Monday, January 28, 2008
[IWS] ILR IMPACT BRIEFS--recently released RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS of the ILR SCHOOL
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
ILR School, Cornell University
ILR IMPACT BRIEFS (recently released)
The ILR Impact Brief series highlights the research and project based work conducted by ILR faculty that is relevant to workplace issues and public policy. The Briefs are prepared by Maralyn Edid, Senior Extension Associate, ILR School.
Transcending Free Market Unionism: A New Alliance for New York State Unions (Jeff Grabelsky, Cornell ILR)
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/briefs/33/
Research question: Will a restructuring of organized
labor's regional associations in New York State re-energize
the union movement and enable it to mount new
and more effective programmatic initiatives?
Conclusion: In the few years since the AFL-CIO consolidated
25 of the 31 central labor councils in New
York State into five area labor federations (ALFs), local
union affiliates have begun to transcend the narrow interests
that long divided one union from another. ALFs
have begun to embrace new and more diverse leaders,
strengthen their functional capabilities, forge coalitions
with community groups, and help elect politicians who
are more responsive to the concerns of working families.
Whether the restructured labor movement has a
greater ability to affect organizing drives and contract
negotiations is still unclear.
It's a Paradox: Union Workers Less Satisfied but Less Likely to Quit (Tove H. Hammer and Ariel C. Avgar, Cornell ILR)
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/briefs/34/
Research question: The academic literature offers a
variety of explanations for why union workers are less
satisfied with their jobs than their non-union counterparts
but are also less likely to quit. What is the bottomline
answer to this paradox?
Conclusion: Existing economic models of human behavior
do not adequately deal with the seeming inconsistency
between union members' attitudes about their
jobs and their subsequent actions. A more promising
explanation might derive from job satisfaction theory,
which suggests that union members have a particular
set of values, expectations, and frames of reference that
they use to evaluate the outcomes of their work effort. Individuals
who join unions may place higher value on
wages and benefits, which are the focus of most collectively-
bargained contracts, than do non-union workers;
historically, unions have delivered in this regard. Unionized
workers may be more dissatisfied because of a more
adversarial climate (e.g., testy supervisory and interpersonal
relations, narrowly-defined jobs) but are less
likely to quit because the things they value mostgood
wages and benefitsare provided.
Workforce Alignment and Fluidity May Yield a Competitive Advantage (Lee Dyer, Cornell ILR; Jeff Ericksen, University of Illinois)
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/briefs/35/
Research question: Dynamic organizations encounter
frequent and discontinuous changes in their operating
environments. What are the components of a human resource
strategy that enable such organizations to
achieve a series of temporary competitive advantages
and ultimately a sustained advantage?
Conclusion: The authors postulate that workforce
scalability is the key competency necessary for ongoing
marketplace success. Workforce scalability encompasses
two factors: alignment and fluidity. The former
is an ideal target that calls for the right number of the
right type of people in the right place at the right time
doing the right thing. The latter is the means by which
organizations hit the target, and specifically refers to
the speed and ease with which employees are moved
around and adjust their behaviors to suit changing business
requirements. A set of operating principles facilitates
the simultaneous attainment of workforce alignment
and fluidity.
Labor Branches Out: Resurgence in the Urban Core (Lowell Turner, Cornell ILR)
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/briefs/36/
Research question: Why are urban labor movements
relatively strong and successful in some American and
European cities but not in others?
Conclusion: Agency (the choices made and strategies
pursued by leaders and organizations) and opportunity
structure (the presence or absence of institutional, political,
and/or social barriers)are the two factors that
seem to account for the revitalization of city-based labor
movements in several locales, such as Seattle, Buffalo,
Los Angeles, and San Jose; European unions have
not progressed quite as far in this regard. Rather than
focus exclusively on traditional workplace issues,
unions active in contemporary urban labor movements
are forging coalitions with other actors in civil society
and mobilizing grassroots participation in union campaigns
as well as in the democratic process.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
ILR School, Cornell University
ILR IMPACT BRIEFS (recently released)
The ILR Impact Brief series highlights the research and project based work conducted by ILR faculty that is relevant to workplace issues and public policy. The Briefs are prepared by Maralyn Edid, Senior Extension Associate, ILR School.
