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Purpose: The aim of this paper is to evaluate whether the acceptability of different types of business- and individual-level non-compliance has different impacts on the likelihood of participation in undeclared work. Design/methodology/approach: To evaluate this, data is reported on the EU27 and the UK from the special Eurobarometer survey no. 498, using a novel statistical methodology that deals with two potential sources of bias: sample selection error (avoidance to answer to the question about participation to undeclared work) and misclassification in the response variable (false statements about engagement in undeclared work). Findings: This reveals the association between tax morale and participation in undeclared work. It shows that citizens find far more unacceptable undeclared work conducted by firms than individuals, but both are significantly associated with participation in undeclared work although the greatest effect is clearly exerted by individual-level tax morale. Originality/value: This paper uses a methodology that accounts for the potential bias related to sample selection error and misclassification in the response variable of participation in undeclared work and sheds light on different components of tax morale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the impact of risk disclosure practices (voluntary, mandatory and risk disclosure index) on stock return volatility, market liquidity and financial performance for insurance companies in the UK and Canada, before and after the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption. Design/methodology/approach: The panel data analysis covers 14 insurance companies in the UK and 12 in Canada over a six-year period, three years before and three years after the implementation of IFRS. The authors collected risk disclosure data manually from the annual reports and analyzed it through QSR NVivo software for each country. The other variables are secondary data collected from Thomson Reuters Eikon and Datastream. Findings: The results reveal that mandatory risk disclosure practices positively influence stock return volatility for UK insurers but not Canadian ones. Moreover, both mandatory and voluntary risk disclosures increase market liquidity for UK insurers. The outcomes also show a negative influence of risk disclosure practices on financial performance for both the UK and Canadian insurers. The adoption of IFRS enhances the impact of risk disclosure practices in both countries on market liquidity and financial performance. Research limitations/implications: The findings rationalize the impact of risk disclosure practices on volatility, liquidity and financial performance of UK and Canada insurers, and the effect of IFRS in triggering those results. Practical implications: The findings highlight the diverse effects of voluntary and mandatory risk disclosure practices in enhancing market discipline and mitigating information asymmetry problems to investors. Regulators and policymakers could rely on the findings to amend and develop disclosure standards more frequently to assure their effectiveness. The authors also offer insights to managers to determine the levels of mandatory and voluntary disclosure practices and disclosure strategies to gain their stakeholders' confidence. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature of risk disclosure in the insurance industry for both the UK and Canada where scarce studies are conducted. It also offers interesting implementations to investors, managers and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper aims at examining wage developments among Eastern European immigrants vs UK natives before and after the 2004 enlargement by measuring the extent to which inter-group wage differentials are explainable by these groups' changing attributes or by differences in returns to these characteristics. The enlargement has been a defining moment in British recent history and may have contributed to the unfolding of the events that have culminated in Brexit. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses a quantitative analysis of the immigrant–native wage gap across the entire distribution by applying the methodology known as the unconditional quantile regression. The analysis is performed before and after the 2004 European Union enlargement to Eastern countries. The data used is the British Labour Force Survey (UK LFS) from 1998 to 2008. Findings: At all distribution points, a major role is played by occupational downgrading, which increases over time. The results further suggest that the decreased wage levels at the top of the distribution stem mainly from low transferability of skills acquired in the source country. Research limitations/implications: The UK LFS does not allow to follow individuals for a long period of time. For this reason, the main limitation of the study is the impossibility to measure for individual-level trajectories in their labour market integration and to account for return migration. Originality/value: The analysis provides a detailed picture of the wage differences between Eastern European immigrants and natives along the whole wage distribution. The paper also identifies possible causes of the wage gap decrease for EU8 immigrant workers after 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Distinguishing what employers in different areas of Great Britain need to pay to attract and retain labour has been a central component of public-sector resource allocation decisions. This paper examines how changes in the pattern of spatial wage differentials following the global financial crisis have impacted on the formulae which allocate government funding to local government and health providers in the NHS. Design/methodology/approach: Using employer-reported data on earnings, we examine spatial patterns of private-sector wages in Great Britain between 2007 and 2017. The method permits the analysis of finely defined geographical areas and controls for differences in industry and workforce composition to distinguish those differences that are attributable from unmeasured characteristics, such as differences between areas in the cost of living and amenities. These standardised spatial wage differentials (SSWDs) underpin the funding allocation formulae. Findings: The analysis shows that since 2007 private-sector wage dispersion, both within and between regions, has reduced: lower paid areas have experienced a relative increase in wages and higher paid a relative decline. Over the period, there was a significant reduction in the London wage premium. Originality/value: This paper demonstrates the importance of ensuring established policies are applied using contemporary data. The SSWDs used to distribute government funds have not been re-estimated for some time. As a result, the current resource allocation model has overcompensated the London region and undercompensated others during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to study the effectiveness of the risk management system in the European context, especially with regard to the risk management committee, the uncertainty of the environment and company performance. In summary, it evaluates European companies listed on the stock exchange in France, Germany and the United Kingdom to determine how risk management systems influence financial companies' performance. Design/methodology/approach -- To study the effectiveness of risk management systems and their influence on performance, the large companies selected in our sample are fairly representative of the European market, according to the Dutch indices of each country (SBF 120 in France, HDAX 110 in Germany and FTSE 100 in United Kingdom).The empirical evidence is based on an international quantitative analysis, using a data set involving 320 companies listed on the stock exchange over a ten-year period from 2005 to 2014. Findings -- The results indicate that the establishment of a risk management and control system by a company positively influences its management, and its performance level and value creation also improve. The results of this study demonstrate a significant strengthening of the role of the risk management committee in the three countries. The surveillance function is reinforced, and in particular, the internal control system is accentuated. Research limitations/implications -- This study has some limitations that can form leads for future research. One of these limitations is the sample size. The authors have represented the European context by three countries that certainly constitute great European powers, but have regulations different from other countries. The company size is also a possible research element. Indeed, risk management system varies between large, small and medium-sized enterprises, so it is important to study each type of company well. Originality/value -- This study identifies the risk management committee as a mechanism of control that is highly important in the company, and it proposes an international framework that comparatively and empirically evaluates how the risk management system used in large European companies can improve their financial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to address the question of why organizations do not uniformly apply pay for performance (PFP) throughout the organization, focusing on the wider occupational structure in which they and the jobs they create are embedded. The authors propose a model of "occupational differentiation" whereby the probability of a job within a given organization having PFP increases with the levels of monitoring difficulty and requisite human asset specificity characterizing the occupation to which a job belongs, being highest in occupations characterized by high levels of both (generally managerial and professional occupations). Design/methodology/approach: Using the Workplace Employment Relations Survey (a nationally representative matched employer–employee dataset for Britain), this paper investigates this question for all 350 occupations