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Welcome to the latest issue of the iROWE newsletter, in
which we share with you our research and activities
within the world of organisations, work and employment.
iROWE‘s staff continue to be awarded funding to carry out their research, and throughout the newsletter members share their findings on: conflict management, lean thinking, mediation , internal communications, and challenges for innovation.
Our ever popular evening seminar series has seen some lively debates. In May, Charlie Irvine, from Strathclyde University discussed workplace mediation. In November, Helen Bailey from Pinna Ltd will be running a seminar on workplace coaching, and how this can be utilised more effectively in organisations. Full details are available on the back page. We have seen some staff changes, as this summer Dr Costas Theodoridis moved on to join MMU Business School, and Dr Tony Bennett has now retired from UCLan. We wish both of them well in their future plans.
We would like to congratulate Dr Ruth Slater for achieving her PhD ―The ―Professional Project‖ of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development: 1968 to 2010 ‖ from Lancaster University. Also Dr Alison Hollinrake for receiving her doctorate titled ‗Policy into practice: To what extent is union learning representative (ULR) activity meeting the expectations of its principal stakeholders?‘ from Nottingham Trent University.
Issue 9, Nov 2014
U N I V E R S I T O F C E N T R A L L A N C A S H I R E
Research News
iROWE seeks to encourage the conduct and dissemination of high quality
academic research into organisations, work and employment. In addition iROWE
works closely with employers, government and trade unions in order to inform the
development of effective workplace practice and policy
Contact: Gemma
Wibberley
01772 894674
http://bit.ly/12Vp4ZG
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Issue 9, Nov 2014
iROWE and in particular Tony Bennett feature heavily on the University of Dundee ,
Early Dispute Resolution HE/FE Forum.
Both Tony‘s article on workplace mediation in universities , and his feature on his experience as an internal mediator are cited. In this online forum good practice
about mediation and other forms of conflict resolution are published.
The web pages also offer an array of resources for mediators and others interested in finding out more
about mediation.
Tony‘s pieces are cited at : http://www.dundee.ac.uk/academic/edr/
hefeforum.htm
In May ,Professor Charlie Irvine presented “Do you seen
what I’m dealing with here? Vicious circles in workplace conflict.” Charlie is Course Leader on Strathclyde
University‘s Masters in Mediation and Conflict Resolution, and a professional mediator.
In his talk, Charlie explained how biases and mental
shortcuts can exacerbate employment disputes. He highlighted that people often make assumptions about the reasons for their colleague‘s behaviour, and are more
likely to blame their personality for actions we find offensive, rather than question what the circumstances might be that have made them act in this way. Using the
example of a colleague sending texts during your presentation, who you assume is a rude person, but may be experiencing a family problem.
Charlie noted that we are more likely to make these assumptions if we are stressed,
or the more personally we feel the offence. Or as the conflict escalates, as each
disputant becomes convinced of the bad behaviour of others, and each action is perceived negatively. He believes that bullying and harassment policies and
procedures may typically reinforce these vicious circles, as each party is labelled as a ‗victim‘ or ‗bully‘ with little opportunity to discuss the problem directly with each
other, and only to react to the situation.
Luckily, if we are aware of own biases we can act upon them, however, it can be very difficult for people to do this, especially when they are already involved in the
dispute. Mediation can be a helpful tool, as it encourages the parties to understand the reasons behind each other‘s behaviour, and what actions have aggravated the
other party.
