Equal Employment Opportunity in Australia and Britain: Policy Approaches and Progress. Equal employment opportunity policies were introduced in Australia and Britain from the 1980s in response to women's disadvantaged workforce position. These policies aimed to eliminate barriers to women's equal participation. Similar approaches were taken in both countries, but Australia's was underpinned by legislation, while Britain's was employer led and voluntary. No independent examination of these progr ....Equal Employment Opportunity in Australia and Britain: Policy Approaches and Progress. Equal employment opportunity policies were introduced in Australia and Britain from the 1980s in response to women's disadvantaged workforce position. These policies aimed to eliminate barriers to women's equal participation. Similar approaches were taken in both countries, but Australia's was underpinned by legislation, while Britain's was employer led and voluntary. No independent examination of these programs has yet been undertaken. This project examines the rationale and model for EEO in both countries, compares outcomes achieved and the role of legislation in explaining differences in EEO outcomes. It will contribute to national policy analysis and produce refereed publications.Read moreRead less
What does 'New Public Management' look like in the public sector workplace: a comparative study of Australia and the United Kingdom. Moving beyond the macro-level focus of most previous studies of the impact of ?New Public Management? (NPM), this project will examine its effect on civil and public services at the micro-level of the workplace. It will trace, analyse and compare the impacts of the managerial/contract state on particular public sector workplaces in Australia and the United Kingdom ....What does 'New Public Management' look like in the public sector workplace: a comparative study of Australia and the United Kingdom. Moving beyond the macro-level focus of most previous studies of the impact of ?New Public Management? (NPM), this project will examine its effect on civil and public services at the micro-level of the workplace. It will trace, analyse and compare the impacts of the managerial/contract state on particular public sector workplaces in Australia and the United Kingdom. It will classify and evaluate a range of impacts of NPM on public sector workplace organisation, labour processes and employment/industrial relations. It will explain significant differences in the form taken by NPM in various workplaces and explore their implications for workplace practice.Read moreRead less
Managing the Volunteer Workforce: Flexible Structures and Strategies to Integrate Volunteers and Paid Workers. Volunteers now play a vital role in many service-oriented organisations. This project proposes an innovative framework to assist organisations to develop flexible and appropriate structures and strategies for the management of volunteer and paid workforces. The approach draws upon Atkinson's (1984) "Flexible Firm" concept. A flexibility model is applied to the relationship between volun ....Managing the Volunteer Workforce: Flexible Structures and Strategies to Integrate Volunteers and Paid Workers. Volunteers now play a vital role in many service-oriented organisations. This project proposes an innovative framework to assist organisations to develop flexible and appropriate structures and strategies for the management of volunteer and paid workforces. The approach draws upon Atkinson's (1984) "Flexible Firm" concept. A flexibility model is applied to the relationship between volunteers and the broader workforce. The project aims (a) to understand, conceptualise and evaluate the roles, functions and structure of volunteer groups within paid workforces; (b) to investigate how positive relationships, training, effective communication and flexibility can enhance the contribution of volunteers in the workforce and (c) to propose mechanisms which can improve the deployment of human capital within larger service-oriented organisations such as the National Museum of Australia and Museum of Victoria.Read moreRead less
Patterns of Commitment: Risks, Opportunities, and Alternatives in Introducing Normative Control in Industry. Many companies seek to secure personal commitmetnt from employees to the flexible pursuit of corporate goals by changing to a post-bureaucratic system of normative control. There is, however, a scarcity of detailed studies of how such a change is brought about and the effect this has on the degree of commitment and the form that it takes. Privileged access to a major change initiative i ....Patterns of Commitment: Risks, Opportunities, and Alternatives in Introducing Normative Control in Industry. Many companies seek to secure personal commitmetnt from employees to the flexible pursuit of corporate goals by changing to a post-bureaucratic system of normative control. There is, however, a scarcity of detailed studies of how such a change is brought about and the effect this has on the degree of commitment and the form that it takes. Privileged access to a major change initiative in an industrial plant enables this project to provide an in-depth longitudinal study of these issues and, drawing on the results, to speculate about the positive and negative effects of alternative patterns of normative control for business and employees.Read moreRead less