L'effet du pays d'origine des entreprises multinationales sur les pratiques de relations du travail dans leurs opérations canadiennes

Dans le cadre de ce mémoire, nous nous penchons sur les relations du travail (RT) dans les entreprises multinationales (EMs) ayant des opérations au Canada. Notre question de recherche est la suivante: « Le pays d’origine d’une entreprise multinationale a-t-il un impact sur les pratiques de relations du travail dans ses opérations canadiennes? » Deux thèses principales ont été élaborées afin d’expliquer les choix des EMs dans l’adoption et l’implantation de pratiques. La première thèse, celle de la diversité, tient pour acquis que plusieurs déterminants endogènes et exogènes à l’EM influencent ses pratiques (Mcgraw et Harley, 2003). Tant les caractéristiques du pays hôte que celles du pays d’origine influenceraient les choix de pratiques des EMs contribuant ainsi à leur diversité (Almond et al., 2005). Par exemple, certains chercheurs avancent que les EMs sont littéralement imprégnées des caractéristiques provenant du pays qui les a vues naître, qu’elles feraient littéralement partie de leur ADN affectant ainsi les pratiques qu’elles mettent en place dans leurs filiales à l’étranger (Berger, 2006). Par ailleurs, la thèse de la convergence soutient que les EMs auraient tendance à utiliser les mêmes pratiques en cette ère de mondialisation et d’hégémonie économique américaine (Mcgraw et Harley, 2003). Les tenants de cette thèse croient plutôt à une convergence des pratiques à travers les EMs en raison notamment de la vaste diffusion du modèle anglo-saxon de gestion, de l’approche des best pratices et du one best way (Mcgraw et Harley, 2003; Royle, 2006). Convergence ou divergence des pratiques? Le débat demeure entier dans la littérature. Outre sa contribution à ce débat, notre recherche permet d’en apprendre davantage sur le comportement des EMs étrangères au Canada, mais aussi d’examiner les spécificités des EMs canadiennes. Le modèle conceptuel développé par ce mémoire se base sur la thèse de la diversité en examinant plus particulièrement l’effet du pays d’origine. Selon la littérature, plusieurs variables influencent les pratiques des EMs, soit le pays d’origine (Almond et al., 2005; Kvinge et Ulrichsen, 2008; Marginson, 2008; Edwards et Ferner, 2002; Collings, 2003; Ferner, 1997, Moore et Rees, 2008; etc.) et les caractéristiques propres à l’EM (Bartlett et Ghosal, 1998; Kidger, 2002; Perlmutter, 1969; Edwards, 2003). Aux fins de notre recherche, notre variable dépendante, les pratiques de RT, comporte cinq dimensions, soit la reconnaissance syndicale des nouveaux établissements, la politique d’implication du syndicat, la perception à l’égard des représentants syndicaux, la structure de la négociation collective et l’autonomie de la filiale dans l’élaboration de politiques en matière de RT (Bélanger et al., 2006). L’hypothèse principale de notre recherche est : le pays d’origine d’une EM a un impact sur le choix des pratiques de RT dans ses opérations canadiennes. Cinq sous-hypothèses, touchant cinq dimensions du concept de RT, ont été testées : 1) les EMs américaines reconnaissent moins souvent le syndicat dans leurs nouveaux établissements que les EMs d’autres pays; 2) les EMs américaines ont une moins bonne perception patronale du syndicat que celles provenant d’autres pays; 3) les négociations collectives sont plus décentralisées dans les EMs américaines que dans celles d’autres pays; 4) les EMs américaines impliquent moins les syndicats dans la prise de décision que celles provenant d’autres pays; 5) l’autonomie dans l’élaboration de politiques concernant la représentation syndicale est plus faible dans les EMs américaines que dans les EMs d’autres pays. Sur le plan méthodologique, cette étude utilise des données secondaires provenant de l’Enquête sur la gestion des ressources humaines, les politiques publiques et la chaîne de valeur mondiale menée par Bélanger, Harvey, Jalette, Lévesque et Murray (2006). Nous étudions un sous-échantillon de la base de données, soit une centaine d’EMs dont les employés sont syndiqués. Les résultats indiquent que les opérations canadiennes des EMs canadiennes se différencient de celles des EMs américaines par une meilleure perception patronale des syndicats et une plus grande implication syndicale. De plus, les EMs européennes reconnaissent plus le syndicat dans leurs nouveaux établissements, perçoivent davantage de la collaboration de la part du syndicat et octroient une plus grande autonomie en matière de RT à leurs opérations canadiennes que les EMs américaines. Enfin, les opérations canadiennes des EMs du reste du monde se distinguent de celles des EMs américaines par une meilleure perception patronale de collaboration de la part du syndicat.

