Extended book review

Citation

Wapshott, R. (2007), "Extended book review", Personnel Review, Vol. 36 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/pr.2007.01436dae.001

Extended book review

The Employment Relationship: Key Challenges for HRP.R. Sparrow and C.L. CooperButterworth-HeinemannOxford2003282 pp.ISBN 0-7506-4941-0Paperback

The Dynamics of Employee RelationsP. Blyton and P. TurnbullPalgrave MacmillanBasingstoke2004430 pp.ISBN 0-333-94836-XPaperback

The Employment Relationship: A Psychological PerspectiveP. HerriotRoutledgeHove2001232 pp.ISBN 1-84169-240-9Paperback

The tone of industrial or employment relations literature in recent times has encouraged a move away from a narrow interpretation of the employment relationship (Purcell, 1983; Godard, 1993; Ackers, 2002). In taking a wider perspective such authors have acknowledged a need to move away from endlessly examining the workplace and embrace wider influences on the position of employees and their various employment relationships. Given the potential diversity in approaches to understanding the employment relationship, and the factors that influence its operation, no single book is likely to accommodate all views. This review therefore presents three books on the subject, each surveying the relationship from a different vantage point.

The books may be arranged as addressing: how the world at large impacts upon the employment relationship, how collective employer and employee groups of interests function, and finally how sense can be made of employment relationships at a more individual level. From the outset then it is clear that while united by broad subject area and similar titles, these books are not directly comparable.

Reflecting the different approaches and target audiences of these books, this review examines each book individually to present and assess them on their own terms. In each case a flavour of their style and content will be provided before a more general comment is made on the book overall.

Sparrow, P. R. and Cooper, C. L. (2003), The Employment Relationship: Key Challenges for HR, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 282 pp., ISBN 0-7506-4941-0, paperback

Paul Sparrow and Cary Cooper locate their book in the context of the rapid changes impacting upon organisational life, and how these changes in the wider world present new circumstances for the relationship between employees and organisations.

Sparrow and Cooper tackle nine “key challenges” facing organisations in the rapidly changing world of work spanning: the psychological contract, flexibility, career transitions, individualisation of the working relationship, changes in how employees and organisations relate, factors influencing the interests of individuals and organisations, the impact of changes upon different generations of workers, as well as looking at some of the wider changes taking place.

The introductory chapter sets the book’s general direction incorporating academic studies into how various aspects of organisational life are changing. Some responses to the emerging environment are identified, so for example alternative models of organisational construction are presented along with some of the questions these pose to organisations. Similarly the authors highlight the changes in the role of work in people’s lives and in a wider political and economic context.

In addressing the nine key challenges for HR the authors eschew the gurus’ panacea in favour of embracing the complexity embodied in organisational relationships. To this end, the aim of the authors is outlined as being to shed light on these important issues rather than seeking to avoid tricky problems and prescribe solutions. Good examples of their approach can be found in Chapter 2: “The psychological contract” and in Chapter 8: “Managing the new individual – organization linkages”.

Chapter 2 introduces readers to the idea of psychological contracts as well as continuing to set the overall tone and direction of the book. Sparrow and Cooper trace the origins of the concept back to the 1960s and highlight some of the subtle differences between initial contributors on the issue. Taking into account more recent works the authors describe the “3 main points of agreement” (p. 29) on the nature of psychological contracts. They are:

1. 1.

   subjective, unique, and idiosyncratic;

2. 2.

   reciprocal; and

3. 3.

   possess a cognitive dimension.

Having provided readers with a basic understanding of the psychological contract, Sparrow and Cooper advance to examine the details.

The authors highlight the social dimension of psychological contracts and how their natures can vary, along a continuum, from being transactional to relational. Acknowledging the complexity of psychological contracts, Sparrow and Cooper also indicate how individuals may fulfil different roles within a complex web of reciprocal relationships. The authors also comment on the economic perspective of psychological contracts before discussing their construction.

As well as discussing how psychological contracts may be established, the authors present thoughts around how changes may be managed and how breaches can occur. A particularly interesting section of this chapter considers the different consequences of contracts being breached and violated along with how organisations may try to repair the damage done.

