Search

Scholars have long debated whether ownership matters for firm performance. The standard view regarding Victorian Britain is that family-controlled companies had a detrimental effect on performance. In this article, we examine this view using a hand-collected corporate ownership dataset. Our main finding is that it was not necessarily the broad structure of corporate ownership that mattered for performance, but whether family blockholders had a governance role. Large active blockholders tended to increase operating performance, implying that they reduced managerial expropriation. Contrastingly, we find that directors who were independent of large owners were more likely to increase shareholder value. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore management development in five trade unions. It investigates senior trade union managers' interpretations of management development, in particular, the extent to which they view management development as relevant to trade unions. The article also explores the link between managers' interpretations and the external environment for trade union activity. It considers the potential discord between the unitarist values and assumptions that arguably frame much management development literature and the democratic and pluralist values of trade unionism. Design/methodology/approach – This research takes an interpretive qualitative approach. In-depth interviews with nine key "elite" individuals representing five trade unions were carried out, in order to elicit their subjective interpretations of management development. Findings – Trade union managers view management development as necessary in the context of environmental uncertainty. Moreover, although management development in trade unions retains some unitarist assumptions, it is also linked to core trade union values of fairness and justice. Research limitations/implications – The in-depth qualitative interview design allows for exploration of management development activities in a small number of unions and from a management perspective. Further research is needed to explore the issues in a wider context. Practical implications – The paper begins to highlight and theorise management development in trade unions. Social implications – The article has implications in relation to the role of trade unions as employers. Originality/value – The article explores and theorises management development in relation to trade union management practices. It explores trade union education from the management development perspective rather than from an industrial relations or political education paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines low pay and the national minimum wage in the UK hotel industry, focusing on the lowest remunerated workers in the industry -- room attendants -- who have hitherto been overlooked in studies of the industry. It draws on qualitative research from eight case studies and relates this material to other secondary data. By including employees' experience, it reveals the management and employment practices that have limited the effect of the national minimum wage and attempts to alleviate low pay. The article ends by suggesting how this employee experience can be transmuted into political voice to improve the position of low wage workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a conceptual, contingent model of hospitality management development (MD). Having explored the dimensions and relationships in the model, it is then applied to the UK hospitality industry through analysing the nature of the hospitality industry for potential influences on MD and evaluating research into its practice. The embryonic model is presented as a vehicle to enhance understanding of the complex influences and contexts of hospitality MD and to distinguish distinctive characteristics of MD in the hospitality industry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents a case study of a Japanese-owned electronics firm, presenting a comparative analysis of the company's supervisory systems in three of its plants located in different countries -- Japan, Mexico and Britain. Comparative analysis is enabled through use of the concept of a supervisory system of control, which allows us to match the relative positions of managers, supervisors and workers across the three sites. The case study data enables us systematically to examine questions of the transferability of a Japanese supervisory systems -- a central component of Japanese manufacturing -- outside of Japan. The results suggest that 'Japanese' supervisory systems have been established with more success in Mexico than in Britain, and the main factors that explain this are varying local labour market conditions, limits to managerial control on the shopfloor, the relationship between the product market and the organization of production, and local and expatriate management commitment to a Japanese system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the processes involved in the 1996 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) for business and management studies in the United Kingdom. Context of the 1996 RAE; Assessment of the research; Issues to resolve in operating the procedures of the 1996 RAE.

This paper discusses the emergence of management education and training in the UK, France, Germany, USA, Japan, USSR, and China. It argues that given kinds of environmental changes may lead to a wide variety of training responses, depending on the industrial and cultural contexts in which they take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes a study examining the extent to which British corporations have allowed foreign managers membership in the businesses' board of directors. The results of the study found that few foreigner were identified as members of their companies' boards of directors. The significance of the findings as well as multinational corporations exemplifying varying degrees of multinationality are reviewed. The article also discusses the reasoning why a multinational board of directors is advantageous to multinational corporations.

The aim of the present paper is to offer an agenda for further research, suggesting the key areas that warrant detailed analysis. On the basis of recently completed research it argues that the work experience of women managers varies according to a number of distinct personal and organizational circumstances. This points up the need for more comparative studies of women at different career stages within and between different organizational settings. Further, it suggests that cross-national studies may help to account for the relative absence of women in senior managerial positions within British corporations. The paper concludes by identifying ten key issues which, within such an approach, constitute important areas for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the research developed by the Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD) in Great Britain on the effect of lean working on companies. Based on their research, lean models of work organization are more productive and generate employee enthusiasm. However, it carries profound risks of fragility for employers because of heavy pressure on staff and the effect of relentless change on organizations. Meanwhile, policy adviser Angela Baron says lean working undoubtedly has much to offer but is an inherently fragile model of work organization.