The existence of high commitment management in unionized workplaces Essay Example for Free

The existence of high commitment management in unionized workplaces Essay The existence of high commitment management in unionized workplaces suggests that such management is compatible with trade unionism. Discuss The relationship between workers and management has historically been an adversarial one. In the process of fighting for employee right and benefits, unions have traditionally created a them and us atmosphere between employees and managers. On the other hand, high commitment management tries to eliminate the them and us atmosphere and instead attempts to replace it with one of partnership where both employees and management work together for the benefit of the firm. Thus, the respective natures of high commitment establishments and unions would imply incompatibility. It is due to this belief that some high commitment firms devote enormous resources to strategies aimed to keep unions away from their firms such as hiring lawyers who specialize in union avoidance and implementing high commitment work practices such as grievance systems and work teams. However, there is a paradox to this belief as studies show that as compared with non-unionized firms, unionized firms in high commitment establishments provide more rights and benefits to workers, give more opportunities to employees to give and receive information, and give a greater voice to employees to voice either constructive suggestion or dissent (WERS 1992). Furthermore, union presence is increasingly popular in HRM organizations, as union density is 47% in organizations which employ at least half of the identified high commitment management practices. In this paper, I will use evidence from various studies to show why high commitment firms and unions are indeed compatible. High commitment management is based on the theory that firms who give more High commitment management is based on the theory that firms who give more to their workforce get back more from it in return. This requires a cooperative relationship based on trust and reciprocity between labor and management. Unions can help in solidifying a high commitment environment by policing management to ensure that certain high commitment goals are met. Unions in high commitment work environments fight to give employees a collective voice in decision making as well as enhancing distributive and procedural justice while in return improving workforce solidarity and aiding in legitimizing change. Thus, the compatibility between management and unions can increase the payoffs of both management and labor while allowing the firm to firm to be driven forward. In the fast pace, ever changing corporate world, responsiveness to change and flexibility within firms are oftentimes required so that firm can readily adapt to ever-changing times. Recent times have seen an increasing amount of firms moving away from traditional authoritarian ways of management towards that of high commitment human resource management. Such drastic changes in work practicess however, are not always easily implemented because a lack of communication between the workforce and managers makes it hard to change the character of employment relationships. Unions however, can aid in making such changes by allowing firms to communicate to the entire workforce quickly and efficiently while giving the workforce the opportunity to respond with input or inquiries. This increases the workforces knowledge and understanding of the new direction that their firm is taking and improves the probability that they will facilitate rather than resist future changes. Such was the case with Tesco, who realized that its inflexible employee involvement structure, as well as its high turnover, relatively low pay and a hands on directive management style were inconsistent with achieving enhanced levels of service to advance in competitive strategy. 1 Tesco wanted their employees to identify with and commit themselves to the company, and it saw the union Usdaw as the means for cultivating and realizing this goal. As a result a partnership between Tesco and Usdaw was formed where Usdaw gave up their strike threat in return for a greater union input to secure improved policy implementations. As a result, employee wages rose, terms and working conditions were improved and staff turnover dropped significantly.2 . Thus, this partnership took a step away from an us and them environment and took one towards unions working with management as team for the benefit of the entire firm. High commitment management is greatly dependent on a partnership between employees and management. This assumes that there arent agency problems because it is expected that employees have a deep understanding of the firms interests and that they go about their job as if those interests were their own. In order for the partnership between employees and management to flourish however, a workforce must have a collective voice in decision-making. Firms encounter many problems when trying to give individual workers decision-making authority. For instance, there is always the fear that a worker will abuse his decision-making authority by using it to further his own ends rather than to help the entire firm advance. Another problem is that it is extremely difficult to have a partnership between management and a fragmented workforce. Unions however facilitate a partnership by providing a channel of communication between management and the entire workforce. 3 This enhanced communication is made possible by unions because just as management speaks with single voice, having a union allows the employees it represents to speak to management with a unified voice. Thus unions give their members decision making authority by taking into account the needs of the workforce and communicating it to managers. As a result, there is an improved match between what employees want and what they get from management and this is an important ingredient in high commitment environments. Allowing workers to have a say in how their firm is managed increases their job satisfaction and is a major reason why on average, turnover is lower in union settings.4 In addition, unions tend to fight more for the benefits of employees with longer tenures in firms. This gives union members an increased incentive to commit themselves to their firm in the long term and also may be a factor contributing to lower turnover. This is compatible with high commitment management strategy in many