Comparative Employment Relations: An Introduction

This major new textbook provides a concise introduction to employment and industrial relations. Unlike many other textbooks, this adopts a comparative approach, examining the changing nature of employment practices in relation to the processes of globalization, and engaging critically with the literature on Human Resource Management. By taking account of the international dimension of employment relations, this book is at the forefront of new developments in the field.

The thematic approach of Comparative Employment Relations makes it distinctive from the country-by-country studies of this topic. Jack Eaton synthesizes recent work in the field to establish a basis for further study in the most important areas of industrial relations, including Japanese-style employment practices; comparative collective bargaining; the rules of employment and routes to skill formation; collective labour law; globalization and transnational companies. He concludes by examining the prospects for comparative employment relations. By equipping students with a set of useful concepts and perspectives, this book will give them the confidence to explore the now extensive international literature on employment management, and to utilize the methods of comparative analysis in their own work.

This book will be essential reading for second- and third-year undergraduates studying business, management, economics and the sociology of work and industry.

Jack Eaton is a Lecturer at the School of Management, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

Acknowledgements.

1. Overview -
Convergence or Continuing Diversity of Industrial Relations Systems?.

2. From the Fabulous East: the Japanese Origins of Human Resource Management and the Convergence Hypothesis.

3. Japanese-style Employment Practices Outside Japan.

4. Trade Unions - in Need of some International Solidarity.

5. Comparative Collective Bargaining.

6. Training -
Comparative Routes to Skill Formation.

7. The Rules Governing Employment: A Comparative View.

8. Comparative Labour Law -
Individual Employment Rights.

9. Collective Labour Law.

10. Transnational Companies, Globalization and Industrial Relations.

11. Minimum Standards in International Trade.

12. Participation: Partnership or Teamworking for Productivity.

13. Conclusions and Prospects for Comparative Industrial Relations.

References.

Index.