Human Resource Management and Technical Change

"The case study format provides selected details of the interplay between HRM and technical change and offers some insights into HRM practices in the United Kingdom." --Industrial and Labor Relations Review "This is a well-coordinated effort in which each of the contributors has, unusually, read the work of the others and there is a considerable degree of cross referencing between them. Jon Clark contributes his own case study and, as editor, a thoughtful introduction and a conclusion which pulls the threads together and teases out the theoretical and practical implications." --Work, Employment, and Society "The publication. . .is remarkable not only for the speed with which it was produced but also for the coherence and integration of it. This integration is achieved not only through the editor's valuable introduction and insightful conclusion to the nine different contributions but also through the explicit attempt by the authors to utilise findings from their own research. . . . --Sheila Rothwell, Henley Management College, Human Resources Management Journal Technical change is a fact of modern organizational life, inevitably impacting--to a greater or lesser extent--upon human resource management. This volume provides the first systematic analysis of the relations between technical change and human resource management. Contributors to this impressive volume explore such salient questions as: Is technical change within work organizations still seen largely as a technical matter in which there is no established role for the personnel specialist or human resource manager? Does it present particular opportunities or constraints in the management of personnel? To what extent are organization and job design, total quality management, teamwork, skills training, and employee involvement central or marginal to technical change? And, do non-union firms behave differently from unionized ones in relation to technical change? In this volume, contributors provide answers and offer innovative solutions to these and other questions arising from the rapid technological change within organizations. Replete with actual case studies from a variety of organizational settings, Human Resource Management and Technical Change will be of interest to students and professionals in human resource management, organizational behavior, industrial relations, and general management studies.