Innovative Human Resource Practices and Selected HR Outcomes in Software Firms in Kerala

In this study the relationship between Innovative HR practices and selected HR outcomes is investigated.The current study represents a unique attempt to study the effects of innovative HR practices,with job satisfaction,organisational commitment and organisational citizenship bahaviour considered as the consequent variables.Results have affirmed the role of intervening variables such as job satisfaction and organisational commitment in establishing the link between IHRP and OCB obliterating any direct relation between IHRP and organisational citizenship behaviour.This finding may enable researchers in the human resource management to develop more robust understandings of the positive effects of innnovative HR practices on HR outcomes.Thus the present study provides the obvious contribution of weaving up yet another linkage between the two complimentary disciplines of Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour.The present study also contributes to the understanding of OCB by exploring its antecedents and extending the intervening role of job satisfaction and organisational commitment.The findings indicate that a higher level of introduction/initiation and satisfaction of innovative HR practices produces high job satisfaction and organisational commitment which lead to OCB.The researcher drew upon the perception-attitude-behaviour model to further realise the expected relationship among innovative HR practices,job satisfaction,organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour.Consequently,this study makes a contribution to the broader organisational citizenship behaviour literature by manifesting the extended relationship path from innovative HR practices to organisational citizenship behaviour,and demonstrating that innovative Hr practices at the organisational level has an effect on employee attitudes and behaviours as well.

Inventory management in public sector electrical industry in Kerala

The thesis entitled Inventory Management In Public Sector Electrical Industry In Kerala. Investigations were carried out on inventory management in public sector electrical industry in Kerala and suggest methods to improve their efficiency. Various aspects of inventory management, its scope and need in industry are detailed. The objectives of the present study concentrates to get an overall view of the system of inventory management, assess the positions and levels of inventory. It analyzes the inventory management policies and practices, the organizational set-up for materials by the electrical undertakings. The study examines the liquidity of the electrical undertakings as well as techniques of inventory management in the electrical industry in Kerala. Hypotheses state that the existing organizational systems and practices are inadequate to ensure efficient management of inventories in electrical industry. Introduction of scientific inventory techniques has a favourable effect on the workings of inventory departments. The financial performance of the public sector electrical undertakings is not at all satisfactory on account of the high raw material costs, heavy borrowings and huge interest burdens. The scope of this study is limited to the assessment of savings, in inventories of electrical products due to inventory management. The methodology of the study is to project the cost reduction of the inventory department on the basis of data collected and to validate this projection with the aid of analysis and survey. The limitations of the study is that the data obtained relate to the period 1989-90 and earlier and the current position is not available and uniform norms cannot be applied to evaluate different inventory management organisation.

Materials management in state transport undertakings in india with special reference to kerala state road transport corporation

Scientific studies on the materials management systems and practices actually followed in various organizations in India are rather limited. This is particularly true with respect to service industries. In this context ,the present study on the “materials management in state transport undertakings in India, with special reference to kerala state road corporation” assumes particular significance . This study, examines critically, the prevailing set up, procedures and practices of materials management in the Kerala state road transport corporation and compares them with the prevailing practices in other similar state transport undertakings. It indicates several areas for improvement with respect to the organization, materials planning, purchasing, store keeping and other aspects. It also seeks to develop a comprehensive inventory control system for KSRTC.

