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The paper examines the approach of United Kingdom (UK) Trade Unions to the use of institutional power resources (IPR) in the second half of the twentieth century.

Using secondary material, it examines the unions' approach to IPR in three cases; collective bargaining; worker representation and trade union structure.

The paper concludes that unions did not appreciate the importance of, and lacked a strategic approach to, IPR. Although employer and government action were largely responsible for the decline of industrial relations institutions, the failure of the unions to engage with IPR contributed to this process. It explains the failure of the unions to engage with IPR by reference to their lack of strategic capabilities and skills in relation to power resources (PRs) in general and IPR in particular.

It would have been interesting to collect primary data via interviews with union actors from the period examined to test the interpretation of secondary data contained in the article.

The paper has identified the kind of strategic decision-making which is necessary for unions to engage effectively with IPR. It is has also indicated the key skills which unions need to develop to be able to manage their engagement with IPR.

The paper has implications for the role of trade unions in society, showing the need for them to develop narratives to convince society of the importance of their role and action and to develop the skills which enable them to connect with other social groups, e.g. intermediation, engagement with coalitional resources.

Analysis of the decline of industrial relations institutions in this period has emphasized the role of employers and the state. This paper contributes to a more balanced perspective on this decline by drawing attention to the lack of a union strategy towards IPR and the importance of the detail of the management and employment of power resources.

The paper examines the role of trade unions in the provision of continuous training. It first reviews the literature in this area and then considers evidence from a study of trade union involvement in the Spanish national training system managed by the social partners. The study finds that union involvement has led to improved training access for workers in SMEs in large part because of the union role as training provider and has contributed to social dialogue at sectoral and national level but has had a limited impact upon training in larger enterprises. The paper argues that an enterprise‐based social partnership model built around an independent union agenda for training has limited relevance for SMEs and that a more realistic approach is the development of sectoral social dialogue, “partnership at a distance”, capable of delivering outcomes which can be translated to the point of production.

This qualitative study considers the roles of service user consultants (SUCs) in six of the original 11 Department of Health (DH) Community Personality Disorder (PD) pilot services; how these roles differ from the active participation traditionally encouraged in therapeutic communities (TCs) around responsibility for self and others; how a service user (SU) becomes a SUC; what responsibilities they hold; the views of both staff members and SUCs on the role and the benefits and difficulties it creates; and how the role could be developed in a service‐specific and general way. It is of particular interest to consider the amount of time for which the SUC role is seen to be beneficial, and what support a SUC would need to leave the role.

Two qualitative interview schedules were developed to investigate issues highlighted in previous literature, one designed to be answered by staff members, another developed with a SUC from Cumbria for SUCs and administered by telephone. The research questions were designed to look at four main themes: How SUs become SUCs; SUC responsibilities within the service; views on the benefits and difficulties of the SUC role; and developing the role and moving forward. The context of each service was explored to reflect the uniqueness of each SUC role and service philosophy.

The SUC role continues to develop and is seen as having value, particularly as a “bridge” between SUs and staff members, and as a transitional stage in which the work of therapy can be consolidated. Problems remain in respect to: optimal levels of disclosure between other staff members and SUCs; the level and type of support needed to carry out the work and to remain well; acceptance of the role by professionals in other teams; and the extent to which SUCs are felt able to engage, or not, in direct clinical work.

This is a qualitative study in which only just over half of the pilot services agreed to take part and in which fewer SUCs were put forward to take part as compared to other staff members. There are therefore potential problems in generalising these findings to other services which employ SUCs.

Within personality disorder services there is a perceived optimal level of disclosure and information sharing between other staff members and SUCs, and between SUCs and SUs, but this remains undefined. SUC responsibilities do not always include direct clinical work because of concerns to maintain their well being. There is evidence from a number of services that SUCs can safely and creatively engage in direct clinical work given suitable support and supervision. Staff members from other teams without experience of employing SUCs may not always understand the SUC role, may denigrate the experience of SUCs, or feel threatened by their incursion into training and clinical work. SUCs seem enthusiastic to work in other areas within their wider service to promote understanding of mental health and personality difficulties. In‐service supervision/mentoring can help to monitor and alleviate SUC distress.

The paper extends knowledge about the SUC role, as it has developed and diversified during the development of the DH Community PD Pilot Sites. Novel semi‐structured interview schedules have been developed.

Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Despite the vital services they provide, banks and other lending institutions are not the most loved organizations. Dealing with the bank is not something you are likely to come away from with a warm glow of fellow feeling. We are more likely to nod our heads in agreement than protest “How unfair!” when someone utters a stinging criticism.

Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to digest format.

Informed by multiple disciplines, theories, and methods, higher education scholars have developed a robust and diverse literature in many countries. Yet, some important (organizational) sociological perspectives, both more established and more recent, are insufficiently linked. In particular, we identify two theoretical strands – institutional and relational – that, when joined, help to explain contemporary developments in global higher education and yield new organizational insights. We review relevant literature from each perspective, both in their general formulations and with specific reference to contemporary higher education research. Within the broad institutional strand, we highlight strategic action fields, organizational actorhood, and associational memberships. Within the relational strand, we focus on ties and relationships that are especially crucial as science has entered an age of (inter)national research collaboration. Across these theories, we discuss linkages between concepts, objects, and levels of analysis. We explore the methodological approach of social network analysis as it offers great potential to connect these strands and, thus, to advance contemporary higher education research in a collaborative era.

Survey research suggests that 85 per cent of companies world‐wide have performance management systems. Of that number, many adopt such systems with the ultimate objective of increasing productivity and profitability. The purpose of this paper is to show how EDF Energy decided to adapt existing theory to create an in‐house version of the balanced scorecard, with the objective of creating and sustaining a continuous improvement culture.

This paper outlines the integration of fundamental principles of performance management systems in the context of a large UK energy company. It highlights good practices in the design, alignment, implementation and communication of such systems.

The key findings of this paper are the importance of the use of goal‐setting theories, particularly in the design and alignment of company ambitions and objectives. In doing so, value‐mapping provides the mechanism to align individual performance with company strategy. This case also highlights the importance of a “performance dialogue” to support the strategic alignment of organisational goals and build a culture of continuous improvement.

Organisations that are planning to review or implement performance management systems should first, consider the alignment of company ambitions and goals with the operational and individual objectives and second, build structured but adaptable communications channels to convey and reinforce the ambitions, objectives and values of the organisation.

The paper provides insight into the way in which standard and accepted approaches to performance management, based around the Balanced Scorecard framework, can be modified to reflect the context of a specific organisation, and the lessons that have been learned along the way.

Much programme and policy evaluation yields to the pressure to report on the productivity of programmes and is perforce compliant with the conditions of contract. Too often the view of these evaluations is limited to a literal reading of the analytical challenge. If we are evaluating X we look critically at X1, X2 and X3. There might be cause for embracing adjoining data sources such as W1 and Y1. This ignores frequent realities that an evaluation specification is only an approximate starting point for an unpredictable journey into comprehensive understanding; that the specification represents only that which is wanted by the sponsor, and not all that may be needed; and that the contractual specification too often insists on privileging the questions and concerns of a few. Case study evaluation proves an alternative that allows for the less-than-literal in the form of analysis of contingencies – how people, phenomena and events may be related in dynamic ways, how context and action have only a blurred dividing line and how what defines the case as a case may only emerge late in the study.