delineated by the UK's Office for National Statistics using regression methods that adjust for other confounding factors such as demographic factors and workplace fixed effects. Findings: The authors find organizations "occupationally differentiate" the use of PFP in ways consistent with the model, i.e. PFP is most likely to be found in occupations characterized by both high monitoring difficulty and high requisite human asset specificity (mainly managerial and professional occupations) and least likely in occupations scoring low in both. The finding holds across PFP types (individual, group, organizational), whether organizations are large or small, and hold across most industrial sectors. Research limitations/implications: The main implication of this study is that organizations appear to be taking into consideration whether the wider profession to which a job belongs when implementing PFP, irrespective of their own human resource management strategies and organizational context. There are a few limitations to this study, with the main one being that this model is mainly confined to empirical support is only found in the private sector. The public sector appears to be beyond the reach of the model, where PFP implementation is generally rarer. A second limitation is that the dataset is from 2011 and only covers a single country. Practical implications: Given organizations appear to be implementing PFP based on occupation, this may lead to equity concerns, as different groups are being treated differently within organizations based upon their occupational group. Social implications: As PFP jobs tend to pay more than non-PFP jobs and PFP prevalence has been growing, by being more likely to implement it for generally high-paid groups (generally higher managerial and professional occupations), PFP may contribute to wider pay differentials within and between organizations. Originality/value: By introducing the occupational-level of analysis and the differential nature of tasks across occupational groups, the model offers a new midrange, sociological perspective to understanding intra-organizational dynamics in PFP use and potentially human resource practices more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to explain how thinking regarding multinationals, competitiveness and location in cities has evolved over the past five decades and how our current understanding and thinking about future challenges is contingent on these previous shifts.Design/methodology/approach The design of the paper is a conceptual piece linking different theoretical strands.Findings Global cities are not always necessarily the key locations for future multinational investments. It depends on the activities taking place. Knowledge and technology and how they interact with the firm’s capabilities and objectives are crucial.Research limitations/implications The implications are that future multinational location choices will be driven by diversity, demography, protectionism, automation and industrial policy.Originality/value This paper provides a roadmap for scholars in the international business and competitiveness fields to understand the current and future challenges facing multinationals and their location behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical patterns regarding trans people's self-esteem-oriented evaluations during observations of positive workplace actions. The case of a 2015 UK workplace guide is utilized to fulfil the aims. The guide provides suggestions to employers for recruiting and retaining trans people. Design/methodology/approach: A new questionnaire is created which forms a 20-item scale capturing a variety of self-evaluations. Trans people provided their responses in a 2018–2019 survey and the study's patterns were captured. Findings: The outcomes suggest that trans people's self-esteem and self-respect are enhanced by policy makers' positive actions to promote inclusivity in the workplace. In addition, due to these actions trans people feel more accepted, valued and trusted by the government. The authors suggest that a lack of positive workplace actions may be detrimental to trans people's self-esteem. However, if a workplace policy is perceived to be a recognition of trans people's worth this may be internalized, resulting in positive self-evaluations. The authors suggest that the 2015 workplace guide aims to ensure that trans people's self-expressions are not constrained in ways that could cause them self-esteem difficulties. Practical implications: The study also finds that firms which have implemented the workplace guide have informed human resources strategies, affected corporate profiles and staff organizational behaviours, created a more inclusive workplace culture, and addressed LGBT business and trans staff members' needs. The authors suggest that when employers utilize policy makers' positive workplace policies they may be able to realize positive organizational outcomes in their firms. Social implications: The World Health Organization perceives self-esteem as a public matter and this study suggests that inclusive workplace strategies can positively affect the psychological states of a highly marginalized population group. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge this is the first attempt to quantify how a workplace guide impacts on self-esteem-oriented evaluations among trans people. Each one of the 20 items in the scale brings new insights into the subject matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Cross-section data suggest that the relationship between age and hourly earnings is an inverted U shape. Evidence from panel data does not necessarily confirm this finding suggesting that older workers may not experience a reduction in earnings at the end of their working life. The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approach In this paper the authors use panel data on males for Great Britain in order to examine why the two types of data provide conflicting conclusions. Concentrating on the over 50s, several hypotheses are examined: overlapping cohorts, job tenure, job-changing, labour supply behaviour, and selectivity bias.Findings Cohort and individual fixed effects partly explain the divergent conclusions. However, for fully, year-on-year employed individuals, there is no evidence of earnings decline at the end of working life. The authors find no role for selectivity due to retirement, although shorter working hours or partial retirement along with job-changing late in life does provide an explanation for why hourly earnings decline for certain older workers.Originality/value The authors find no evidence that the process of ageing itself leads to lower earnings as suggested by the cross-section profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate changes in the economic importance of performance-related-pay (PRP) in Britain through the 2000s using firm-level data. Design/methodology/approach – The authors utilise nationally representative, monthly data on the total wage bill and employment of around 8,500 firms. Using these data, the authors decompose the share of the total economy-wide wage bill accounted for by bonuses into the shares of employment in the PRP and non-PRP sectors, the ratio of base pay between the two sectors, and the gearing of bonus payments to base pay within the PRP sector. Findings – The growth in the economic importance of bonuses in Britain in the mid-2000s – and subsequent fluctuations since the onset of recession in 2008 – can be almost entirely explained by changes in the gearing of bonus to base pay within the PRP sector. There has been no substantial change in the percentage of employment accounted for by PRP firms; if anything it has fallen over time. Furthermore, movements in the gearing of bonuses to base pay in the economy are heavily influenced by changes in Finance: a sector which accounts for a large proportion of all bonus payments in Britain. Research limitations/implications – The paper demonstrates the importance of understanding further how firms decide the size of bonus payments in a given period. Originality/value – This is the first paper to present monthly firm-level data for Britain on the incidence and size of bonus payments in the 2000s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper, with an organisational focus, is to offer a novel examination of the association between workforce nationality composition and workplace flexibility practices (WFPs), an under-researched topic with high potential benefits at microeconomic and macroeconomic level. Design/methodology/approach – British data are used, as the UK has experienced significant immigrant flows and has a relatively high level of labour market flexibility. The Workplace Employee Relations Survey 2011, sampling 2,500 British workplaces, offers for the first time data on workforce nationality. Via zero-inflated regressions, the number of non-UK nationals employed in a workplace is assessed against a wide range of numerical, functional and cost WFPs. Findings – There are significant links between WFPs and the employment of non-UK nationals, and these are distinct for non-UK nationals from the European Economic Area (EEA) when compared to non-UK nationals from outside the EEA. The former are more likely to be in “good” employment, with job security, working from home, job autonomy and training. Yet, both types of non-UK nationals are more likely to be employed in workplaces making high use of causal contracts. The implications of these results are discussed. Originality/value – The paper addresses the need to research migration from a relatively new perspective of WFPs while also taking into account the diversity of non-UK nationals. The topic is of importance to organisations, as well as to labour market and migration policymakers. Timely results are of value in view of heightened interest in migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the allocation of time to paid work, unpaid work and non-work by women in Britain in 1998-1999. To infer the labor supply from the other time-use expressions. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses weekly diary data to estimate the unpaid work and non-work functions. It infers the (residual) paid work expression. As the latter is recovered from uncensored regressions, it makes direct use of the complete set of observations. Hence, it contains more information than the conventional labor supply functions that are estimated from the data obtained from paid work participants via the Tobit and Heckit or selection-bias correction (SBC) techniques. Findings – The women surveyed generally allocated 69 percent of their time toward non-work, 18 percent to unpaid work, and 13 percent to paid work. The non-work function is dominated by the autonomous component, and all three functions depend on subjects’ age, wage, non-labor income, household composition, the unpaid work contributions of adult relatives and region of residence. The unpaid work and non-work functions are more consistent with the SBC rather than the Tobit version of the labor supply. Moreover, the Tobit predicts unrealistic paid work allocations for women engaging in very little non-work. Research limitations/implications – The unpaid work and non-work functions are regressed separately, as often the case in the literature. Their consideration within a seemingly unrelated regression framework necessitates a reduction in the number of observations to match those considered in the Tobit and SBC versions of the labor supply. Nuances may arise when the time reported in the diaries does not add up to 24 daily hours for all respondents. Knowledge of the recovered regional, age, household member and other effects on women time allocation might had come handy to economic development authorities who sought to attract women out of the household into market production, and from part-time to full-time employment in the context of the 2000-2010 Lisbon Strategy. Similar lessons may be valid today. Originality/value – The data set derives from a survey that has not been used before. It relies on week-long diaries in order to avoid the occurrence of many zeros in a good number of activities (which is the norm in short diaries), and to ensure the study of a censored time-use function through its uncensored complements. The findings are compared to those of a weekly diary survey conducted in 1987 that solicited similar information. Hence, the study fills a gap in time-use analysis. Identifying the factors which influence the number of hours that women engage in work (both paid and unpaid) and non-work is useful for economic policy purposes. The study exposes a limitation in the conventional estimation of the labor supply which, in turn, casts doubt on the reliability of empirical results for policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether masculine personality traits in women generate better job market prospects, as compared to feminine personality traits.Design/methodology/approach The authors utilized a field experiment (correspondent test) to capture the way in which firms respond to women who exhibit masculine and feminine personality traits. In doing so, the authors minimized the potential for reverse causality bias and unobserved heterogeneities to occur.Findings Women who exhibit masculine personality traits have a 4.3 percentage points greater likelihood of gaining access to occupations than those displaying feminine personality traits. In both male- and female-dominated occupations, women with masculine personality traits have an occupational access advantage, as compared to those exhibiting feminine personality traits. Moreover, women with masculine personality traits take up positions which offer 10 percentage points higher wages, in comparison with those displaying feminine personality traits. Furthermore, wage premiums are higher for those exhibiting masculine personality traits in male-dominated occupations than for female-dominated positions.Practical implications Within the labor market, masculine personality traits may increase competency levels and leadership capability.Social implications As feminine personality traits are stereotypically attributed to women, and these characteristics appear to yield fewer rewards within the market, they may offer one of many plausible explanations as to why women experience higher unemployment rates, while also receiving lower earnings, as compared to men.Originality/value Masculine and feminine personality traits may be a probable outcome of wage-related differentials. The experimental study isolates spurious relationships and offers clear evaluations of the effect of masculine and feminine personality traits on occupational access and wage distribution. To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first-field experiment to examine the effect of masculine and feminine personality traits on entry-level pay scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose There is an increasing concern on the quality of jobs and productivity witnessed in the flexible employment arrangements. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between various flexible employment arrangements and the workplace performance.Design/methodology/approach Home-based working, teleworking, flexible timing and compressed hours are the main employment types examined using the Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS) over the years 2004 and 2011 in Great Britain. The workplace performance is measured by two outcomes – the financial performance and labour productivity. First, the determinants of these flexible employment types are explored. Second, the ordinary least squares (OLS) method is followed. Third, an instrumental variable (IV) approach is applied to account for plausible endogeneity and to estimate the causal effects of flexible employment types on firm performance.Findings The findings show a significant and positive relationship between the flexible employment arrangements and the workplace performance. Education, age, wage, quality of relations between managers-employees, years of experience, the area of the market the workplace is operated and the competition are significant factors and are positively associated with the propensity of the implementation of flexible employment arrangements.Social implications The insights derived from the study can have various profound policy implications for employees, employers and the society overall, including family-work balance, coping with family demands, improving the firm performance, reducing traffic congestion and stress among others.Originality/value It is the first study that explores the relationship between flexible employment types and workplace performance using an IV approach. This allows us to estimate the causal effects of flexible employment types and the possible associated social implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to estimate the influence of workplace teams on wages and wage dispersion within UK establishments. Design/methodology/approach – Four types of workplace teams are analyzed using linked employer and employee data from the British Workplace Employee Relations Survey. Findings – Workplace teams are positively associated with wages but negatively associated with wage dispersion within establishments. The four team variables examined have the same directional influence on both wages and dispersion suggesting that it is the use of teams that is important not necessarily the particular characteristics of teams that are being used. The role of occupation is also examined as teams may be more likely to form in certain occupations. The team results for both wages and wage dispersion are robust to the inclusion of detailed occupational information. Originality/value – The influence of workplace teams is examined on both employee wages and wage dispersion within establishments. Additionally, the paper extends the previous empirical literature on teams by controlling for occupations at a fine level of detail not previously explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate online problem-based learning (PBL) as a route to achieving sustainability education using sponsored projects. Design/methodology/approach – The Royal Academy of Engineering sponsored project at Manchester; to foster education in sustainability through inter-disciplinary problem-based approaches, has since been extended to other groups and to a broader array of issues. One of the limiting factors is the ease with which this approach can be taken in the case of large numbers of students and a commensurate requirement for large numbers of facilitators. The University of Keele, together with partners from the universities of Manchester and Staffordshire, was awarded National Teaching Fellowship Scheme funding to explore further the use of blended or online approaches, in order to overcome these limitations. The pilot unit already has a certain amount of support using the BlackBoard virtual learning environment (VLE) but this scenario is supposed to rely entirely on online working. At the time of writing, the evaluation of the pilot has not been completed but an online questionnaire was devised to monitor students' reactions to the online working and to ascertain whether they did in fact work entirely online or whether they chose to meet informally face-to-face. Difficulties encountered were both organizational (mostly relating to enrolment) and technical (this was a new version of BlackBoard and had a few teething troubles). Findings – This pilot project has demonstrated that a blended approach to PBL is feasible. There are some forms of resistance from students. The assessment was outcomes-driven rather than process-driven. This meant that it was not necessary for the academic staff to have access to all the discussions, thus acting as facilitators. There is a general theme that while learners found it possible to work effectively as a group online, they also found it more difficult. It is possible that the students were having to dedicate more time and effort to the use of the online system, which had an impact on their creativity and productivity. Research limitations/implications – In the case of the University of Manchester, the developments are being applied to a Masters-level course unit in Managing Humanitarian Aid Projects. This unit proceeds on the basis of five scenarios that students try to resolve in small groups and in the first pilot year one of these scenarios is being delivered on-line. Practical implications – The results of this pilot could be fed in to different stages of programme deployment to examine impact and explore possibilities with distance learning modules. Originality/value – This paper has looked at the effectiveness of nationally run, problem-based learning projects that are aimed at improving understanding, engagement and deployment on diverse learning environments to include VLEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose |!