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In the British social formation, especially after 1960, there has been a tendency towards an external mode of control of industrial relations which is based upon the internal regulation of labour collectivities. The article argues that corporatism and hegemony are both inextricably linked facets of the same process — the ideological control of the IR system, embodying both corporate agencies and hegemonic relations, by a state which has various forms.

In his explication of nationalist activity in Scotland since 1707, Tony Dickson, although falling into the realms of economic expressivism, must be commended for raising a number of important issues which have until recently been elusive, or, at least, never considered together. It is the inter‐relation of these issues which, for the first time, allows us to begin to develop a specific theory of Scottish Nationalism. These issues may be compartmentalised into three broad pre‐requisites:

The rapid technological changes experienced throughout industry in the 1970s and '80s have radically altered the nature and experience of work for many people in both public and private sector employment. Increased production capacity and quality have been accompanied by changes in the way work is organised, and in the strategies adopted by both management and unions to tackle the new conditions with which they are faced.

Addresses the question: will investment in HRD through company‐based programmes of lifelong learning pay dividends to companies in terms of knowledge transfer from courses and more positive psychological contracts? Develops a model of the relationship between HRD investment, the content of psychological contracts and key consequences such as satisfaction, continuance commitment and knowledge transfer. This model is tested empirically using data from a survey of a cohort of participants in a major Scottish electronics company. The results show that the programme paid off in terms of more positive psychological contracts and knowledge transfer. However, contrary to other research, the nature of the transfer climate (e.g. manager support, career and salary advancement, etc.) was not seen to be important in affecting knowledge transfer. This latter finding has important implications for HR policies in knowledge creating companies.

Reports on the early stage of a research project being undertaken at Nottingham Business School. Suggests that claims made for the benefits of employee empowerment need to be viewed with caution: there are clearly different meanings to empowerment and a variety of different forms in different organizations. Suggests that a framework of analysis is needed so as to identify the precise nature of the form of empowerment being initiated. Provides a five‐dimensional model. Each dimension is based on a dichotomous continuum which compares the empowered hospitality organization with the traditional “Production‐line” organization. The dimensions given are the task dimension, the task allocation dimension, the power dimension, the commitment dimension and the cultural dimension.

Psychological contract violation has gained the attention of both practitioners and academics in recent years. Critical commentaries have questioned whether breaching such a contract has implications for employee attitude and behaviour, and ultimately organisational performance. This paper addresses the question “To what extent does psychological contract breach impact on employee attitude and behaviour?”. The study is based on an industrial textiles company and draws on quantitative and qualitative data. The findings suggested that triggers of violation impinged on employee attitudes but not on behaviour, trends substantiated by analysis of the organisation's absenteeism records. The qualitative data helped explain this trend and have highlighted two contextual issues. The first of these is labour market conditions and perceptions of job insecurity and second of these is a sense of collegiality and pride in the job.

Establishes a connection between the concepts of “learning organisation” and “human resources development”.

A brief and broad overview of the current state of human research development research.

One conclusion to be reached is that the subject is healthy. Another conclusion is that human resource development research is developing the potential to lead in fundamentally changing the nature of organisation, management and work. A final conclusion is that the concept of human resource development and that of the learning organisation have much in common.

Provides possible links between the concepts of a learning organisation and human resource development.