occupations such as teaching and nursing where goals such as low turnover and worker longevity are important. However, any high commitment based partnership can break down if there is a lack of trust and accountability. Unions though can be trusted by management to act cooperatively because managers know that union officials want to protect their unions reputation with a particular firm and oftentimes this concern for its reputation can be the guarantee that management needs of good, constructive behavior5. In addition, a long-term partnership between unions and management can permit a greater degree of trust and objectivity than can the partnership between management and individual workers. This is because there is a greater frequency of interactions between management and a union. The partnerships experience in collectively dealing with past disputes makes it possible for future disputes to be settled in a promptly in a way that doesnt disturb work practices. This partnership also presents a checks and balance system to ensure that both parties act cooperatively. Just as a union is a party that can be held accountable for the actions of its members6, management can also be held responsible for bad behavior of any single manager. For instance, if a manager is engaging in an activity that the workforce views unfavorably, a union representative can give notice to management to put an end it before it goes too far. One of the biggest obstacles not permitting employees from fully committing themselves to a high commitment firm is if they perceive there to be unjustified unequal treatment. This can decrease employee performance incentives as well as hurt the morale of a high commitment firm. Unions however, have a sword of justice effect and are successful in eliminating many of the adverse affects that occur because of unequal employment opportunities. A major reason for this is that unionized can better monitor firm practices to ensure fairness because they are much more likely to have managers and supervisors who are trained in people management skills and in addition, managers in unionized firms put a greater emphasis on ensuring that there is equal treatment among their employees. Studies indicate that when taking into account workplaces where all the supervisors are required to have training in people management skills, 20% of those in unionized environments, [as] compared with only 12% of those in non-unionized places, have responsibility for equal opportunities.7 Two of the most common and documented forms of unequal opportunities are employee promotions and employee selection. When compared to non-unionized firms, firms with a union presence are four times as likely to monitor promotions by gender and three times as likely to review selection procedures to identify indirect discrimination.8. There is also evidence that the increased monitoring in unionized firms has helped reduce sexual discrimination as it regards to promotions and this has thus helped women advance up firms hierarchy. Studies indicate that about one in seven managers in the union sector reported that the proportion of women in the managerial post had risen markedly in the last 5 years; [while] only one in ten managers in the non-union sector reported this. 9 Furthermore, unions have also traditionally been seen as defenders of an egalitarian pay structure. High commitment work environments value and oftentimes even require worker solidarity. However, when some workers are paid more than others for essentially the same job, the existence of this solidarity is difficult to maintain. A union presence in a high commitment work environments facilitates the presence of solidarity as they prefer to pay each occupational group a single rate. This takes the wages out of competition among co-workers, and ensures that the high-commitment working environment wont be harmed due to ruthless competition practices such as undercutting between co-workers. Thus unionized workers have less wage inequality than their non-unionized counterparts. Studies indicate that the standard deviation is .457 in unionized setting [while it is] .592 in a non-union setting.10 Furthermore, unions help decrease wage inequality by 2.6% between males and females, 1.4% between blacks and whites, .6% between the healthy and those with health problems, and 3.1% between non-manual and manual employees.11. Thus by ensuring that firms pay equal wages for equal work, unions help maintain workforce solidarity which aids firms in maintaining high commitment work environments. In recent years, it had become apparent that the relationship between firms and unions doesnt necessarily have to be an adversarial one. In fact, the popularity of partnerships in high commitment firms indicates that the two institutions are indeed compatible. The evidence stated above indicates that when this partnership is properly utilized, unions can be a great asset to a high commitment management work design. This is because unions facilitate the existence of many of the necessary ingredients that go into high commitment work environments such as flexibility, increased employee voice in decision making, distributive justice, and worker solidarity. Major firms such as Tesco have recently taken advantage of this compatibility and are now realizing the formerly untapped benefits that a partnership between unions and high commitment management schemes can bring about. 1 Industrial Relations Services Partnership delivers the goods at Tesco, IRS Employment Review, August 1999, No. 662 2 Industrial Relations Services Partnership delivers the goods at Tesco, IRS Employment Review, August 1999, No. 662 3 Fernie, Sue. HRM Lecture on 29/01/02 : London: London School of Economics, 2001 4 Baron, James N. , Kreps David M. Strategic Human Resources: Frameworks for General Managers. (New York: John Wiley Sons, Inc., 1999), 127 5 Baron, James N. , Kreps David M. Strategic Human Resources: Frameworks for General Managers. (New York: John Wiley Sons, Inc., 1999), 134 6 Baron, James N. , Kreps David M. Strategic Human Resources: Frameworks for General Managers. (New York: John Wiley Sons, Inc., 1999), 134 7 Fernie, Sue Gray, Helen Women what unions can do for you CentrePiece Summer 2000 8 Fernie, Sue Gray, Helen Women what unions can do for you CentrePiece Summer 2000 9 Fernie, Sue Gray, Helen Women what unions can do for you CentrePiece Summer 2000 10 Metcalf, David Fighting for equality CentrePiece Summer 2000 11 Metcalf, David Fighting for equality CentrePiece Summer 2000

