Discusses the nature of employee development programmes (EDPs) and the use made of them by UK employers; examines the structure and operation of similar schemes developed jointly by management and union in the “big three” US car companies. Argues that these US EDP schemes, through their use...

Summary Limited, in-depth, evidence exists as to the dynamics that underlay human resource reform in situations where multinationals acquire undertakings in developing countries on a basis short of full ownership. This article uses three case studies of human resource reform within privatised...

The manner in which different societies and cultures utilise the natural environment for various activities can be myriad and complex to analyse. Whilst experience and the use of accepted methodologies have taught practitioners how to handle many of the issues and controversies linked to the...

The Utilities Act 2000 is principally focused upon promoting greater competition within the electricity industry. Its provisions will have a profound, but possibly unintended, impact upon the structure of the electricity industry in the UK, and ensure the continued requirement for a regulatory...

The takeovers that have occurred within the Regional Electricity Companies (RECs) since the privatization of the UK electricity industry are reviewed. The article describes the nature and scale of the changes that have occurred, and the policy considerations that have influenced the behaviour of...

Workforce absence rates in Britain have been found to be higher in the public sector than the private. The Government has set ambitious targets for the reduction of public sector absence rates and published a range of recommendations. The authors look at the ways the two sectors manage long-term...

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a reflection on the other contributions to this special issue of IJPSM on the “employment implications of the outsourcing of public services to voluntary, not‐for‐profit organisations” in the light of more widely available discourses and evidence....