View in EDS

Labour turnover and management retention strategies in new manufacturing plants.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Labour turnover and management retention strategies in new manufacturing plants.
Authors: Smith, Chris, Daskalaki, Maria, Elger, Tony, Brown, Donna
Source: International Journal of Human Resource Management; Mar2004, Vol. 15 Issue 2, p371-396, 26p, 4 Charts, 3 Graphs
Subject Terms: INTERNATIONAL business enterprises, LABOR turnover, EMPLOYEE retention, INDUSTRIAL relations, PERSONNEL management, INDUSTRIAL management, DECISION making, OCCUPATIONAL mobility, WAGES, OPEN & closed shop (Labor unions), LABOR supply, LABOR costs, MANUFACTURED products
Geographic Terms: UNITED Kingdom
Abstract: This paper draws from on-going research on labour-management relations in transnational companies within a new town in the English Midlands, Telford (Elger and Smith, 1998a, 1998b; Smith and Elger, 1998). The paper examines the issue of labour turnover and the management of labour retention using two contrasting case examples from Japanese TNCs. The paper seeks to contextualize management decision-making with regard to labour turnover through a political economy and firm-level analysis. At the macro-level we highlight a shift from using wages (Fordism) and strong internal labour markets (bureaucracy) as labour retention mechanisms, towards an inter-firm collusion on wages, non-poaching and union-avoidance. At the micro-level these strategies are matched with firm-level HRM policies of careful labour selection, company paternalism, segmentation of the labour force into temporary and permanent group and accommodation to higher levels of labour turnover to balance product demand and labour supply. TNCs in our research site, Telford, dominate manufacturing employment, representing 60 per cent of all manufacturing jobs. This is similar to other sites of new jobs growth in the UK, for example Swindon where 66 per cent of manufacturing jobs are with TNCs and other new sites of TNC manufacturing investment. The findings are therefore applicable to other areas in which TNC employment has been dominant in manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of International Journal of Human Resource Management is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Complementary Index
Description
Abstract:This paper draws from on-going research on labour-management relations in transnational companies within a new town in the English Midlands, Telford (Elger and Smith, 1998a, 1998b; Smith and Elger, 1998). The paper examines the issue of labour turnover and the management of labour retention using two contrasting case examples from Japanese TNCs. The paper seeks to contextualize management decision-making with regard to labour turnover through a political economy and firm-level analysis. At the macro-level we highlight a shift from using wages (Fordism) and strong internal labour markets (bureaucracy) as labour retention mechanisms, towards an inter-firm collusion on wages, non-poaching and union-avoidance. At the micro-level these strategies are matched with firm-level HRM policies of careful labour selection, company paternalism, segmentation of the labour force into temporary and permanent group and accommodation to higher levels of labour turnover to balance product demand and labour supply. TNCs in our research site, Telford, dominate manufacturing employment, representing 60 per cent of all manufacturing jobs. This is similar to other sites of new jobs growth in the UK, for example Swindon where 66 per cent of manufacturing jobs are with TNCs and other new sites of TNC manufacturing investment. The findings are therefore applicable to other areas in which TNC employment has been dominant in manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:09585192
DOI:10.1080/0958519032000158563