Vicious circles in workplace conflict
‘Good Practice’ mediation research
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Issue 9, Nov 2014
Recent iROWE publications (N.B journals typically require subscription for access, or visit Uclan’s repository for alternative access — http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/)
McClelland, G. P., Leach, D. J., Clegg, C. W. and McGowan, I. (2014), Collaborative crafting in call centre teams. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 87: 464–486. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joop.12058/abstract
Bolton, S. and Wibberley, G. (2014) ‗Domiciliary care: the formal and informal labour process‘, Sociology, Vol. 48(4) 682–697
http://soc.sagepub.com/content/48/4/682
Emma Thirkell & Ian Ashman (2014) Lean towards learning: connecting Lean Thinking and human resource management in UK higher education, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, (online before print) http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2014.948901
Saundry, R. and Wibberley, G. (2014) Workplace Dispute Resolution and
the Management of Individual Conflict —A Thematic Analysis of Five Case Studies Acas: 06/14, http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/q/a/0614-
Workplace-Dispute-Resolution-Thematic-Review.pdf
Bennett, A. (2014) ‗The role of workplace mediation: A critical assessment‘, Personnel Review, Vol. 43 Iss.5 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/PR-02-2012-0036
Ashman, Ian; Willcocks, Steve (2014) Engaging with clinical
commissioning: the attitudes of general practitioners in East Lancashire,
Quality in Primary Care, Volume 22, Number 2,pp. 91-99 http://
www.ingentaconnect.com/content/omics/
qpc/2014/00000022/00000002/art00006
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Issue 9, Nov 2014
Richard Saundry and Gemma Wibberley have written a
report on the management of individual conflict and the resolution of employment disputes.
This review explores five organisations drawing on
interviews with HR practitioners, line and operational
managers, employee representatives, and trained mediators. The work was kindly funded by Acas. It aims to
provide new insights into the challenges faced by organisations in managing conflict, an under-researched
area.
Key findings for effective conflict management include:
informal social processes that help to identify and address conflict at an early stage.
high-trust relationships between HR, Line managers and employee representatives. However, these relationships are under threat—creating a
‗resolution gap‘ . developing the skills and confidence of line managers to handle conflict
organisations must recognise that conflict management is a strategic rather
than a transactional issue taking a more holistic approach to mediation
The full review ―Saundry, R. and Wibberley, G. (2014) Workplace Dispute Resolution
and the Management of Individual Conflict —A Thematic Analysis of Five Case Studies Acas: 06/14‖ is freely available via Acas : http://www.acas.org.uk/media/
pdf/q/a/0614-Workplace-Dispute-Resolution-Thematic-Review.pdf
The review attracted a lot of attention in the press, social media and trade press.
For instance Brendan Barber, chair of Acas, debated whether ‗organisations expect too much from line-managers‘ in their handling of workplace conflict, in Personnel
Today’ http://www.personneltoday.com/hr/brendan-barber-organisations-expect-much-line-managers/
The results were also utilised by Acas in a recent Employment Relations Comment
piece. This was entitled ‗Plugging the confidence gap? Changing perceptions of conflict at work‘ . The comment piece focusses on the challenges experienced by
line managers in dealing with workplace conflict, and also draws on the materials from the ESRC workplace conflict seminar series run last year by iROWE. It is
available freely via Acas http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/0/1/ER-Comment-conflict-at-work.pdf
Conflict management
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Douglas Martin presented on ‗The ―Big Box‖ scenario: standardisation and standard operating models in the
UK Civil Service‘ to the British Industrial Relations Association Conference, University of Westminster,
June 25 to 27 2014
Gemma Wibberley and Ian Ashman were invited to speak at the Mediation masterclass at MMU in September.
Mary Welch presented Internal communication education: A historical critical
analysis at the International History of Public Relations Conference in July 2014 at Bournemouth University.
Issue 9, Nov 2014
Conference presentations
The findings of a new study of workplace mediation in the university sector by Tony
Bennett are discussed in Personnel Review. Interviews were conducted with a cross
section of key players in mediation from a sample of universities in the North of
England.
The key findings of the research suggest that whilst there are many similarities with
other organisations in terms of the rationale for and management of mediation in
the workplace, there are also some sector specific variables that inform that
practice. These include:
The ethos of the sector,
The nature of the academic labour process
A propensity to network with others within
the sector
The full paper "Tony Bennett, (2014) "The role of workplace mediation: A critical assessment", Personnel Review, Volume 43, Issue: 5" can be
accessed here via subscription: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/PR-02-2012-0036
Workplace mediation in Higher Education
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Issue 9, Nov 2014
Emma Thirkell and Ian Ashman recently
published their findings on Lean Thinking and HRM in UK higher education. Recent changes
to university funding in the UK, occurring against a background of intensifying
competition and financial austerity, have resulted in a dual challenge for higher
education institutions of improving quality and reducing costs. At the same time, some have
argued that students are adopting the traits of consumerism and that academic freedom is in
retreat. As a consequence, the higher education sector appears to be increasingly employing quality concepts such as total quality management (TQM), business
process reengineering (BPR) and, most recently, Lean. From its origins in the automotive industry, Lean Thinking is increasingly being seen as a solution to
problems of efficiency and quality in other industries and sectors. In recent years
attempts have been made to transfer Lean principles and practice to the higher education sector, with indications of mixed consequences and debate over its
suitability.