Technological Impact :: essays research papers

Technological Impact.  · Changes in market demand  · Marketing strategy: - As a company devpelopes and matures it will have to changes it's marketing strategy to compete and grow with other companies that are challenging the present company. I will take the car industry for an example. In the industry group there are many different competitors. Weather large or small they are all fighting for a piece of the nation and international market. The larger companies will have just as much trouble adjusting to change as a smaller company. This is because a small car company that does not produce many cars will find that to advertise a car on a small scale will probably take the same percentage of profit as a large company that needs to advertise on a large scale to keep the company going. In the car industry, manufactureres will be bringing out new models and varieties of cars all the time due to the intense competition to be at the top. There are seasonal changes in market demand; these become apparent when looking at car sales figures. There are highest sales of cars when the new registration plates for cars used to come out in August. This large demand for new cars was due to people wanting to have the newest cars available to them and they can show them off as people tend to notice the new letter at the beginning of the registration. The government has tried to stop this large demand for cars with new registrations by changing the registration twice a year, the letter also changes in March of each year as well as August . This may in theory have been a good idea but in practice it does not seemed to have paid of as most people that are buying a new car will tend to have it for a year before changing it for a different car. This is mainly because of the large amounts of money that is needed for road tax and car insurance and so people will not want top fork out more money for a new car as well as tax and insurance. As new models come out onto the market from other companies, this will cause demand for the present models of cars to be reduced because of the interest in the new model that not many other people have.

