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This paper evaluates the contribution of the multiple constituencies of commitment framework in explaining work attitudes and behaviors in a sample of Chinese manufacturing workers. Findings suggest that the organization, the supervisor, and co-workers were seen by respondents as separate commitment foci. Although the various commitments were moderately positively correlated, they were related differently to the dimensions of organizational citizenship behavior and withdrawal cognitions, in a way which provides support for the ''compatibility'' hypothesis. There was only limited support for our ''cultural'' hypothesis. An analysis of interactions between commitments suggested that commitment to supervisor was a stronger positive predictor of protecting company resources and interpersonal harmony when commitment to work group was lower, providing partial support for our moderating hypotheses.

This study compared age stereotypes among 567 respondents sampled in the UK and Hong Kong and examined how these stereotypes were related to discriminatory attitudes at work. Compared to the Hong Kong sample, UK respondents saw older workers as more effective at work, but less adaptable to change. As expected, respondents' own age was predictive of positive age stereotypes, although for supervisors this relationship was moderated in the case of perceptions of work effectiveness. Stereotypical beliefs were found to significantly affect respondents' attitudes towards the training, promotion and retention of older workers, their willingness to work with older workers, and their support for positive discrimination. Findings also suggest that anti-age discrimination policies in the respondent's organization had a positive impact on beliefs about the adaptability of older workers and possibly also on attitudes towards providing them with training. Implications of the findings were discussed in light of the existing socio-political environment in the UK and Hong Kong. KEYWORDS age discrimination * age stereotypes * equal opportunities * human resource management

This article evaluates the development of Chinese enterprise unions, drawing on case-study evidence from foreign-invested enterprises in the Pearl River Delta. Findings suggest that it was difficult for such employers to resist the establishment of an enterprise union. However, they generally sought to co-opt the union to meet organizational needs. Management strategy was critical in shaping the union's role, and our evidence suggests that this was influenced by factors such as home-country policies, the expectations of overseas customers, management ideology and pressures from the ACFTU and the Party-State to comply with the requirement for a union. The implications for the role of unions are evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of industrial 'tripartitism' as a feature of industrial relations in Hong Kong. Drawing on data from a survey of the property management industry they conducted, the authors show how diversity in the forms of hiring practices and heterogeneity in the composition of the workforce contribute to an impasse in which an industrial tripartite council is bogged down despite its stated mission. The controversies arise from the issue of the long work hours of the security guards, leading to wide public concern and the subsequent proposed change from the industry norm of the two-shift day to a three-shift day for the workers. The case study also attests to the difficulties in setting up industry-wide work standards due to intra-sectoral diversities, and in particular, the dual labour market conditions and the multi-tiered principal-agent relationship arising from outsourcing arrangement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the nature and dimensionality of trade-union commitment. Overview of the literature on union commitment; Possibility of dual commitment to union and employer; Multiple constituencies view of commitment; Implications of the literature for union-management relationships.