|#8211; The purpose of this paper is to discuss performance in postgraduate education in Sweden and Scotland. Drawing on two cases, the paper considers three themes: differences in students|!|#39; performance by study mode, differences in students|!|#39; performance by length of study, and finally comparing performance by study mode between modules in Scotland with an entire programme in Sweden. Design/methodology/approach |!|#8211; The empirical setting from Scotland builds on an evaluation of online and on-campus study groups with exactly the same module syllabus. The Swedish setting is also based on an evaluation of distance and on-campus study groups with exactly the same module syllabus. The data compiled in both countries arise from student performance scores and grades. Findings |!|#8211; The results indicate that students in both countries foremost use the virtual learning environment (VLE) as a forum for accessing information, to access asynchronous postings in the forums and access streaming-synchronous online lectures which are also accessed asynchronously in the VLE. The results show that there are no differences between the grades or test scores between campus students with face-to-face education and distance students with electronically (VLE) mediated education. These differences and similarities will form the basis of these reflections in this paper. Research limitations/implications |!|#8211; The study is limited because the examples given are only a few cases and small samples and there is a need to more rigorously investigate different educational programs in different academic disciplines. Originality/value |!|#8211; The paper contributes to quality issues in distance, online and campus education by taking into account, in the first case, different student performance in the same course over a longer period and in the second case, changes over time within the same educational program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline and discuss a multifaceted approach to embedding change in academic practice, resulting in the integration of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) within the wider institutional strategic approach to learning and teaching. Design/methodology/approach – This approach is evidenced through a discussion of three examples of practitioner engagement and ownership across the institution – "bottom-up", "middle-out" and "top-down" activities – demonstrating the attendant potential for transferability to other institutional settings. Findings – The triangulation of all three levels of activity in this way ensures that strategy is informed, developed, discussed, deployed and owned across the institution. Originality/value – The paper addresses the challenges of integrating TEL approaches within an overall teaching and learning strategic framework through the medium of practitioner-developed and supported initiatives developed at the University of Dundee but with potential for transferability to other institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent and the human-capital determinants of low-wage mobility for labour market entrants in the UK and Germany. Design/methodology/approach -- Using panel data for the UK (BHPS) and Germany (GSOEP), a competing-risks duration model is applied that allows the study of transitions from low pay to competing destination states: higher pay, self-employment, unemployment and inactivity. Unobserved heterogeneity is tackled by a non-parametric mass-point approach. Findings -- It is found that low pay is only a temporary state for most young job starters. However, there is a small group of job starters that is caught in a trap of low pay, unemployment or inactivity. In the UK, job starters escape from low pay mainly by developing firm-specific skills. In Germany, involvement in formal vocational training and the attainment of apprenticeship qualifications account for low pay exits. Originality/value -- Over the past decades, unemployment and low-wage employment have emerged as major challenges facing young labour market entrants. While most empirical studies focus exclusively on the transition from low pay to high pay, the paper shows that a significant percentage of young entrants are caught in a low-pay-non-employment trap. Moreover, it is shown that, depending on the institutional context, different types of human capital investments can account for a successful low-pay exit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of innovative workplace practices in a sample of manufacturing establishments. Design/methodology/approach -- The sample comprises manufacturing establishments located in Italy and a comparable sample extracted from the British Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS). The paper controls for sector, size, skill quality and industrial relations. Findings -- Job rotation and technical training are positively associated with current performance in both samples. On average, British establishments are more productive: the different endowment in terms of workplace practices, skills and industrial relations accounts for 40 per cent of the gap, while the different efficacy of the endowment on performance accounts for the remainder. Originality/value -- In both samples the introduction of team working implies a relatively important advance along the reorganisation process, which was undertaken in the early stages of reorganisation in British establishments but much later in Italian firms. Linking the progression of the reorganisation to non-convexities in supermodular production functions may be an interesting line of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper sets out to examine the link between technological change and continuing training at a workplace level. Design/methodology/approach - The paper hypothesises that workplaces subject to technological change have an increased demand for skills, which induces an increased provision of training. UK data from two waves (1998 and 2004) of the Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS) are used to investigate this hypothesis. Findings - Workplaces undertaking technological change are more likely to train their workers and also to provide more days of training per worker. Team working is also associated with a greater number of days spent on training, as are the setting of training targets and the keeping of training records. Training intensity decreases with an increasing share of part-time and manual employees. Conversely, where workplaces face difficulties in filling skilled vacancies, they provide more days of training. Research limitations/implications - The WERS training questions refer only to core experienced employees which, since this group may vary from one workplace to another, may not give a completely consistent measure of either absolute or relative training provision. Because the WERS panel (1998 and 2004) excludes both the dependent variable (training intensity) and the variable of interest (technical change), the analysis is restricted to cross-section estimation. Causal implications of this analysis should be regarded as correspondingly tentative. Practical implications - The findings suggest that one way to induce firms to provide more training is by enhanced incentives for firms to undertake more rapid technological change. In addition, if the current global economic downturn persists, evidence that operating in a declining market is associated with the provision of fewer training days may be of particular concern to training professionals and policy makers. Originality/value - The paper provides empirical evidence concerning the interaction between technological change and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies five types of insolvency in English football: clubs that have failed to cope with relegation; failed to pay monies due to the UK government; seen 'soft debts' become 'hard debts'; lost the ownership of their stadium; or have been 'repeat offenders'. As the second of a three-phase research project, the paper concludes with an indication of the final phase research and implications of the findings so far for other professional sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors affecting the labour market status of females in Greece and the UK respectively and also attempts to explore what accounts for the differences in the employment status between males and females. In particular, the study seeks to assess whether these differences can be explained by employees' endowments or by discrimination in the labour market. Design/methodology/approach -- Labour Force Survey (LFS) data are used to examine the impact of observable characteristics on female labour market participation, unemployment, and self-employment through the use of logit models. An extension of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition technique is used to estimate the gender employment discrimination gap. Findings -- Clear evidence of gender differences was found in both countries, although differences are substantially larger in the case of Greece. Evidence of female employment discrimination was also found in both labour markets. Originality/value -- The paper explores the factors affecting the