The old certainties and structures of employment relations no longer exist. Compared with the 'golden age' of labour in the mid-twentieth century, work and employment are more precarious, employers are increasingly hostile to trade union negotiations, and the share of wages in national income is falling. Large-scale employers, in turn, are using sophisticated people-management techniques to motivate workers with person-centred, performance-driven and reward-based processes. Drawing on a range of international data, this comparative text demonstrates that whilst employment relations phenomena are nationally embedded, international market forces are compelling employers to compete in product markets by reducing labour costs, terms and conditions of employment, and job security for their workforces. In an age of transnational globalisation and free-market national economic policies, this textbook provides penetrating cross-national, cross-disciplinary and theoretical analyses of the changing structures of employment relations around the world. Key benefits: - Provides critical analyses of changing patterns of employment relations in the early twenty-first century, drawing upon global, comparative and theoretical perspectives. - Examines the changing faces of the subject in terms of academic disciplines, methodological underpinnings, and institutional, cultural and historic settings. - Integrates industrial relations literature with recent studies of the HRM paradigm.

Aimed at undergraduate, CIPD and post-graduate students and independent learners this exciting new comprehensive text is essential for those approaching Employment Relations for the first time. Written in a lively and engaging activity-based learning approach the book is structured around themes of change, continuity, policies and practices. It debates the change of demography of the work place, new technologies and the proliferation of HRM practices. It examines the continuity of the collective voice within traditional industrial relations to discover whether it is entering a period of re-adjustment and consolidation. Later chapters concentrate on policies and practices and encourage students to practise the skills needed by practitioners. Key Features: ? Provides a clear explanation of the historical context and current issues in employment relations to ensure a comprehensive introduction to the subject.' An activity-based learning approach - students not only read about concepts, but also learn how to apply what they have learned in practice by engaging in the various practical examples and exercises that are integrated throughout the text.' Numerous short cases contextualis

Reassessing the Employment Relationship is an edited volume written by leading academics at Cardiff Business School. Reflecting on the employment relationship as one of the central institutions of advanced capitalist economies, it provides an extensive survey of the changing world of work. The book offers a multi-disciplinary analysis of the contemporary workplace, and focuses on the key influences that are shaping the employment relationship - globalization, financialization, regulation and the search for ethical standards in human resource management. There is insightful and authoritative treatment of some of the main developments in the employment relationship, such as the rise of knowledge and customer service work, increasing income inequality, new forms of management control over work, the spread of non-union industrial relations and the rise to prominence of work-life integration. Reassessing the Employment Relationship provides a critical yet accessible look at the changing employment relationship, and is an indispensible aid to students studying Industrial Relations, Human Resource Management, Organizational Studies, and Business Ethics. PAUL BLYTON is Professor of Industrial Relations and Industrial Sociology at Cardiff University, UK. EDMUND HEERY is Professor of Employment Relations at Cardiff University, UK. PETER TURNBULL is Professor of Human Resource Management and Labour Relations at Cardiff University, UK.

. . . the book is both wide-ranging and thought provoking. . . New Directions in the Study of Work and Employment is a first rate collection of papers that provides a state-of-the-art overview of debates on the health and standing of the field of industrial relations. John Kelly, Transfer Charles Whalen s excellent edited volume New Directions in the Study of Work and Employment is a conversation about renewing the academic discipline formerly known as industrial relations. . . The chapters of this book are uniformly of high quality and provocative. . . It inspires the reader to engage and mend the world a bit. David Jacobs, Heterodox Economics Newsletter . . . an intellectually stimulating collection of informed, sound, and innovative responses to modern labor problems. . . . New Directions is a timely work that deserves wide readership by anyone with an association or interest in industrial relations. Although the matter of revitalization of the field of IR is not nearly a new topic, dismissing this volume as simply another typical prescription in the lineage of IR revitalization commentary would be a gross miscalculation. For one, the sheer breadth and depth of the contributing scholars brings a unique intellectual richness to this project. Also, this book distinctively tackles the issue of revitalization from a multitude of perspectives from social capital to network theories to labor and employment law, and from research and theory to teaching and practice and does so in a way that is comprehensive, continuous, and in dialog throughout. Finally this book makes a significant contribution because of its specific recommendations for IR revitalization. Instead of telling scholars and practitioners the need for a new direction but providing few feasible alternatives, New Directions proffers real pathways for progress. This book is a useful guide for navigating the ever-developing world of work and employment relations. Sean Rogers, Perspectives on Work Where is the field of industrial relations going? How can it be rejuvenated? How can it be reformulated to deal with current problems? These are among the difficult questions this stimulating book addresses. George Strauss, University of California, Berkeley, US This book deserves to be widely read. The academic study of industrial relations has recently struggled to adjust to the brave new world of work and employment relations. Too often there has been a retreat into the study of very small issues and insufficient emphasis on the big picture. The chapters in this volume make a valuable contribution to filling this gap. Most important of all, the book is forward-looking. Ken Mayhew, University of Oxford, UK Charles Whalen has assembled a timely and comprehensive examination of the world of work by a distinguished group of international scholars. Robert B. McKersie, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US This book represents a breath of fresh air, provided by many of the most prominent scholars in industrial relations today. It anchors the field to its past, but more importantly highlights pathways to the future. It is indispensable reading, and will form a solid foundation for continued dialogue about new directions for the study of work and employment. Morley Gunderson, University of Toronto, Canada Work and its associated problems are more important to individuals and society than ever before. That is why it is so crucial to re-envision the field of industrial relations (employment relations), which brings together economics, sociology, psychology, history, human resource management, political science, and all other areas of scholarship related to work. This compendium by leading industrial relations scholars makes a vital contribution in that direction. Paula B. Voos, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, US Industrial relations is confronting major challenges. This valuable book deserves a warm welcome since it illustrates and maps a series o

This collection analyses the contribution of industrial relations to social science understanding.