To demonstrate how government policy on fires service reform was initially challenged by a stubbornly resistant fire service corporatism but finally dismantled following the 2003…
Abstract
Purpose
To demonstrate how government policy on fires service reform was initially challenged by a stubbornly resistant fire service corporatism but finally dismantled following the 2003 fire service White Paper.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on longitudinal case study data that includes 50 semi‐structured interviews with key fire service personnel at regional and national levels.
Findings
This paper examines the roots of corporatism at national and local levels and demonstrates how the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) had significant levels of influence on management decision‐making. This was strongly reflected in the key role of the FBU in the industrial relations process that enabled the union to protect “entrenched” working practices. However, at a local level longstanding corporatist partnerships began to break down as a financial crisis arose and management took a more proactive approach. Corporatist structures at a national level, though, remained and it was not until the Labour government's second term of office that these national structures were overhauled following a White Paper and legislation.
Originality/value
This paper demonstrates that whilst fire service management has consolidated its position under the Labour administration it has proved a disaster for the FBU.
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Brings together a sequence of negotiating events in the 2002‐2003 fire services dispute from the point of view of a participant. The author was appointed to the position of…
Abstract
Brings together a sequence of negotiating events in the 2002‐2003 fire services dispute from the point of view of a participant. The author was appointed to the position of Independent Chair of the National Council for Local Authorities’ Fire Brigades in February 2001. Attempts to apply some theoretical analysis to the perceptions and observations expressed in the article.
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Frank Burchill and Roger Selfert
One criticism of the Donovan Report was that it paid little attention to the public sector. This paper is concerned with one part of the public sector, the National Health Service…
Abstract
One criticism of the Donovan Report was that it paid little attention to the public sector. This paper is concerned with one part of the public sector, the National Health Service and a section of the trade union organisations existing within it, namely the professional unions. The terms ‘professional unions’ is chosen deliberately in spite of the fact that the organisations under scrutiny coincide exactly with what are usually called ‘professional associations’.
Examines change in the further education (FE) sector since the incorporation in 1993 and its effects on aspects of human resource management (HRM) and, in particular, on employee…
Abstract
Examines change in the further education (FE) sector since the incorporation in 1993 and its effects on aspects of human resource management (HRM) and, in particular, on employee relations. Argues that change was forced through in FE to a greater extent, and in a more compressed period of time, than in other parts of the public sector. The results of three surveys, carried out simultaneously, are used to support this argument, and to generate evidence on how the process has been perceived by three sets of important actors and reveals some of the contradictions in their interpretation of events. Highlights changes in the bargaining structure and approaches to HRM. An overall conclusion is that the situation in FE has moved from competition at the social level in terms of employers and employees and compliance at the workplace, to arm’s length accommodation and compliance. Nevertheless, the situation is ripe for partnership – cooperation at the social level and commitment at the place of work.
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Argues that although 2002 was undoubtedly the most challenging year for a long time for local government employers it does not herald a return to the climate of the 1970s and the…
Abstract
Argues that although 2002 was undoubtedly the most challenging year for a long time for local government employers it does not herald a return to the climate of the 1970s and the “Winter of Discontent”, as too many things have changed socially and economically for this to occur. For example, Parliament changed the legal framework for industrial action to the employers’ advantage, employers and governments learned how to win disputes, inflation fell and has stabilised at low levels, employees have become tied to expensive mortgage repayments, inherited concepts of job security no longer apply as a general rule, and the pensions promise has been severely eroded in much of the private sector, for new starters at least. Within this context describes the background and the outcomes of the local government and fire disputes of 2002.
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P.B. Beaumont and R.I.D. Harris
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…
Abstract
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:
Afsaneh Roshanghalb, Cristina Mazzali, Emanuele Lettieri and Anna Maria Paganoni
This study investigates the stability of the “hospital effect” on performance over time by administrative health data as a source of evidence. Using 78,907 heart failure adult…
Abstract
This study investigates the stability of the “hospital effect” on performance over time by administrative health data as a source of evidence. Using 78,907 heart failure adult records from 117 hospitals in the Lombardy Region (Northern Italy) over three years (2010–2012), we analyzed hospital performance in terms of 30-day mortality and 30-day unplanned readmissions to gather evidence about the stability of the “hospital effect.” Best/worst performers were identified through multi-level models that combine both patient and hospital covariates. Our results confirm that managerial choices affect hospital performance, and that the “hospital effect” is not, contrary to expectations, stable over the short term. Performance improvement/worsening over the three years has been also analyzed.
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In 1976, in a speech at Ruskin College, Oxford, Prime Minister James Callaghan asked ‘Why is it that such a high proportion of girls abandon science before leaving school?’ …
Abstract
In 1976, in a speech at Ruskin College, Oxford, Prime Minister James Callaghan asked ‘Why is it that such a high proportion of girls abandon science before leaving school?’ (Gillard, 2018). Little has changed over the last 40 years; a recent report from the National Audit Office (2018, p. 28) stated that only 8% of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) apprenticeships were taken up by women in 2016/2017 and that the shortage of STEM skills in the workforce is a key UK economic problem. However, just as the Aldridge marriage has been the source of considerable interest and the site of significant financial investment in terms of designer kitchens and expensive holidays, so has the issue of ‘girls in science’ been a consistently debated topic and taken up a large chunk of government and industry spending. Research (Archer et al., 2013) suggests that although children enjoy their science experiences in school, too few pupils aspire to a STEM career. It reveals that the pupils most likely to aspire to careers in science are those whose families have high ‘science capital’ which ‘refers to the science-related qualifications, understanding, knowledge (about science and “how it works”), interest and social contacts (e.g. “knowing someone who works in a science-related job”)’ (Archer et al., 2016, p. 3).
Episodes of The Archers are full of scientific talk, from herbal leys to plate meters. This chapter looks at how the science capital in Ambridge is shared. Why is Alice Carter an engineer and not Emma Grundy? Will Kiera Grundy choose physics A level? Who are the female STEM role models? How can the concept of science capital help us to understand the career paths of Ambridge residents? Will the young girls of Ambridge remedy the gender imbalance in STEM careers?
Avi Shankar and Christina Goulding
Presents two relatively new (to marketing) qualitative research techniques, “narrative theory” and “dimensional analysis”, and highlights the contribution they may have for…
Abstract
Presents two relatively new (to marketing) qualitative research techniques, “narrative theory” and “dimensional analysis”, and highlights the contribution they may have for consumer research. Narrative analysis focuses on features, plots and configurations, whereas dimensional analysis uses as its foundation context, conditions and consequences which affect the outcome of the story. Addresses the divide between academic investigation and practitioner research and suggests that practitioners may benefit from developing theoretical frameworks to underpin data collection.