labour market situation of females and, for the first time, assesses the level of gender employment discrimination in Greece and the UK analysing the differences between the unemployment rates of males and females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications for HRM of employers' use of migrants in low-skilled work in a UK-based firm. Is the use of migrant workers for low skilled work associated with "soft" or "hard" approaches to HRM? How do employers recruit migrant workers? What career progression paths are available to these workers in firms? What are the expectations and aspirations of migrant workers? Design/methodology/approach - The paper examines these issues through a case study of a UK-based employer using large numbers of migrant workers. The paper draws on data from a survey of migrant workers in the firm conducted in 2006, and from interviews with managers and migrant workers within this firm, conducted between 2005 and 2006. Findings - The paper highlights the "hard" HRM strategy pursued by the company in order to maintain a competitive advantage based on low labour costs and substitutability of workers. A contradiction is noted between the desire of the firm to retain migrant workers with a strong work ethic and gain high commitment, on the one hand, and their continued attempt to compete on the basis on minimal labour costs and follow a "hard" approach to HRM, on the other. Practical implications - The paper points to the importance of analysis of employers' use of migrants and the strategies they are adopting towards using these workers. Developing an understanding of these strategies is critical to understanding the social and economic experiences of migrant workers. Originality/value - The paper combines qualitative and quantitative research through an intensive case study to illuminate the implications for HRM of employers' use of migrants in low-skilled jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to outline some of the key issues related to migrant workers, work, public policy and HRM while introducing the five articles included in the special issue. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reports on the issue which is made up of articles that present research based on surveys, interviews and longitudinal census data. Findings - It is evident that high-performing economies attract migrants from lower-performing economies. However, with influxes of migrant labour there are a number of challenges that need to be met at the organisational and policy levels. Research limitations/implications - The indications are that some economies are beginning to slow and this means that migrant flows will also slow or reverse. The implications for migrant-dependent sectors and countries are not clear, although all five papers indicate areas for further research. Practical implications - Each article includes practical implications depending on the sector, skill and country being examined. Practical implications include the role of day labour centres as HR mediators between organisations and employees, the need for culturally sensitive and tailored training programs to assist professional migrants and the need for policies geared towards the assimilation of migrants and return migrants in order to assist their integration into the labour market. Originality/value - The five articles presented here represent a wide range of approaches, skill levels and sectors within the five counties examined: the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, and Finland. Some, such as the US paper which includes the first national survey of day labour worker centres, present findings from a highly under-represented area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines ambush marketing activities and their effects upon UK football-oriented consumers. It questions previous definitions of ambush marketing and proposes one more relevant for today. The research focuses upon the identification of 'event-connected brand recognition' achieved by sponsor versus ambush brands and the role of 'event involvement' as a driver of this. The research employs a pre- and post-event design that aims to track consumer recognition of pre-designated brands. Results give initial indications that consumers can discern differences between the two forms of activity and that high event involvement increases recognition. This paper contributes towards the debate about a change in the definition of ambush marketing against the backdrop of increasing media saturation surrounding major sporting events, and suggests that a more relevant descriptor would be 'parallel event marketing'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to examine two aspects of the self-employment adjustment of immigrant groups in the UK. First, how the probability of self-employment for males changes with time since migration relative to the native population and second, how the probability of self-employment for males differs between immigrants and the UK-born within ethnic groups. Design/methodology/approach -- Limited dependent variable regression models are estimated using data from the UK Labour Force Survey collected between 2001 and 2005. The results are presented graphically to make clear the differences between ethnic groups. Findings -- The predicted self-employment probability of "Asian" immigrants increases faster than that of natives over the lifecycle while that of "Black" groups declines. Furthermore, the observed lower propensity of UK-born members of certain ethnic groups to be in self-employment is largely explained by differences in human capital. Practical implications -- High rates of self-employment amongst some ethnic groups in the UK are unlikely to be a transitory phenomenon. Originality/value -- While previous work on the UK has examined patterns of self-employment between groups and over time, the paper looks for the first time at how adjustment within groups takes place over the life cycle and across nativity status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and workers' overall job satisfaction and their satisfaction with pay. Design/methodology/approach — The paper uses British data from two different cross-sectional datasets. It estimates probit models with overall job satisfaction and satisfaction with pay as subjective dependent variables. Findings — After controlling for personal, job and firm characteristics, it is found that several HRM practices raise workers' overall job satisfaction and their satisfaction with pay. However, these effects are only significant for non-union members. Satisfaction with pay is higher where performance-related pay and seniority-based reward systems are in place. A pay structure that is perceived to be unequal is associated with a substantial reduction in both non-union members' overall job satisfaction and their satisfaction with pay. Although HRM practices can raise workers' job satisfaction, if workplace pay inequality widens as a consequence then non-union members may experience reduced job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications — The data sets used in the analysis are cross-sectional, presenting a snapshot of impacts of HRM practices on job satisfaction at a particular point in time. Dynamic effects are therefore not captured. Originality/value — The paper adds to the empirical literature on effects of HRM practices, focussing on impacts on both overall job satisfaction and satisfaction with pay. A novel feature of the paper is the use of two separate data sets to develop complementary empirical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — It is known that the self-employed are generally more satisfied than salaried workers. The aim of this paper is to test whether this phenomenon is particularly found for the first-generation self-employed. Design/methodology/approach — French and British panel data are analysed, which include information on various measures of job satisfaction, and the respondent's parents' occupation. Job satisfaction regressions were run in which the first-and second-generation self-employed were distinguished between. Findings — The study finds that first-generation self-employed (those whose parents were not. self-employed) are more satisfied overall than are the second-generation self-employed. The findings are consistent between the British and French data. Research limitations/implications — While the results are the same in the two countries considered, further validation work should extend the analysis across countries. While the authors are fairly sure that the second-generation self-employed do worse, they cannot precisely distinguish between comparison to one's parents, constrained occupational choice, and selection effects due to lower barriers to self-employment entry. Originality/value — The authors believe that this is one of the first papers to distinguish between types of self-employed in terms of their higher satisfaction. The finding that parents' labour force status continues to have a significant impact on their children's job satisfaction argues for a more systematic consideration of intergenerational factors in the analysis of labour markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to summarize the findings of a survey of UK universities about how their websites are managed and resourced, which technologies are in use, and what are seen as the main issues and priorities. