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The information on which this article is based comes from a major piece of research on the changing nature of personnel management, which is being conducted by the authors and Lesley Mackay at UMIST. The work is being funded by the Leverhulme Trust in collaboration with the IPM. The first phase of the research was the completion of extensive and detailed questionnaires about personnel practice in 350 different establishments during the Spring and early Summer of 1984. That data are still being analysed, but the second stage of the research began at the end of 1984. This is a series of interviews with questionnaire respondents. Conclusions from the research will be published progressively until the end of 1986.

On the basis of studies of 35 personnel managers who had introduced computerisation and a detailed comprehensive case study of the introduction of computerisation into the personnel function, the factors that differentiate adoptors into the categories of “Stars”, “Radicals”, “Plodders” and “Beginners” are analysed. The critical role of the personnel manager in facilitating successful adoption, the role of the computer in changing the shape of the personnel function, its power and professionalisation are considered, and finally the challenges it will present for the personnel department in the future.

The trend is towards a gradual increase in emphasis on manpower control, and a high commitment to employee relations. The ideal of the 1970s, that of developing and maintaining agreeable working relationships, is still professed by many personnel managers. Research arising from detailed questionnaires distributed to 350 establishments as part of a Leverhulme Trust/IPM‐funded project has identified six broad tendencies in personnel departments. These cover the enabling function (action as a service to managers and department); the “odds and ends” function (being given “bits” of responsibility); the attenuated function (having rank and responsibility but little professional support); the symbolic function (developing a symbiosis between personnel departments and consultants); the futuristic function (moving towards adopting information technology); and the professional function (being technically skilful, using consultants sparingly but effectively).

There is not much evidence of a computer‐led revolution in personnel management. An ongoing survey of the uses to which computers are put in 350 establishments suggests a generally superficial take‐up of computer applications, with more being done to take over previous clerical operations than to sharpen the personnel contribution to management decision making and action. It appears that computer scope is not being utilised in the personnel function because many people are fearful of what computerisation could do to the essence of the personnel role; the recession has diverted energies into the problems created by redundancies and training needs; and because in many organisations there appears to be a pecking order for computerisation, with financial and stock control and invoice processing taking precedence. A final point established is that only 70 per cent of establishments using computers in the personnel area allow employees to see their own records, despite the provisions of the 1984 Act.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate employee perceptions of the flexibility they utilize or have available to them in an NHS Trust and relate these perceptions to the concept of control.

The paper adopts a constructivist approach and uses semi‐structured interviews, allowing employees, in their own way, to explain what flexibility policies, and practice mean to them. The paper conducted 43 interviews and one focus group across five directorates, to include a range of staff levels and job types.

The findings in this paper show that informal rather than formal flexibility was more widely used and valued; and that, although staff needed to be proactive to access formal flexibility, some staff did not see formal flexibility as relevant to themselves; and informal flexibility generated an increased sense of employee responsibility. Uses the perspective of employee control over their working lives, in order to interpret the impact of flexible working.

The paper shows that these findings may be context‐specific, and further investigation of informal flexible working is needed in different settings.

This paper shows that organizations need to communicate flexibility well, and train their managers' adequately but, critically, they need to understand what different forms of flexibility mean to employees, and how they are valued.

The paper shows the prevalence and value of informal flexible working, and its potential. Uses the concept of control to explain why different individuals value different forms of flexible working differentially.

This paper aims to explore the influence of flexible working on employee happiness and attitude, and the role of this within a high performance work system (HPWS).

A case study of flexible working within an NHS Acute Trust is presented. A qualitative study is undertaken based on 43 employee interviews across a range of directorates within the Trust.

Employees perceive that flexible working makes them “happy” and that there are attitudinal/behavioural links between this happiness, discretionary behaviour and a number of performance outcomes.

This paper presents a single case study with a relatively small sample which uses an inductive approach based on emergent data; it explores one element of a HPWS rather than an entire employment system. Respondents were volunteers, which raises the possibility of sample bias.

There may be a need for organisations to focus more on employee happiness to encourage performance. HR practitioners could reflect on the impact of HR practices on happiness and which features of a job role are likely to promote happiness.

This paper contributes a much‐needed employee perspective on the effect of HR practices, specifically that of flexible working, and explores the neglected employee attitude of happiness.

Gloria Pritchett – the fiery and caring Latina mother in Modern Family – is believed to recreate cultural and gender stereotypes. This audience study was interested in situating her as an intersectional representation to recognize that numerous social categories coproduce her characterization not just one. Textual analyses of open-ended questions reveal that participants tend to explicitly and exclusively discuss her stereotypes in ethnic and gender terms, with an emphasis on the former. However, a semantic analysis of the words/adjectives used to describe Gloria Pritchett suggested these share meaning across multiple social categories. Some aspects of her representation, like those based on ethnicity and gender (her Latina wisdom) or ethnicity and social class (her social mobility from Colombia to the United States), were found commendable, respectable, and likable. Eventually, the social identities encompassing Gloria Pritchett are taken apart and compounded, which in turn, suggest that her intersectionality was malleable for viewers.