The purpose of this study is to employ Koeske and Koeske's stressor-strain-outcome model of stress to examine the extent to which strain, a central component of occupational stress, mediates the relationship between safety climate and safety-related outcomes. The relationship between safety climate, strain and safety outcomes has been relatively under tested where strain is a mediating variable. This study makes a contribution to the literature by examining the dynamics of these relationships. Questionnaires were sent to 1,800 employees of an electricity provider, with a 41.4% response rate. The hypothesized model was tested using structural equation modeling. Analysis of the hypothesized model indicated that, while safety climate had a significant direct relationship with safety-related behaviors, the model was also partially mediated by the experience of strain. Understanding the relationship between safety climate, strain and safety outcomes is important. Support for the model verifies that safety climate is mediated by strain in terms of safety outcomes. Practical implications include the need to manage safety climate through management attitudes to safety, maintaining high safety standards and communication to reduce ambiguity on safety norms.

Supporters of relationship marketing frequently acknowledge that internal marketing is central to an holistic approach to relationship marketing. Recent studies have noted its relevance in explicating general relationship marketing frameworks (Morgan & Hunt 1994). The idea that internal relationships are as important to the organization as external customer relations is reasonable. However, to some extent, the two literatures have developed exclusively of each other. Without the benefit of a broad relationship literature, early conceptualizations of internal marketing were grounded in transactional views of marketing. We contend that many subsequent adaptations of the concept have failed to depart from these origins and, if internal marketing is to remain relevant, alternative approaches to the concept must be developed and tested. Accordingly, we propose three research objectives.

The interests of organizations and unions are often seen to be in competition. However, the union-voice hypothesis suggests that unions can provide a distinctive mechanism to lower organizational costs by reducing exit behavior. This study looks at union citizenship behavior as a form of voice and examines its effect on employee absence. It draws on data from 367 branches of a large unionized banking organization to explore both the antecedents and outcomes of union citizenship behavior. Union citizenship behavior directed toward helping fellow members with workplace grievances was found to reduce branch-level absenteeism, while union loyalty mediated the impact of a number of union-related variables on union citizenship behavior. The implications for a balanced union-management relationship are discussed in the article. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Frustration–aggression theories, such as exit–voice and loyalty, have been tested using agents as voice but have not been examined with unions as the organization in question. Utilizing longitudinal panel data ( n = 874), this article tests this theory with regard to voice within a trade union. This study does not find support for the exit–voice model; instead, it provides support for cost–benefit and interactionist theories. Further, the study finds that members with high union satisfaction are more likely to express voice when they perceive their leaders to be highly responsive to their needs and concerns.

Abeer Alfarran, Donna Buttigieg and Pauline Stanton Employing Saudi Arabian Women in MNCS This paper focuses on the employment of women in MNCs operating in Saudi Arabia. Saudi has one of the lowest participation rates of women in the world. The paper explores the institutional context in Saudi and explores the legal and cultural barriers encountered by companies in the recruitment and retention of women, and the difficulties women face in securing and maintaining work in the private sector. This paper uses qualitative methods and a case study approach to explore gender employment issues in the workplace in two MNCs. In depth interviews were conducted with Saudi management representatives and employed women in the two organisations. The paper draws on institutional, international human resource management, cross-cultural and discrimination theories and applies them in the Saudi context. The study found political, economic, legal and cultural barriers that restrict women from participation in the workplace. From the employer’s perspective, although the new government policy of Nitaqat encourages the employment of Saudis with penalties for non compliance, there are a number of workplace compliance issues in regard to the employment of women. These include gender separation, issues around women overseeing men and cultural rules over guardianship of women. From the women’s perspective, they experienced differential pay and treatment, family responsibilities, limited career paths and marginalisation from decision making. However, some women prefer gender-segregated workplaces and did not recognise legal barriers to their employment only cultural ones. The managerial participants considered that women’s lack of competencies, poor English fluency and workplace preferences were influential in their ability to compete for jobs _______________________________________

The psychological approach to occupational safety is comprised of two perspectives, the behaviour-based perspective and the person-based perspective. These two perspectives are typically applied separately in research, leaving gaps in the explanation of safety-related behaviour. In this paper, we argue that an integrated approach to occupational safety is required and that Bandura's social cognitive theory can be used to address this need. The paper is conceptual, integrating several bodies of literature and theoretical approaches to safety-related behaviour.

"VALE: PROFESSOR RODERICK (RICK) IVERSON." Labour & Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work, 22(4), pp. 477–478

There is an imperative for organisations to deal with the issue of age diversity in the context of an ageing population, declining fertility rates, a decline in skilled immigration and skill shortages in a range of occupations in countries covered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This raises both macro issues for governments trying to support an increasingly older population through pension schemes and a micro problem for organisations where skill shortages have become a problem (Loretto and White 2006). Further, arguments have been made that age diversity is necessary for organisations for capability development, to be learning organisations, to be flexible and creative and for marketing reasons (Armstrong-Stassen and Templer 2006; Shacklock, Fulop and Hort 2007). There are also supply-side reasons for improving access to the labour market of an age-diverse workforce, particularly in relation to those older than 55 years of age. These include providing a context for healthy ageing and addressing flexibility preferences for individuals.