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on a web-based questionnaire distributed in summer 2006, which received 104 usable responses from 87 institutions. Findings - The survey showed that some web teams were based in IT and some in external relations, yet in both cases the site typically served internal and external audiences. The role of web manager is partly management of resources, time and people, partly about marketing and liaison and partly also concerned with more technical aspects including interface design and HTML. But it is a diverse role with a wide spread of responsibilities. On the whole web teams were relatively small. Three-quarters of responding institutions had a CMS, but specific systems in use were diverse. Sixty per cent had a portal. There was evidence of increasing use of blogs and wikis. The key driver for the website is student recruitment, with instituitional reputation and information to stakeholders also being important. The biggest perceived weaknesses were maintaining consistency with devolved content creation and currency of content; lack of resourcing a key threat while comprehensiveness was a key strength. Current and wished-for projects pointed again to the diversity of the sector. Research limitations/implications - The lack of comparative data and difficulties of interpreting responses to closed questions where respondents could have quite different status (partly reflecting divergent patterns of governance of the web across the sector) create issues with the reliability of the research. Practical implications - Data about resourcing of web management, technology in use, etc. at comparable institutions is invaluable for practitioners in their efforts to gain resources in their own context. Originality/value - The paper adds more systematic, current data to our limited knowledge about how university websites are managed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe the hypothesis of effort-based career opportunities as a situation in which profit maximising firms create incentives for employees to work longer hours than the bargained ones, by making career prospects depend on working hours. The paper aims to test some implications of this hypothesis using UK data. Design/methodology/approach - The empirical analysis uses the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and panel data estimators to investigate the existence of a robust correlation between working hours and workers' expected probability of promotion in the current job. Findings - The analysis shows the existence of a robust positive correlation between working time and workers' expected likelihood of promotion in the BHPS data even when controlling for several individual characteristics and for workers' unobserved heterogeneity. Research limitations/implications - Although the paper uses panel data, the BHPS does not allow for the identification of the firms in which individuals work, and therefore to control for firm fixed effects. Employer-employee datasets would have allowed a better assessment of the hypothesis. Originality/value - The paper provides a theoretical explanation for the empirically observed positive association between working time and expected promotion probability and, unlike previous papers that used pooled OLS estimates, it exploits the panel structure of BHPS data to control for individual unobserved heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the need for accessible learning within the online environment by investigating disabled students' levels of engagement with a virtual learning environment (VLE) and the extent to which lecturers' use of the VLE made learning accessible. Design/methodology/approach - A small focus group of undergraduate students with various disabilities was used to create a case study approach. Findings - The paper presents key issues related to the pedagogical, practical and strategic use of a VLE, based on the perspectives of disabled students and raises many disability issues for teaching staff who are attempting to get to grips with the idea of bringing a VLE into their everyday teaching to complement their face-to-face teaching sessions. It offers a considered approach to the use of a VLE in meeting the requirements of the UK disability legislation and in responding to the needs of disabled students. Originality/value - Based on the perspectives of students, the paper offers a first-hand insight into the pedagogical issues surrounding e-learning and students with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of community of practice in sustaining teachers' participation in a blended (face-to-face and online) professional development course. Design/methodology/approach - A longitudinal multiple-case study methodology was used in researching groups of five teachers in Australia and four teachers in the UK. The two groups independently participated in an initial face-to-face training day and then completed the professional development course via an online learning environment (Blackboard). The course was designed to facilitate community of practice cohesion. Data collection included surveys, data mining of online activity, discussion forums and e-mails, and semi-structured interviews. Findings - The paper finds that the participants of both case studies demonstrated sustained engagement for more than twice the minimum requirement. While the Australian case study was sustained through a community-defined regime of participation, the UK case study increasingly relied on the course facilitator to broker both practices and a community rhythm by which they could participate. Sustained participation in the Australian case study was supported by mutuality as seen in reciprocity of interaction and social engagement. Originality/value - Transformative professional development is dependent on a number of design principles, including that it needs to be sustained over time. The literature reveals that neither face-to-face nor online professional development, per se, sustains engagement. This research demonstrates that teacher participation can be sustained by designing for community of practice cohesion, in a blended mode of delivery with small groups of participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe research into the requirements, practice and prospects for the field of learning design and provide the findings of this study to date alongside early recommendations for furthering the profession in the UK. Design/methodology/approach - The paper describes the findings of a review of the literature on learning design and the study's research methodology, which comprises focus groups, an online questionnaire deployed for use in the UK, North America, Australia, telephone interviews, and surveys of higher education programmes. Findings - Initial analysis of the data indicates that learning design professionalisation and training in the UK are behind those found in other areas of the world. Research limitations/implications - The research was of an exploratory nature and thus limited. However, it shows that additional research into distinct aspects of learning design is required to explore further phenomena described in this paper. Practical implications - The findings suggest that more and appropriate training opportunities are required for UK learning designers. This could be supplemented by further professionalisation of the field. Originality/value - Key aspects are revealed in the paper of the learning design field in the UK where development is required in order to place learning design on a par with the field in other countries. These findings should be of interest to learning designers, the institutions that train them, their employers and those that use their services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Today's technology supports the design of more and more sophisticated interactive learning environments. This paper aims to argue that such design should develop from first principles. Design/methodology/approach - In the paper by first principles is meant: learning theory and principles of course design. These principles are briefly outlined, key features of which include: the use of knowledge and task analysis methodology; the use of topic maps; and learning design that supports adaptive teaching. The paper goes on to describe how this approach to course design has been applied at the UK Defence Academy. Findings - The paper shows how conversation theory serves as a source of first principles for the design of interactive learning environments, as exemplified in the Course Assembly System and Tutorial Environment (CASTE). Originality/value - A principled approach to the design of interactive learning environments is of value in bringing order to a conceptually and methodologically confused domain of practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper aims to show that active labour market policies in Scotland over a nine-year period have failed to meet key policy objectives. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses the UK national online manpower information system (NOMIS) to conduct a detailed statistical analysis of the spatial differentials in exits from and entry to unemployment across 72 Parliamentary constituencies. The analysis is conducted by reference to the concepts of convergence, NAIRU and hysterisis. Findings - The findings suggest a presence of hysterisis and absence of spatial convergence such that some areas in Scotland have become worse off in terms of the risk of unemployment and despite active labour market intervention. Research limitations/implications - Future research needs to be undertaken at the micro-spatial level to confirm these findings and to focus on the weaknesses in the design of active labour market policies. Practical implications- Active labour market policies in Scotland do not work in terms of reducing the risk of unemployment. Policy needs to focus on creating demand for labour rather than an almost exclusive reliance on "promoting" the supply-side. Originality/value - The key contribution of this paper is that it is the first to provide a detailed analysis of the Government's own data on unemployment distribution - it should be of value to both academicians and policy makers in terms of both analytical approach and policy design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - To investigate whether significant differences exist in job satisfaction (JS) between individuals receiving performance-related pay (PRP) and those on alternative compensation plans. Design/methodology/approach - Using data from four waves (1998-2001) of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), a Heckman-type econometric procedure is applied that corrects