In drawing the chapter to a close Sparrow and Cooper draw attention to more recent debates concerning the relative stability of psychological contracts and the factors that could impact upon both the frequency and seriousness of breaches.

Chapter 8 is a little different in character, drawing on groundwork laid in earlier chapters about the individualisation of employee-organisation relationships to consider how this might impact upon these relations. Having highlighted the range of relationships that can exist in organisations (citing Herriot’s metaphorical views of relationships – see below), Sparrow and Cooper review some recent perspectives on employee-organisation relations.

Among the ideas explored is that of organisational commitment. Maintaining the general style of the book, the authors describe the views of the relevant influential thinkers without disrupting the flow of their own narrative. This allows them to provide an interesting and informative history of the topic at hand. However, the authors also demonstrate the book’s critical edge by explaining that quantitatively proven links between organisational commitment and increased performance are not as strong as they might be. In a similar vein, Chapter 8 finishes with a look at “Over-identification and engagement: workaholism”.

While a two-page summary can perhaps do little more than flag-up some key issues on this topic, Sparrow and Cooper successfully address a selection of studies in an interesting and critical fashion. In fact, the authors’ ability in this compact but lucid style of writing might explain what makes this book an enjoyable read.

The authors cover wide areas of material smoothly so that the range covered only becomes apparent when the reference sections concluding each chapter are examined, each typically containing over 60 references. This undoubted skill in combining academic research with a readable style gives the book broad potential appeal. While primarily aimed at reflective practitioners and managers, academics and students may benefit from reading this book as an overview and a source of references on a variety of issues.

However despite the apparent care taken in the structuring and writing of this book there is one glaring editorial flaw. Pages 102 and 113 contain a significant section of identical text. Otherwise the book remains an interesting and enjoyable read.

Blyton, P. and Turnbull, P. (2004), The Dynamics of Employee Relations, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 430 pp., ISBN 0-333-94836-X, paperback

Paul Blyton and Peter Turnbull open The Dynamics of Employee Relations with an explanation of their subject’s relevance and importance before summarising their particular take on what lies ahead: “ … we believe it is important to restate the values traditionally associated with employee relations, and to re-establish their moral grounding, and to integrate these values into our analysis, interpretation and prescription” (pp. 5-6). This is an important voice to be heard in discussions of employment relations where underlying perspectives and values are not always so clearly identified as informing the opinions presented (along with other research fields it should be added).

The book is comprehensive in its coverage of the, predominantly collective, employment relationship and it approaches this in four parts. Part One sets out some of the wider context informing the area of employee relations. In particular Chapter Two provides an interesting introduction to those new to the field, or a refresher to those who may be returning to it. The remainder of Part One goes on to explore how wider political and economic changes have influenced and shaped the nature of employee relations, making them important considerations in discussing employee relations.

Part Two starts to focus more closely on the actors involved in the employment relationship. The key groups identified by the authors through chapters on “Management and employee relations”, “Unions and their members”, and also “Employee relations and the state”. Having dealt with the major actors in employee relations, Part Three concerns itself with an examination of how (collective) employment relationships might play out. The first three chapters of this section each consider a model of managing employee relations. The case studies of Corus, Tesco, and Marks & Spencer are used to take up the approaches of restructuring bargaining arrangements, non-bargaining involvement via partnership, and non-recognition of unions respectively. The final chapter of Part Three (Chapter 10) explores the issues surrounding industrial conflict and the forms of action this may take, primarily through a focus on the recent fire fighters’ strike. Chapter 11, which forms the fourth and final Part of the book, concludes proceedings but also looks towards the direction employee relations might take in future.

In terms of content and style, Chapter 5 on “Unions and their members” provides an example of the authors’ detailed and critical approach. Blyton and Turnbull explore the nature of union membership decline along with union attempts to halt and the reverse this trend. Their approach identifies the dilemmas unions face not just in how to cope with structural changes in the labour market but also the questions over the role they ought to fulfil for their membership and the issues raised by the election of a Labour Government in 1997. That said, this is not a retrospective approach to employee relations and the authors look towards these and other challenges facing the union movement in the twenty-first century.