Express Yourself Through Music Essay

It is clearly the most powerful tool used for expression. It doesn’t judge or discriminate, and there’s always a piece for you. This, of course, is music, which might be the greatest invention known to humans. Music has become an important part of society throughout the world as people use it to express themselves. All it takes is to listen to the very different and contrasting genres of music we have today. Each different type of genre conveys different meanings. Jazz is associated with relaxation, the blues with sorrow, and so on. Whatever instrument it may be, your voice, or a piano, you are expressing yourself. Music provides a great source of communication. For example, if speech was the only form of communication, and there was no smiling, sign language, or music, life would prove to be very dull and unfulfilling. Most music has a purpose, in which the composer/performer is trying to relay a message to their audience. This is especially noticed on the radio, with song after song, each displaying its very own message. Some artists use lyrics in their songs to express explicit messages or to make people think about life and its various lessons. Others want to inspire people, invoking the emotions within, while others are use their demeanor and emotions to relax their listeners. Many songs I have heard have accomplished their goal of seizing the listener. No other song I’ve been in touch with has taken hold of me like Billy Joel’s â€Å"Piano Man†. I believe it to be a classic song and never tire from listening to it. The magnificent and captivating vocals and the smooth flow of the piano brings a sense of happiness and joy about me that is incomparable. Expressing yourself through music can help you keep in touch with how you are feeling. It can also release a lot of tension that you may be carrying around with you. Music can help prevent your feelings from bursting out in situations or ways that are embarrassing and inappropriate. This happens when people get out of touch with their feelings, something that music can help solve. Everyone needs some time to themselves to reflect on their feelings, which can easily be done while listening to music. Being able to express how you feel through music may help you make better decisions about what is right for you now. Your feelings and expressions are closely associated with music. I personally don’t know of anything else (outside of first hand interaction with other human beings) that can affect me the way music does. You can either express the way you feel and get out of that trap, or you can just drown in your problems by playing the sorry blues. All my life I’ve been involved with music and I also realize that music is a difficult, but beautiful thing that people should take more time to appreciate. It is often overlooked as being unimportant, but I know how useful it can be in expressing oneself. In fact, in life, there’s nothing that makes me feel more at peace than music.

Essay on Medical Marijuana Should Be Legal - 2958 Words

On July 8th, 2011 â€Å"...in a decision announced Friday the federal government ruled that [marijuana] has no accepted medical use and should remain classified as a highly dangerous drug like heroin. The decision comes almost nine years after medical marijuana supporters asked the government to reclassify cannabis...† (procon.org). The debate about medicinal marijuana has occurred for years in the United States. Though research provides substantial evidence that marijuana is medically significant, the federal government seems to turn a blind eye. Medicinal marijuana should be legalized federally in the United States because it can help a variety of medical reasons like, disease, cancer and other numerous illnesses. Cannabis, also known as†¦show more content†¦Cannabis is also mentioned in the report as an aid in†¦diabetes †¦and chronic ulcers. Other beneficial effects attributed to cannabis are prevention of insomnia, relief of anxiety, protection against cholera, alleviation of hunger and as an aid to concentration of attention† (procon.org). In the 1930’s, a campaign took place to beam cannabis as a powerful addicting drugs that would lead to dangerous drugs and labeled marijuana as a gateway drug (Encyclopedia-marijuana†). With the campaign in effect, America put cannabis on the schedule of controlled substances. On November 15th, 2010 â€Å"Arizona became the 15th state to legalize medical marijuana when proposition 203, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, passes by a margin of 4,341 votes out of 1,678,351 votes cast. The yes votes only outnumbered the no votes after the early and provisional ballots were all counted as of Nov. 15, 2010† (procon .org). The most current event to have acceptance of medicinal marijuana was on August 7th, 2011. â€Å"The [Israeli] Cabinet †¦approved arrangements and supervision regarding the supply of cannabis for medical and research uses† (procon.org). The decision of the Israeli Cabinet is in recognition that the medical use of cannabis is necessary in certain cases. The number of people recognizing the significance of the cannabis plant is growing, and with this growth, the American Federal governmentShow MoreRelatedMedical Marijuana Should Be Legal904 Words   |  4 PagesMedical Marijuana Although marijuana is illegal and lacks FDA approval it should be used to treat cancer. Opponents of medical marijuana argue that it is too dangerous to use, lacks FDA approval, and that various legal drugs make marijuana use unnecessary. They believe marijuana is addictive, leads to harder drug use, and injures the lungs, immune system, and brain. 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