This paper presents the findings of a case study undertaken in a British utility company, referred to as Energy Co. The main aim of the study was to assess how the agreement of a partnership arrangement in 1995 had affected the conduct of employment relations. The study found that partnership was borne out of a poor industrial relations climate, and driven primarily by management. They hoped th...

This study explores power relationships and contextual relevance as predictors of the relationship between specific diversity measures and industrial relations climate. Diversity measures of gender, unions, job functions, and education were taken within 105 work units of a telecommunications organization in Australia. Findings indicated that differential power positions and relevance to the con...

Triple-Helix arrangements of biand trilateral relations can be considered as adaptive ecosystems. During the last decade, we have further developed a Triple-Helix indicator of synergy as reduction of uncertainty in niches that can be shaped among three or more distributions. Reduction of uncertainty can be generated in correlations among distributions of relations, but this (next-order) effect ...

The view that the role of European Works Councils (EWCs) is shaped predominantly by national industrial relations traditions in the company’s country of origin derives largely from the experience of EWCs in companies based in continental Europe. This article argues that a more differentiated approach to the influence of national industrial relations factors on EWCs needs to be developed to take...

■ The learning agenda has become an increasingly prominent concern of policy-makers at the level of the EU and national Member States, and is often presented as a positive-sum issue around which industrial relations renewal can take place. Yet the dynamics related to this in industrial relations terms are relatively under-explored. This introductory article reviews some of the underlying debate...

When the Workplace Relations Act 1996 was introduced by the current government in 1996, it was justified on the basis that it provided a regulatory framework which allowed firms to structure their industrial relations practices to suit their own needs and those of their employees. It was argued at the time the Act would provide a basis for generating more productive workplaces and more harmonio...