Within the chapter, the sub-section focused on union membership is particularly interesting. Union membership levels, and the year on year changes, are presented from 1974 until 2000 accompanied by a critical assessment of arguments seeking to explain this decline. Further evidence of Blyton and Turnbull’s critical approach to their subject matter is found in how they recognise that the net decline in union membership over-simplifies the reality which is of some unions increasing membership at times when others are losing members. The remainder of this comprehensive chapter proceeds to give similar treatment to “Unionism in the workplace”, “Unions and politics”, and “Union responses” to declining membership levels. The detailed content and style of the authors’ approach to their subject matter provides some clues as to their target audience.

The back cover suggests that undergraduate, postgraduate, and MBA students may find this book of particular interest. That said the depth, critical nature, and general tone, may push this book beyond the requirements of all but the most dedicated MBA student. Furthermore, undergraduates may need careful guidance on how to get the best out of the book as a resource, perhaps by tutors detailing the most appropriate areas to focus on for the course they are studying, something postgraduate students can do for themselves.

The depth and nature of the book means that it might not be everyone’s idea of a light read. In this sense it is quite different from either Sparrow and Cooper or Herriot. There are relatively few “breaks” in the text for readers to take stock and appreciate the finer points of Blyton and Turnbull’s position; as such the style can require a degree of effort and concentration. Ultimately the degree that these stylistic considerations matter depends on the reader’s preferences for how they choose to study, but what can be said with certainty is that this book is a valuable resource for anyone seeking a critical and comprehensive perspective on employee relations.

Herriot, P. (2001), The Employment Relationship: A Psychological Perspective, Routledge, Hove, 232 pp., ISBN 1-84169-240-9, paperback

The third book in this review looks at the employment relationships within organisations. In setting the ground for his work Herriot identifies not only that “change” is a fact of life but that organisations’ ability to accommodate such changes depends on the nature and quality of the employment relationships within them. In seeking to address these issues Herriot is keen to point out that he is not offering a silver bullet solution along the lines of management gurus; his approach is to understand the employment relationship in organisations and this necessarily takes on a more individual approach than the other two books.

Herriot identifies metaphors as useful in making sense of things and he illustrates metaphorical ways in which the employment relationship could be construed. Acknowledging the complex nature of employment relationships Herriot also presents “the flip-side” to these metaphors to explore what might happen when the relationship becomes altered. Devoting Part I of the book to the eight chapters discussing: “Family & feud”; “Crusade & play”; “Contract & jungle”; “Club & outsider”; “Resource & discard”; “Democracy & dictatorship”; “Partnership & conflict”; and “Customer & rip-off”, Herriot details instances that both managers and workers will identify with. Chapter Two on “Crusade & play” provides a flavour of how the first part of the book approaches its topic.

Herriot cites the modern trend for organisations to adopt statements of their vision, mission, and values as being part of a crusade for corporate excellent initiated by the likes of Peters and Waterman. That said he does not dismiss out of hand such rhetorical devices, after all many willingly subscribe to such beliefs. Another necessary component of a corporate crusade is a charismatic or transformational leader to embody the stated vision or espoused values in the right way and at the right time. However, as in all the metaphorical relationships Herriot presents, “ … the coin can start to flip … ” (p. 29).

Herriot explores how doubts may creep into the minds of the Crusaders around the value of their drive to be the best, “ … is the vision of, for example, selling more sweet fizzy water than anyone else in the world really worth Crusading for?” (p. 29). Along with such doubts may also be suspicions of the leaders’ motives, for example greed, power, or other selfish gain. Whichever way faith in the Crusade is undermined, and Herriot provides further examples of how such management behaviours, it can result in employees abandoning the Crusade in favour of “playing at soldiers”.

Herriot argues that once employees have ceased to identify with the Crusade, while continuing to display relevant behaviours they are not devoting their hearts and minds to the work; they merely go through the motions, playing along. Pretence may suffice but it can also fail, especially where the work requires some genuine employee-involvement as is the case in emotional labour.