Emma and Ian draw on evidence from 34 interviews conducted across two UK universities that have implemented Lean in some of their activities, and pay
particular attention to the role of the human resource function in facilitating its introduction. Their findings suggest that there are problems in understanding,
communicating and transferring Lean Thinking in the higher education context; despite human resource systems being vital facets of Lean, human resource
professionals are excluded from participation; and as a consequence the depth and breadth of Lean application in the two institutions is very limited.
Their conclusions suggest that, contrary to much of the existing debates within the
public sector, the adoption and implementation of Lean Thinking across the UK
higher education sector is unlikely to succeed until greater conceptual clarity is attained and more account taken of particular context. They also suggest that the
exclusion of relevant human resource professionals from the implementation of Lean thinking will be detrimental to the success of such initiatives and that more
attention should be paid to the human resource processes, techniques and outcomes.
Emma Thirkell & Ian Ashman (2014) Lean towards learning: connecting Lean
Thinking and human resource management in UK higher education, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, (online before print)
The full paper is available here (free for a limited period and then via subscription)
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09585192.2014.948901
Lean Thinking and HRM in universities
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Mary Welch’s work on internal communications has been generating attention internationally. She was invited to become an editorial team member of the
Institute for Public Relations (USA) Organizational Communication Research Center. This involves contributing to their "Research
Conversations" blog to reach practitioners and other researchers. The institute and Mary‘s pieces can be accessed via : http://
www.instituteforpr.org/
Also, one of Mary‘s articles has been selected for republication as a seminal paper for an international collection of Major Works in Strategic Communication to be
published by Sage. The four-volume work is edited by two eminent public relations professors. The book, part of the Sage Benchmarks in Communication, is published
in November 2014 (ISBN: 9781446275832).
The original article is Welch, M. (2011) The evolution of the employee engagement
concept: communication implications. Corporate Communications: An International Journal. Vol. 16 No. 4 pp. 328-346.
Internal Communications updates
Issue 9, Nov 2014
A recent publication by David Vickers and his colleagues examines the links claimed
between situated learning and innovation. In particular they critique the limitations of communities of practice (COP) theory. COP theory is basically a strand of
organisational learning which studies how communities learn their practices and how those practices are passed onto others. Innovation is sometimes created by
communities that operate under the organisational radar. These are called non-canonical' communities of practice.
The chapter considers how a human resource policy on electronic access to
buildings, designed to give staff flexibility, unintentionally damaged non canonical practices and innovation because staff could not enter buildings at 'anti-social'
certain hours. As such an HR policy, designed to help staff, was limiting the ability of some staff to innovate and add value to the
organisation.
The full publication is available via : Fox, S and Vickers, D (2014)
‗Innovation, learning, communities and actor-networks of practice‘, Chapter 2 in Soliman, F. (ed.) ―From Knowledge Management to
Learning Organization to Innovation: The way ahead!” Cambridge Mass., IGI Global Publishing.
Accidently limiting innovation?
