Employee relations week 4

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  • Created by: jmf00632
  • Created on: 05-03-20 21:52
Atkinson’s flexible firm theory – THERE ARE 4 TYPES OF FLEXIBITY - which are
numerical, functional, financial, flexible firm theory
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what is numerical flexibility and example
– how many people you need working e.g. hotels – low season and high season - employers’ discretion to adjust the amount of labour in line with the fluctuation of market demands
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how can it be acheived?
Numerical flexibility can be achieved through a range of management practices such as outsourcing, subcontracting, downsizing and the use of non-standard workforce (e.g., temporary workers, contract workers, part-time workers
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another example
when public sectors tried to private their companies they started to contract or outsource parts if their labour fo certain asects of the organisiation e.g. seasonal work – this may lead to different types of contracts in an organiation
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what is functional flexibility?
this is the idea of job rotation – people are able to achieve multiple tasks in the work place - employers’ discretion to require employees to perform different tasks when such need exists, either in the short term or in the long term
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an example of functional flexibility
e.g. doctors work in peadratics, and other areas. they may be specalists in one specific area but still be able to complete act in other departments.
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financial flexibility
wages are linked to indivudalperfrormance and subjected to the influence of market conditions
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example
during times of the recession instead of firing people they decided to not give bonuses to people as they as an organisation could not afford it. – we can guarantee job security but have to change your pay because of the current financial market situ
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the flexible firm theory (atkinson 1984)
• Employers divide labour force into a “core” and a “periphery” where radically different policies can be pursued
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the core
the core workers are formed by full time employees that have specific, important skills
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periphery
composed of workers on non-standard labour contracts, such as part-time workers and temporary workers, who can be hired at relatively low wages and deployed flexibly in line with business needs; while the core is formed by regular full-time workers w
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continued
with firm specific skills for whom the emphasis is on functional rather than numerical flexibility
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different strategies for the core and the periphery – Atkinson
functional flecxibility and numerical flexblity
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functional flexibility
functional flexibility is at the core – they do not leave. they can orientate
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numerical flexibility
– they do not have job security, sort term contracts and no career progression
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Empirically assess the flexible firm theory
Is there evidence that the British labour market has become more flexible over the last two decades? – there is a little bit but employers still have the control To what extent can temporary and part-time worker be regarded as a peripheral workforce
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another assessment.....
Have employers adopted deliberate strategies to divide their workforce into a stable core and a flexible periphery? – managers are starteg beings and they make specific choices and therefore divide individuals
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bogus self employment
Bogus self-employment occurs when workers are told they are self-employed when the legal tests would likely define them as employees. This phenomenon is made more common by the lack of consistency and clarity around the definition of self-employment:
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part time workers
Research shows that part-timers are less skilled and less paid than full-timers. With regard to job insecurity, however, they are not necessarily worse off than their full-time counterparts.
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temporary workers
– they have the same level of qualification and skills as permanent employees. this tells us that peripheral and core employees have the same abilities. organisations don’t want to have permanent employees because they want to drive down their costs
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peripheral workers
they can go in subcontract, temporary work e.c.t because they are lower skilled and have less ability
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Conceptualising the varieties of organization’s labour utilization strategies in terms of a homogenous core and periphery is too simplistic.
Conceptualising the varieties of organization’s labour utilization strategies in terms of a homogenous core and periphery is too simplistic. GOOGLE MORE
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PRECARIOUS work refers to employement to......
uncertain, unpredictable, and risky from the point of view of the worker.
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the flexible theory focuses upon......
non-standard workers in the secondary labour market. However, precarious work now affects employees in all occupational class positions
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impact of precarious work on.....
Individual, household, community
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individual
o Stress and anxiety o Impaired psychological and physical health
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household
o Financial hardship o Decision on key events such as the timing of marriage and children
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community
o Less social engagement o Decline in membership in voluntary associations and community organizations
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

what is numerical flexibility and example

Back

– how many people you need working e.g. hotels – low season and high season - employers’ discretion to adjust the amount of labour in line with the fluctuation of market demands

Card 3

Front

how can it be acheived?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

another example

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

what is functional flexibility?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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