Employees who do not subscribe to their organisation’s chosen Crusade may not be able to consistently fake the appropriate, prescribed emotional responses in given situations. Even those who share the organisation’s values may need to adopt coping strategies to avoid emotional burnout. Either way, a sense that the organisation is insincere in the values it espouses and requires from its staff will only encourage play acting.

To finish the chapter, Herriot provides a checklist to help concerned managers discover whether their organisation is more like that of a True Crusader or its metaphorical flip-side, the Toy Soldier.

Parts Two and Three of Herriot’s work are concerned, respectively, with trying to understand the employment relationship and identifying the key dialogues the author believes are necessary to deal with the employment relationship.

In his introduction to the book’s latter sections, Herriot explains his approach of putting the emphasis on the “ … employment relationship rather than on the employment relationship” (p. 109). In Part 2 Herriot uses this neat distinction to take a psychological perspective on exploring how relationships in an employment context operate.

Underpinning his analysis is a belief that relationships are a product of interaction between the people involved. Herriot considers that many employees experience the flip side of the metaphors presented because modern employment relationships often ignore the role and nature of the people involved. Chapters 9 to 12 consider the nature of employment relationships from this perspective through addressing: “Relationships and the self”, “Cultures, relationships and selves”, “Individual differences and employment”, and “Organisations and employment”.

The outcome of Herriot’s analysis in Part Two is that the dynamic nature of the employment relationship is better accommodated through dialogue rather than rhetoric. The two are contrasted in that dialogue is a two-way process between parties promoting clarity between them whereas rhetoric is aimed influencing the other’s perceptions and feelings. In Part Three the types of dialogue that may occur are discussed.

Dialogues around “Compliance”, “Difference”, and “Change” are highlighted in Chapters 13 to 15. Each chapter indicates how purely rhetorical approaches to issues in the employment relationship can have negative implications for those involved. Herriot’s alternative is that dialogue can be used to mitigate many of these problems, but he acknowledges that this is not a straight forward process.

In the final chapter, Herriot argues the case for a dialogue about dialogue, concluding that it is essentially a political process and one that must acknowledge different constituencies among the wider body of employees. Where effective dialogue does occur, Herriot suggests that these constituencies’ abilities to creatively work together will emerge.

The longer review granted to Herriot in this piece is partly a result of the book’s structure. While Part One may be “dipped into”, Herriot is developing an argument in Parts Two and Three. Focusing on any single point of the latter parts of the book may misrepresent Herriot’s point. However the book is also a well-written and enjoyable read.

Herriot’s writing style combines clarity and parsimony which assist the construction of his arguments and the flow of the book. The author also manages to maintain consistent formats to the chapters in each section while retaining his writing’s freshness. The use of interesting examples and a genuine sense of empathy when discussing the flip side of his metaphors also help to hold the reader’s attention. It is this identification with the messy realities of organisational life that might make this book popular with managers and employees alike.

The selected metaphors will prove familiar to many and the metaphor checks provide a starting point for those seeking to understand the employment relationship in their own organisation. Comprehensive reference sections are provided at the end of each chapter for those seeking greater depth but they do not interfere with the flow of the text for those more interested in gaining an overview of the relevant issues. For readers more interested in a discussion of ideas, Parts Two and Three provide a well-structured consideration of Herriot’s position. As such the book contains some points of interest for academics and students of the employment relationship although the core audience remains practitioners.

Summary

Directly comparing three books that broadly adopt different levels of focus and style on the conduct of employment relationships could not do justice to the successes achieved by each book in its own terms. Sparrow and Cooper provide managers and practitioners with a global perspective on how a range of social and political challenges might impact upon the conduct of working relationships, Blyton and Turnbull deliver a thorough and detailed account of employee relations which may prove indispensable to students of this area, while Herriot presents readers with interesting ways to think about their own organisations and how employment relationships might be more effectively managed.

None of these books attempts to identify or answer all the questions arising in the evolving discussions around this topic and decisions on which to read will depend on readers’ objectives and preferences. What can be said about all three books, however, is that they all succeed in embracing the complexity characterising employment relationships in a variety of ways and provoking thoughts as to how they can be improved.

Robert Wapshott Bradford University School of Management, Bradford, UK