Purpose – Given the emergence of new legal initiatives for union recognition, declining levels of union membership and the growth of alternative forms of employee representation, this paper aims to examine the management of employee voice in non‐union firms. Design/methodology/approach –...

Purpose – This paper aims to examine union and non‐union consultation and representative arrangements at South West Water (SWW) over a ten‐year period, from 1992 to 2002. Design/methodology/approach – The paper attempts to fill the gap in the current research by examining the processes...

Legislative protections supporting New Zealand's compulsory arbitration system made unions a vital part of industrial relations from 1894 to 1991. Following a dramatic shift to a more deregulated labour market, the union movement suffered a sharp decline in influence and membership during the...

It is apparent from existing research in the UK that little is known about how forms ofnon‐union employee representation (NER) are composed, their independence from managerial influence, the “representativeness” of such bodies, and their accountability. In addition, little has been...

There is considerable political and industrial relations debate in Australia concerning the value and merit of Australian workplace agreements (AWAs). However, formalised individual agreements are a relatively new phenomenon in the Australian industrial relations landscape, consequently, to date...

Purpose – To examine non‐union channels of employee voice in the Auckland hotel industry over ten years in order to determine the efficacy of non‐union employee representation in a lightly unionised service sector context. Design/methodology/approach – The study draws on a longitudinal...

Purpose – Recent years have witnessed a growing academic preoccupation with the theme of employee voice. This article seeks to examine the efficacy of non‐union forms of employee representation (NERs). Design/methodology/approach – Further to an exploration of the above theme, case study...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore a number of issues pertaining to the conceptualisation, operationalisation, feasibility and effectiveness of workplace partnership arrangements in a non‐unionised setting. Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses the most common...

This paper presents the findings of a case study undertaken in a UK utility company, referred to as Energy Co. The main aim of the study was to assess how the agreement of a partnership arrangement in 1995 had affected the conduct of employment relations. The study found that partnership was...

Total Quality Management (TQM) looks like being one of the management fashions of the 1990s. In this respect the academic and prescriptive literature on TQM is reviewed. The factors which have encouraged organisations to introduce TQM are discussed and some of the implications for the management...