for both self-selection of individuals into their preferred compensation scheme and the endogeneity of wages in a JS framework. Findings - It is found that while the predicted JS of workers receiving PRP is lower on average compared to those on other pay schemes, PRP exerts a positive effect on the mean JS of (very) high-paid workers. A potential explanation for this pattern could be that for lower-paid employees PRP is perceived to be controlling, whereas higher-paid workers derive a utility benefit from what they view as supportive reward schemes. Research limitations/implications - As the study utilises data from the UK only, its results cannot be generalized to other countries characterized by distinct labour market contexts. Furthermore, the quality of the estimates depends on the quality of the identifying restrictions which, in these types of studies, are always somewhat ad hoc. However, the available tests for evaluating the quality of the identifying restrictions indicated that they are appropriate for the models used. Practical implications - The findings of the paper suggest that using performance pay as an incentive device in the UK could prove to be counterproductive in the long run for certain low-paid occupations, as far as employee JS is concerned. Originality/value - This paper is the first to have attempted to correct for the selectivity issue when considering the effect of PRP on JS. Its implications should be of interest to human resource managers when designing the compensation strategies of their organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper attempts to project the future trend of the gender wage gap in Great Britain up to 2031. Design/methodology/approach - The empirical analysis utilises the British Household Panel Study Wave F together with Office for National Statistics (ONS) demographic projections. The methodology combines the ONS projections with assumptions relating to the evolution of educational attainment in order to project the future distribution of human capital skills and consequently the future size of the gender wage gap. Findings - The analysis suggests that gender wage convergence will be slow, with little female progress by 2031 unless there is a large rise in returns to female experience. Originality/value - The paper has projected the pattern of male and female skill acquisition together with the associated trend in wages up to 2031. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to estimate whether job applicants who have obtained a BSc in economics from 15 UK universities face different labour market prospects. The author examines whether university entry standards and Russell Group membership affect UK economics applicants’ occupational access and entry-level annual salaries when unobserved heterogeneities, such as ability, motivation, family characteristics and networks, are minimized. Design/methodology/approach – The author evaluate the research question by recording the job search processes of 90 British economics applicants from randomly selected universities. The key elements of the approach are as follows: third-year undergraduate students apply for early career jobs that are relevant to their studies. Applications are closely matched in terms of age, ethnicity, experience and other core characteristics. Differential treatment in the access to vacancies and entry-level annual salaries per university applicant are systematically measured. Findings – By observing as much information as a firm does, the estimations suggest that both entry standards and Russell Group membership positively affect applicants’ labour market prospects. Although the firms cannot evaluate by themselves whether graduates from highly reputable universities are more or less capable and motivated than graduates from less reputable universities, it appears that the university attended affects firms’ recruitment policies. Importantly, valuable variables that capture firms’ and jobs’ heterogeneities, such as occupational variation, regions, workplace size, establishment age, and the existence of trade unions and human resources, are also considered and provide new results. Practical implications – Understanding the impact of entry standards and university reputation on students’ labour market outcomes is critical to understanding the role of human capital and screening strategies. In addition, obtaining accurate estimates of the payoff of attending a university with a high entry threshold and reputation is of great importance not only to the parents of prospective students who foot tuition bills but also to the students themselves. Furthermore, universities will be interested in the patterns estimated by this study, which will allow recent UK economists to evaluate the current employment environment. In addition, universities should be keen to know how their own graduates have fared in the labour market compared with graduates of other universities. Originality/value – In the current study, the author attempt to solve the problem of firms’ seeing more information than econometricians by looking at an outcome that is determined before firms see any unobservable characteristics. In the current study, ability, motivation, family characteristics and networks cannot affect applicants’ access to vacancies and entry-level salaries. The current study can estimate the effect of university enrolment on applicants’ occupational access and entry-level salaries, controlling for unobserved characteristics that would themselves affect subsequent outcomes in the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to investigate the job satisfaction in relation to managerial attitudes towards employees and firm size using the linked employer-employee survey results in Britain. Design/methodology/approach -- The authors first investigate the management-employee relationships and the firm size using maximum likelihood probit estimation. Next various measures of job satisfaction are related to the management-employee relations via maximum likelihood ordered probit estimates. Four measures of job satisfaction that have not been used often are considered. They are satisfaction with influence over job; satisfaction with amount of pay; satisfaction with sense of achievement and satisfaction with respect from supervisors. Findings -- Main findings indicate that management-employee relationships are less satisfactory in the large firms than in the small firms. Job satisfaction levels are lower in large firms. Less satisfactory management-employee relationships in the large firms may be a major source of the observed lower level of job satisfaction in them. Practical implications -- These results have important policy implications from the point of view of the firm management while achieving the aims of their organizations in particular in the large firms in the area of management-employee relationships. Improving the management-employee relations in large firms will increase employee satisfaction in many respects as well as increase productivity and reduce turnover. Originality/value -- The nature of the management-employee relations with firm size and job satisfaction has not been investigated before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the welfare participation of immigrant groups in the UK, which has experienced a large growth in its immigrant flows and population levels in recent years, especially following EU enlargement in 2004. The analysis particularly focuses on the types of benefits that immigrants tend to claim, as well as examining differences by area of origin. It also examines the factors that determine social assistance benefit claims, including an investigation of the impact of education, ethnicity and years since migration. Design/methodology/approach – A series of probit regression models are estimated using data from the UK Labour Force Survey collected between 2004 and 2009. Findings – Social welfare claims vary considerably by immigrant group as well as by the type of benefit claimed in the UK. There are also differences by immigrant group in the factors determining social assistance claims. Research limitations/implications – It is very difficult to generalise on the issue of welfare participation by immigrants in the UK. This is important, given policy changes towards migrants from non-EU countries and in relation to welfare reforms. Originality/value – The limited previous work in this area for the UK has tended to analyse all benefit claims made by immigrants as a whole, whereas this analysis splits immigrants into different groups and focuses on the types of benefits that are claimed. This has important implications, particularly given the recent increase in immigration to the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The need to establish more flexible and adaptable university curricula has been recognised as a strategic priority in recent years and has been supported by a number of initiatives including the Curriculum Design and Delivery programme funded by the Joint Information System Committee (JISC) in the UK. The challenges of addressing flexibility of curriculum design are both technical and pedagogical. Manchester Metropolitan University has been developing an integrated, institution-wide virtual learning environment (VLE) since 2006 and this paper seeks to consider the impact of this system. Design/methodology/approach – A case study is used to illustrate how one institution has developed and integrated a curriculum design system. Findings – By adopting a streamlined technology strategy the university can provide learners with personalized and flexible access to the university's resources from the range of different devices and contexts (whether mobile, VLE, or social software) in which learners may find themselves as they engage with their education. Originality/value – A need to establish more flexible and adaptable university curricula is a strategic priority for academic institutions. This case study provides an insight into how one institution is achieving this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This exploratory study seeks to identifythe factors that influence the adoption and diffusion of instructional technology at five prominent universities in the UK. The study aims to examine the organisational factors that enable and inhibit organisational adoption and diffusion of innovation. