This paper makes a unique contribution to the HRM convergence/divergence debate by examining whether organisations operating in Europe, over the 10-year time period preceding 2000, are converging in their adoption of contingent employment practice. The susceptibility of contingent employment...

This research paper analyzes and reports upon the current practice of flexible working amongst organizations in Europe: focussing on current developments in the use, by employing organizations, of parttime workers and a range of contractual variations (temporary work; fixed-term contracts etc)....

The growing use of temporary contracts in Europe raises the question of whether long-term employment relations are eroding in coordinated market economies, where protective regulations are historically strong. This paper, using data from establishment-level surveys conducted in 2003–2005,...

In the context of the growing popularity of the ethical consumer movement and the appearance of different types of ethical collective communities, the current article explores the meanings drawn from the participation in Responsible Consumption Cooperatives. In existing research, the overriding...

This paper examines jobs in the information society and the new economy, taking as its focus the call center industry. More specifically, the study analyzes the degree of variability of the quality of call center jobs. In order to achieve this objective, an index of job quality is generated, and...

Does the use of HRM practices by multinational companies (MNCs) reflect their national origins or are practices similar regardless of context? To the extent that practices are similar, is there any evidence of global best standards? The authors use the system, societal, and dominance framework...

The authors use comparable data on employment practices in multinationals located in four countries - Canada, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom - to examine the question, How can we explain variation among national subsidiaries of MNCs in the extent and form of control on employment...

The authors examine whether U.S. multinational companies (MNCs) are distinctive in the degree to which they exert direct control over policy on human resources and employment relations (HR/ER) in their foreign subsidiaries. The results confirm the distinctiveness of U.S. MNCs in their greater...

Multinational companies (MNCs) from different countries of origin are widely held to have distinct preferences regarding the presence of employee representative structures and the form that employee 'voice' over management decisions takes. Such preferences are said to derive from the national...