La construcción de sentido del inicio de un cambio estratégico en las organizaciones: el caso de la Universidad del Rosario

A través de un caso de estudio se explora cómo la construcción de sentido de un grupo de directivos, bajo una misma inspiración, generó el inicio de un cambio estratégico en una prestigiosa y reconocida universidad colombiana, la Universidad del Rosario. Una institución que en un momento determinado notó que estaba siendo percibida dentro del sector de la educación superior como pequeña, estática en el avance de algunas disciplinas del conocimiento y conservadora; en otras palabras, que estaba perdiendo el reconocimiento que usualmente la había acompañado. A través del estudio de este caso se utilizó la técnica de análisis de discurso para comprender la construcción de sentido del inicio de un cambio estratégico en las organizaciones. Esta técnica permitió analizar la información cualitativa derivada de las entrevistas que se realizaron en profundidad a la cúpula de directivos de la institución y a algunos destacados representantes del sector de la Educación Superior en Colombia. Los resultados sugieren que se hicieron presentes, efectivamente, algunas condiciones específicas que marcaron el inicio de un cambio estratégico en la institución y un viraje en su identidad e imagen. Hechos que se sustentaron en los miembros de un equipo que procuró interpretar y comprender los cambios existentes en el entorno global y local, y asimilar, igualmente, algunos destacados retos que se planteaban por aquella época, al interior de la propia Universidad

Modelos de presupuestación de capital en finanzas corporativas y utilidad de los mismos

La siguiente investigación describe una aproximación teórica al tema de los modelos de presupuestación de capital, el objetivo fundamental se basa en comprender su enfoque e importancia al momento de tomar decisiones de inversión por parte de los directores de una empresa, así como de prever los efectos de esta en un futuro. Al respecto, y sobre la base de que los modelos de presupuestación de capital son herramientas para analizar posibles erogaciones de capital por parte de una empresa, es necesario para efectos del presente proyecto de investigación, definir sus diferentes modelos desde lo teórico y metodológico, explicando los diferentes conceptos relacionados con el tema. Así mismo, se explican algunos de los indicadores financieros utilizados en las compañías para medir y estimar la “salud financiera” de la empresa, además de puntualizar su impacto en la perdurabilidad de las entidades, lo cual permite dar una visión más general sobre la importancia que trasciende de los indicadores financieros, generando un impacto positivo en la evolución o crecimiento de la organización. En complemento, la investigación aborda la presupuestación de capital de manera particular aplicado en la gestión empresarial, sean estas privadas o públicas (estatal y gubernamental). En este sentido, se abordan conceptos elaborados por diferentes académicos en los que se exponen algunas aproximaciones respecto al posible mejoramiento de la presupuestación para los sectores a los que pertenecen determinadas entidades. Finalmente, se presenta de manera explícita las conclusiones que surgieron a lo largo de la construcción del documento de investigación, con el fin de dar cumplimiento concreto al objetivo general del trabajo, el cual constituye una respuesta a la pregunta de investigación que se enunciará en el desarrollo del documento.

Adapting to climate change impacts on water resources in England - an assessment of draft Water Resources Management Plans