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative exploratory case approach has been adopted to address the research question. In total, 36 semi-structured interviews were conducted at five universities in the UK. The five diverse approaches to adoption and diffusion of instructional technology were examined; top-down, integrated top-down, bottom-up, research-driven and project-driven approach. Findings – For this research eLearning is conceptualised as innovation situated in the interplay between structure and individual and how this leads to adoption and diffusion. The paper argues that senior management need to acknowledge the need to bridge the gap between "local context" and top-down strategic change. The findings suggest that there are tensions between "signification of meaning", "power and dominance" and cultural norms in adoption and diffusion of eLearning. Research limitations/implications – The implications of the research are significant in understanding the diversity of approaches to the adoption and diffusion of elearning. This provides insight for other universities in successfully managing the application of e-learning. Originality/value – Giddens's structuration theory provided a sensitising framework for understanding the dialectical nature of adoption of eLearning within five universities in the UK. The tensions between institutional structures, such as strategies, training, access to technology, technical support and time resources, and levels of adoption can be captured by dialectic of control in Giddens's Theory of Structuration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to report on evaluation studies of principles of course design for interactive multimedia learning materials. Design/methodology/approach - At the Defence Academy of the UK, Cranfield University has worked with military colleagues to produce multimedia learning materials for courses on "Military Knowledge". The courses are part of Officer Career Development training for junior officers in the army. The courses were developed following clearly defined course design principles believed to be best suited for the delivery of resource-based learning materials. Evaluation studies included focus groups, interviews, questionnaires and observation studies. Findings - The overall findings suggest that the course design principles are indeed regarded by students as supportive of effective learning. Originality/value - The findings of this research are being fed back to MOD colleagues with the view to discussing how the course might be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to test the predictive capabilities of the job strain model (JSM) on information systems (IS) professionals. Design/methodology/approach - The JSM is tested by investigating whether perceived work demands, job control and social support can predict IS employee's psychological well-being in terms of worker health and job satisfaction. A questionnaire survey, which contained valid and reliable scales for the aforementioned constructs, was completed by 89 respondents. Findings - The results indicate that the JSM can be used to significantly predict employee's psychological well-being in terms of worker health and job satisfaction among the IS professionals sampled in the UK. Contrary to previous research, however, non-work related support was found to be more significant than work support in alleviating psychological strain. Research limitations/implications - The findings presented are not generalisable to the wider population of IS professionals in the UK due the small sample size. Thus, research involving additional samples is needed to ensure the appropriate generalisation of the results. While there have been limited studies that have examined occupational stress among IS professionals, it is anticipated that further studies that are conducted using the JSM will be able to determine the boundaries of generalisability. Originality/value- The model was found to significantly predict employee's psychological wen-being in terms of worker health and job satisfaction among the IS professionals sampled in the UK. For the specific sample, the JSM captured the key characteristics that contributed to the job strain that they experienced. With the exception of non-work related social support, the results support previous studies that examined the predictive capacity of the JSM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Aims to provide new evidence about gender differentials in domestic work time, market work time and total work time, that updates the evidence provided by Jenkins and O'Leary in 1997 and Layte in 1999 using UK time-budget surveys. Design/methodology/approach - Investigates gender differentials in work times using the British Household Panel survey (BHPS). The BHPS is a nationally representative longitudinal data set consisting of some 5,500 households (and 10,000 individuals) first interviewed in the autumn of 1991 and followed and re-interviewed every year subsequently. Findings - The picture that emerges from the BHPS data is a rather "traditional" and well-known one. On average, women (be them married or single) work more at home and less in the labour market than men. The comforting side of this pessimistic conclusion, is that the trends in domestic and paid work time over the 1990s show a narrowing in the gender differentials, thanks mainly to the changing behaviour of women and not of men. Originality/value - An important message that seems to emerge is that women are far more flexible than men. That is, men hardly react or change their behaviour in front of (certain) situations that clearly affect women's time allocation decisions (e.g. presence of children, cohort effects). Finally, the paper identifies and characterises the men who do better at home in relative terms: the "new" men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tests the appropriateness of government employment policies in targeting specific groups of unemployed job seekers in the UK. A sample of 169 job seekers is divided into those who were successful and unsuccessful in finding employment and the attributes of each group is analysed. A factor analysis of these attributes is carried out in order to develop typical profiles of unsuccessful job seekers and these profiles are compared with current policy target groups. The findings show that high levels of accumulated human and financial capital, non-metropolitan residence and accessibility to centres of employment have a positive impact on job search success. This casts doubt on the appropriateness of using socio-demographic and local area characteristics to select job seekers for assistance, when other factors appear to have more bearing on job search success. The only current policy target group fully justified by this study is the long-term unemployed, who had a significantly lower chance of finding unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the active labour market policies or job search policies in the UK known as the New Deal, a major part of the Labour Government's package of welfare-to-work policies. Topics covered include estimates of their overall impact on employment; their limited effectiveness with disadvantaged job-seekers, including increasing numbers of inactive, but not formally unemployed, people; and debates about these policies in relation to skill needs and areas of job decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are few systematic studies of wage discrimination against homosexuals: none for the UK This Paper studies the earnings of homosexual men and women in the UK relative to their heterosexual counterparts. Homosexuals are identified as individuals living with "same sex partners". Although gays of either sex earn more than non-gays, once allowance is made for differences in characteristics gay men appear to be paid less than heterosexuals, while lesbians appear to be paid more. As this implies, the gender pay gap is smaller amongst homosexuals than amongst heterosexuals. The gay male pay penalty is significantly lower in London than elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An individuals human capitol has a strong influence in earnings. Yet, individual worker-level estimations of earnings rarely include the characteristics of co-workers or detailed firm-level control. In particular, co-workers skills are ignored which may be particularly significant where team work is important. This paper utilizes a unique matched work-place data set to estimate the effect on the earnings of co-workers' education and training it the Hotel and Catering sector, which contains a high proportion of low paying establishments and in the Retail sector which contains a large absolute number of low paying establishments. The data are derived front the 1998 British Workplace Employment Relations Survey. This is a national sample based on interviews with managers in 2,191 establishments with at least ten workers. In addition, a survey of up to 25 randomly selected employees in each establishment was undertaken which included questions on education, training pay and job satisfaction, as well as a range of other personal and workplace characteristics. We have, therefore, a matched workplace employee sample which is essential for this type of analysis. The results suggest that there are strong co-worker effects it the earnings of individuals when controlling the individual's own level of education. While there are also high returns to training for individual workers, there are no similar spillover effects from the training of co-workers in these sectors. Nevertheless, this suggests that there could well be a pay-off to the professionolisation of service sector jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]