Transcending Free Market Unionism: A New Alliance for New York State Unions (Jeff Grabelsky, Cornell ILR)
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/briefs/33/
Research question: Will a restructuring of organized
labor's regional associations in New York State re-energize
the union movement and enable it to mount new
and more effective programmatic initiatives?
Conclusion: In the few years since the AFL-CIO consolidated
25 of the 31 central labor councils in New
York State into five area labor federations (ALFs), local
union affiliates have begun to transcend the narrow interests
that long divided one union from another. ALFs
have begun to embrace new and more diverse leaders,
strengthen their functional capabilities, forge coalitions
with community groups, and help elect politicians who
are more responsive to the concerns of working families.
Whether the restructured labor movement has a
greater ability to affect organizing drives and contract
negotiations is still unclear.
It's a Paradox: Union Workers Less Satisfied but Less Likely to Quit (Tove H. Hammer and Ariel C. Avgar, Cornell ILR)
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/briefs/34/
Research question: The academic literature offers a
variety of explanations for why union workers are less
satisfied with their jobs than their non-union counterparts
but are also less likely to quit. What is the bottomline
answer to this paradox?
Conclusion: Existing economic models of human behavior
do not adequately deal with the seeming inconsistency
between union members' attitudes about their
jobs and their subsequent actions. A more promising
explanation might derive from job satisfaction theory,
which suggests that union members have a particular
set of values, expectations, and frames of reference that
they use to evaluate the outcomes of their work effort. Individuals
who join unions may place higher value on
wages and benefits, which are the focus of most collectively-
bargained contracts, than do non-union workers;
historically, unions have delivered in this regard. Unionized
workers may be more dissatisfied because of a more
adversarial climate (e.g., testy supervisory and interpersonal
relations, narrowly-defined jobs) but are less
likely to quit because the things they value mostgood
wages and benefitsare provided.
Workforce Alignment and Fluidity May Yield a Competitive Advantage (Lee Dyer, Cornell ILR; Jeff Ericksen, University of Illinois)
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/briefs/35/
Research question: Dynamic organizations encounter
frequent and discontinuous changes in their operating
environments. What are the components of a human resource
strategy that enable such organizations to
achieve a series of temporary competitive advantages
and ultimately a sustained advantage?
Conclusion: The authors postulate that workforce
scalability is the key competency necessary for ongoing
marketplace success. Workforce scalability encompasses
two factors: alignment and fluidity. The former
is an ideal target that calls for the right number of the
right type of people in the right place at the right time
doing the right thing. The latter is the means by which
organizations hit the target, and specifically refers to
the speed and ease with which employees are moved
around and adjust their behaviors to suit changing business
requirements. A set of operating principles facilitates
the simultaneous attainment of workforce alignment
and fluidity.
Labor Branches Out: Resurgence in the Urban Core (Lowell Turner, Cornell ILR)
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/briefs/36/
Research question: Why are urban labor movements
relatively strong and successful in some American and
European cities but not in others?
Conclusion: Agency (the choices made and strategies
pursued by leaders and organizations) and opportunity
structure (the presence or absence of institutional, political,
and/or social barriers)are the two factors that
seem to account for the revitalization of city-based labor
movements in several locales, such as Seattle, Buffalo,
Los Angeles, and San Jose; European unions have
not progressed quite as far in this regard. Rather than
focus exclusively on traditional workplace issues,
unions active in contemporary urban labor movements
are forging coalitions with other actors in civil society
and mobilizing grassroots participation in union campaigns
as well as in the democratic process.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 6:31 AM