Since 1993 and the removal of the separate award system for the Australian State of Victoria, many Victorian workers have been on five minimum conditions and on pay levels well below that of employees in other States. Despite attempts to rectify the situation (with Victorian common rule awards), issues of coverage and employer compliance remained. The implementation of WorkChoices legislation in 2006 posed a further challenge to Victorian low-paid workers. Our research found that the impact of WorkChoices on the Victorian low-paid has been largely insidious, surfacing primarily as an increased wage-effort ratio, with people working more unpaid hours and at an increased pace. The implications of this are that these hidden effects are more likely to linger, even with the replacement of WorkChoices with the Fair Work Act, 2009. Furthermore, it appears that employer compliance with minimum conditions requires more adequate enforcement by the Federal Government.(1)

The intersection of the concepts of discrimination and bullying has generally been under researched. The little research that is available, however, suggests that there may be three possible relationships between these phenomena: first, that bullying and discrimination are caused by identical factors; second, that bullying is a subset of discriminatory behaviour and third, that they are distinctly different. In this paper we analyse data drawn from interviews with men and women working in three industries: manufacturing, retail and hospitality, all of whom report some adverse experience of bullying/discriminatory behaviour. We interpret these interview data as indicating that there are many common determinants of bullying and discrimination, including difference, power and organisational characteristics. Further, the consequences of these two forms of negative behaviour are similar. The paper concludes with some suggestions for future research and calls for common theoretical explanations for these two forms of undesirable behaviour.

This article is an introduction to this issue of Labor Studies Journal, which is a collection of articles on the conference held in Prato, Italy, July 1–4, 2006, on the theme of “Socially Responsive, Socially Responsible Approaches to Employment and Work.”

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate employee reports of workplace bullying in which participants argue that poor management of bullying led to a range of health problems, both physical and mental.Design/methodology/approachA constructivist approach is adopted to develop an understanding of individual experiences of bullying. Qualitative research interviews are used as the method of data collection and focus is on individual participants as the unit of analysis. Data are analyzed using thematic analysis in which both deductive and inductive themes are developed.FindingsFindings suggest that lack of or poor workplace bullying policies impacts are used negatively on employee health. Specifically, analysis of employee reports suggest that the inability to successfully report bullying, or have bullying complaints taken seriously leads to ongoing implications for the individual.Research implicationsFuture research needs to focus further on examining reasons why some organizations do not develop and implement anti‐bullying policies, as well as further investigate the characteristics of bullying cultures so that effective interventions can be developed and health issues associated with bullying minimized.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to workplace health practice by providing insight into the risks that poor bullying management can have on the health of employees. It is proposed that such consequences could lead to an increase in litigations in the event that employees demonstrate that organizations have not provided a duty of care. Finally, the paper argues that organizations that do not attempt to prevent bullying may inadvertently contribute to the long‐term development of organizational cultures that tolerate harassment and abuse.

There is now a substantial body of research examining the relationship between human resource management (HRM) and organisational performance. Much of this research has focused on attempting to specify bundles of HRM practices or HRM that have an identifiable effect on firm performance. These have often been denoted performance work systems (HPWS). While researchers have consistently found a significant relationship between HRM and performance, the mechanisms that give rise to this relationship remain poorly conceptualised. Building on the work of Barney (1998), Ferris et al (1998) and Bowen and Ostroff (2004) we suggest the social context in which such practices are implemented provide the basis for specifying these transmission mechanisms. Workplace climate provides a key social context that induces high levels of effort and dynamic efficiency. Using a sample of manufacturing and ICT firms we find workplace climate significantly influences the relationship between HRM and performance.

There is now a substantial body of research examining the relationship between human resource management (HRM) and organisational performance. Much of this research has focused on a empting to specify 'bundles' of human resources practices or HRM systems that have an identifiable effect on firm performance. These systems have o en been denoted 'high performance work systems' (HPWS). While researchers have consistently found a significant relationship between HRM and performance, the mechanisms that give rise to this relationship remain poorly conceptualised. Building on the work of Barney and Wright (1998), Ferris et al. (1998) and Bowen and Ostro. (2004), we suggest that the social context in which such practices are implemented provides the basis for specifying these transmission mechanisms. Workplace climate provides a key social context that induces high levels of effort and dynamic efficiency. Using data from a sample of traditional manufacturing and emerging sector firms we find that workplace climate significantly influences the relationship between HRM systems and performance.

The purpose of this article is to identify various ways unions engage with communities and to understand the obstacles that confront union—community cooperation. Qualitative data was analyzed from multiple sources, including documentary evidence and interviews with union officials and community activists. We locate the debate on community unionism within the broader literature on union renewal and revitalization. In doing this we are able to explore the potential of different forms of union—community relationships to foster union renewal. The study reveals the diversity in relationships both within and across unions and the existence of coalitions operating at different levels within union organization. While the unions in this study were actively seeking to engage with the community, not all alliances were reflective of an inclusive social and political agenda which could constitute the basis for union renewal.