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Call for conference papers: The Degradation of the Employment Relationship – Back to Work as the Focus of CMS
International Conference Critical Management Studies, Leicester University,8th–10th July 15
Braverman‘s critique of the ‗degradation of work in the twentieth century‘ stemmed partly from the ‗personal affront‘ and ‗social outrage‘ he encountered amongst craftsmen (sic) in
deskilled industrial settings. If he were here to consider degradation in the twenty-first cen-tury, he would firstly need to expand his focus to include aspects of the employment relation-ship beyond labour process and skill, as neoliberalism has created an environment within
which employee rights and terms and conditions of work have been consistently eroded, and the broader experience of work has been degraded. Secondly, he might be surprised, and
perhaps disappointed, at the apparent lack of affront and outrage that has accompanied the-se changes. Our stream thus seeks to extend an analysis of the degradation of work, to in-clude the basic employment relationship, and to provoke anger at what is taking place
around us, particularly within the relatively cosseted academic community, which too often concerns itself with intellectual puzzles that distract from the material experiences of people
under pressure. This degradation is evident on several levels. Firstly, the context within which management
takes place has changed significantly. On the one hand, the ownership structures of capital encourage a short termism that leads to the hollowing out of ‗businesses‘ and a squeeze on
the least powerful stakeholders, all too often, employees. On the other, the cultural environ-ment that lionises leaders and managers as the sole arbiters of all that is effective and effi-cient, bolstered by an enthusiastically biased media, that demonises trade unions and ‗anti-
capitalist‘ resisters, makes challenging the conditions difficult. Stifled debates about mini-mum wage legislation, the ‗living wage‘, industrial disputes and trade unions, and problems
with various aspects of employment legislation, including health and safety and access to re-dress in disputes, do relatively little to improve matters. Secondly, within organizations there
are many examples of the steady erosion of the employment relationship: pay and the emer-gence of ‗the working poor‘; zero hours contracts and part-time work; temporary and short-term work; enforced self-employment; the narrowing of dispute resolution options; and the
deployment of insidious forms of control under the mantle of ‗development‘ appraisals and performance reviews
In keeping with the overall theme of the conference, this stream is designed to highlight workers and employees, who have often been neglected by critical management theorists, as
an alternative focus for analysis. We welcome papers which : address the issues outlined above and which explore the experience of work that is en-
dured by many around the world. offer insight into how people make sense of, and live their lives in the neo-liberal, man-
agerial workplace, and how they push back against what is presented as an inevitable
and unassailable trend. provide further empirical evidence of the changes taking place and, more specifically,
the effects of these changes on peoples‘ lives, both within and outside the workplace. examine the changing mechanisms of the employment relationship and their deleterious
consequences.
examine the wider business, media and policy context, which may include studies of the discursive constructions of fair employment relations, and the (usually negative) repre-
sentation of interest groups such as trade unions and pressure groups in the media. offer strategies for countering the prevailing neoliberal discourses and practices around
work, including case studies of resistance and alternatives.
Abstracts of 500 words should be sent to Louise McArdle, by January 31st 2015. You will be
notified by 27th February 2015 as to whether your paper has been accepted. Stream Convenors: Dr. Pete Thomas - DOWT, Lancaster University; Dr Richard Saundry -
Plymouth Graduate School of Management; Louise McArdle - iROWE, Lancashire Busi-ness School, Uclan, [email protected]
CMS2015 conference website: http://www2.le.ac.uk/conference/cms15/conference-themes
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We regularly post updates about our research activities and events via social media
channels. There is also opportunity for discussion with other people interested in
employment issues. If you would like to be connected to iROWE via social media,
then please email iROWE at [email protected] or you can find us on:
like – IROWE Seminars
The iROWE Facebook has been re-launched to offer a new way to access
us and our activities.
Follow – iROWE Uclan
The iROWE twitter has all the latest information about research, awards
and events
Join- iROWE
The linkedin account has a group where there are regular discussions with
other iROWE connections
Join iROWE on Social Media
Issue 9, Nov 2014
Become an associate member iROWE is a research institute located within Lancashire Business School at the University of Central
Lancashire. It provides a forum for the development and dissemination of high quality research into
organisations, work and employment. Its work has a particular emphasis on policy and practice—in
short research that has an impact and makes a difference.
Therefore, iROWE brings together academics, managers, HR professionals, union representatives and
policy makers. If you would like to be part of this exciting institute and kept at the forefront of
research then become an ASSOCIATE MEMBER. This FREE membership is open to all those with a
professional interest in organisations, work or employment. Benefits include: research e-newsletter,
regular free seminars by key speakers in the field, consultancy opportunities for your organization,
and networking.
To join just email Gemma Wibberley at [email protected]