{"title":"Human resource strategies, workplace reform and industrial restructuring in Australia and New Zealand","authors":"C. Allan, P. Brosnan, Pat Walsh","doi":"10.1080/095851999340170","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, Australia and New Zealand have pursued two different routes of labour market reform. New Zealand opted for a radical experiment in the deregulation of industrial relations and other areas. Australia pursued a co-operative and co-ordinated approach to reform within the centralized arbitral system. Both reform initiatives were designed to stimulate improvements in organizational performance and cost competitiveness. In this paper, we argue that there are three main types of strategies that management can use to reduce labour cost and improve performance: productivity-enhancement, costminimization and work-intensification strategies. We argue that the former is a long-term sustainable strategy whereas the latter two are negative short-term strategies that may have deleterious longer-term effects. This paper reports the results of a cross-national survey in New Zealand and Australia into the extent of adoption of these management strategies. The results are presented by industry, employment s...","PeriodicalId":14185,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Human Resource Management","volume":"25 1","pages":"828-841"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"1999-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"11","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Human Resource Management","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/095851999340170","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MANAGEMENT","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 11
Abstract
In recent years, Australia and New Zealand have pursued two different routes of labour market reform. New Zealand opted for a radical experiment in the deregulation of industrial relations and other areas. Australia pursued a co-operative and co-ordinated approach to reform within the centralized arbitral system. Both reform initiatives were designed to stimulate improvements in organizational performance and cost competitiveness. In this paper, we argue that there are three main types of strategies that management can use to reduce labour cost and improve performance: productivity-enhancement, costminimization and work-intensification strategies. We argue that the former is a long-term sustainable strategy whereas the latter two are negative short-term strategies that may have deleterious longer-term effects. This paper reports the results of a cross-national survey in New Zealand and Australia into the extent of adoption of these management strategies. The results are presented by industry, employment s...
期刊介绍:
International Journal of Human Resource Management is the forum for HRM scholars and professionals worldwide. Concerned with the expanding role of strategic human resource management in a fast-changing global environment, the journal focuses on future trends in human resource management, drawing on empirical research in the areas of strategic management, international business, organizational behaviour, personnel management and industrial relations that arise from: -internationalization- technological change- market integration- new concepts of line management- increased competition- changing corporate climates Now publishing twenty-two issues per year, The International Journal of Human Resource Management encourages strategically focused articles on a wide range of issues including employee participation, human resource flow, reward systems and high commitment work systems. It is an essential publication in an exciting field, examining all management decisions that affect the relationship between an organization and its employees. Features include; -comparative contributions from both developed and developing countries- special issues based on conferences and current issues- international bibliographies- international data sets- reviews