree courses at universities. Exploring this important and rapidly changing area, this book outlines the main developments in the public sector since 1979, including topical issues such as the rise of new public management, decentralisation and contracting out. Themes which currently affect public sector employees are examined, including:

* decentralization
*...

Almost a fifth of all employees work in the public sector. Employees working in the civil service, NHS, local government, education, the police and fire services also represent a large and growing body of students taking degree courses at universities. Exploring this important and rapidly changing area, this book outlines the main developments in the public sector since 1979, including topical issues such as the rise of new public management, decentralisation and contracting out. Themes which currently affect public sector employees are examined, including:

* decentralization
*...

For the past two decades employment in Britain has been marked by a search for greater flexibility in the availability and use of labour. In recent years, however, there has been mounting concern at the costs of this trend and an appreciation that the consequence of a flexible labour market may be an insecure workforce, vulnerable to exploitation. It is also widely claimed that rising worker insecurity imposes costs on the wider economy and society through lower rates of skill formation, reduced consumer confidence and family instability.

This collection of essays uniquely brings...

This original book is a wide-ranging, radical and highly innovative critique of the prevailing orthodoxies within industrial relations and human resource management. It covers:

* central problems in industrial relations
* the mobilization theory of collective action
* the growth of non-union workplaces and the prospects and desirability of a new labour-management social partnership
* an historical account of worker collectivism, organization and militancy and state or employer counter mobilization
* a critique of postmodernism and accounts of the end of the labour...

This original book is a wide-ranging, radical and highly innovative critique of the prevailing orthodoxies within industrial relations and human resource management. It covers:

* central problems in industrial relations
* the mobilization theory of collective action
* the growth of non-union workplaces and the prospects and desirability of a new labour-management social partnership
* an historical account of worker collectivism, organization and militancy and state or employer counter mobilization
* a critique of postmodernism and accounts of the end of the labour...

The book provides an up-to-date analysis of the restructuring of public service employment relations in six European countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark and the UK. Each of the chapters on national systems is organized around a set of themes and policy issues including:

* the impact of fiscal crises, and increasing macro-economic integration within the European Union, on the scope and organization of public services
* changes in the patterns and status of public service employment
* the shift from centralized administration to new models of devolved...

The book provides an up-to-date analysis of the restructuring of public service employment relations in six European countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark and the UK. Each of the chapters on national systems is organized around a set of themes and policy issues including:

* the impact of fiscal crises, and increasing macro-economic integration within the European Union, on the scope and organization of public services
* changes in the patterns and status of public service employment
* the shift from centralized administration to new models of devolved...

The McDonald's Corporation is not only the largest system-wide sales service in the world, it is a phenomenon in its own right, and is now recognized as the most famous brand in the world. By providing a detailed analysis of the extent to which the McDonald's Corporation adapts or imposes its labour relations policies in Europe, this volume represents a real life case study revealing the interaction between a global multi-national enterprise and the regulatory systems of a number of different European countries. Key features include:

* an overview of the McDonald's Corporation's...

The McDonald's corporation is not only the largest system-wide sales service in the world, it is a phenomenon in its own right and is now famous across the world. By providing a detailed analysis of the extent to which the McDonald's corporation adapts or imposes its labour relations policies in Europe, this volume represents a real life case study revealing the interaction between a global multi-national enterprise and the regulatory systems of a number of different European countries. The author analyzes the conflict between the McDonald's corporation and the industrial relations systems of...

Over the last decade, human resource management has come to be viewed as the dominant paradigm within which analyses of the world of work have been located. This volume examines the nature and assesses the impact of HRM within a highly under-researched division of the service sector, namely the UK hotel industry.
Common perceptions of management practices in the hotel industry typically include work intensification, high labour turnover, lack of training and poor career prospects, and casualised terms and conditions of employment. Using data from a survey of over 200 hotels, this book...