Climate change is expected to produce reductions in water availability in England, potentially necessitating adaptive action by the water industry to maintain supplies. As part of Ofwat's fifth Periodic Review (PR09), water companies recently released their draft Water Resources Management Plans, setting out how each company intends to maintain the balance between the supply and demand for water over the next 25 years, following Environment Agency guidelines. This paper reviews these plans to determine company estimates of the impact of climate change on water supply relative to other resource pressures. The approaches adopted for incorporating the impact in the plans and the proposed management solutions are also identified. Climate change impacts for individual resource zones range from no reductions in deployable output to greater than 50% over the planning period. The estimated national aggregated loss of deployable output under a “core” climate scenario is ~520 Ml/d (3% of deployable output) by 2034/35, the equivalent of the supply of one entire water company (South West Water). Climate change is the largest single driver of change in water supplies over the planning period. Over half of the climate change impact is concentrated in southern England. In extreme cases, climate change uncertainty is of the same magnitude as the change under the core scenario (up to a loss of ~475 Ml/d). 44 of the 68 resource zones with available data are estimated to have a climate change impact. In 35 of these climate change has the greatest impact although in 10 zones sustainability reductions have a greater impact. Of the overall change in downward pressure on the supply-demand balance over the planning period, ~56% is accounted for by increased demand (620 Ml/d) and supply side climate change accounts for ~37% (407 Ml/d). Climate change impacts have a cumulative impact in concert with other changing supply side reducing components increasing the national pressure on the supply-demand balance. Whilst the magnitude of climate change appears to justify its explicit consideration, it is rare that adaptation options are planned solely in response to climate change but as a suite of options to provide a resilient supply to a range of pressures (including significant demand side pressures). Supply-side measures still tend to be considered by water companies to be more reliable than demand-side measures.

Knowledge and information evaluation practice: an exploratory study in a construction firm

There are a number of challenges associated with managing knowledge and information in construction organizations delivering major capital assets. These include the ever-increasing volumes of information, losing people because of retirement or competitors, the continuously changing nature of information, lack of methods on eliciting useful knowledge, development of new information technologies and changes in management and innovation practices. Existing tools and methodologies for valuing intangible assets in fields such as engineering, project management and financial, accounting, do not address fully the issues associated with the valuation of information and knowledge. Information is rarely recorded in a way that a document can be valued, when either produced or subsequently retrieved and re-used. In addition there is a wealth of tacit personal knowledge which, if codified into documentary information, may prove to be very valuable to operators of the finished asset or future designers. This paper addresses the problem of information overload and identifies the differences between data, information and knowledge. An exploratory study was conducted with a leading construction consultant examining three perspectives (business, project management and document management) by structured interviews and specifically how to value information in practical terms. Major challenges in information management are identified. An through-life Information Evaluation methodology (IEM) is presented to reduce information overload and to make the information more valuable in the future.

The influence of environmental policy on the decisions of managers to adopt G-SCM practices

This article explores the reasons that affect the decisions of managers of firms to adopt management practices in order to green their supply chain management. Under the context of environmental policy, the relationship between policy instruments (‘command and control’, market-based, and self-regulated) and the decisions of managers to adopt green supply chain management (G-SCM) practices is examined. The results show that in some cases the environmental legislation, market-based instruments and self-regulated incentives could play a critical role in the decisions of managers to adopt some specific G-SCM practices, while in other cases environmental policy instruments have not seemed to affect the decisions of managers regarding some other G-SCM practices.

Employment relations : integrating industrial relations and human resource management

Incorporating Human Resource Management policies within the regulatory and institutional framework that governs contemporary industrial relations has always been problematic. This paper details the nature and causes of this problem, noting the different conceptual and practical understandings that underpin each form of labour management when being applied in organisational settings. It then looks at a range of industrial relations realities confronting managers when trying to apply HRM practices, and how these practices might be accommodated within the context of such realities as a means of improving organisational effectiveness. In so doing it delineates four approaches an organisation might take in its relations with trade unions when bargaining and concluding labour contracts, and which of these are consistent and inconsistent with the coexistence of HRM and industrial relations practices. It then looks at the issue of workplace change involving trade unions and collective bargaining in terms of three categorical models—the management-driven model, the trade union gatekeeper model, and the management-union alliance model, the intention again being to show which are consistent and inconsistent with the coexistence of these different forms of labour management. The paper concludes by drawing on these conceptual models to outline the issues and policies that need to be considered when applying HRM practices within an industrial relations setting.

Faculty collaboration in teaching global business, MBA teaching process

This presentation stems from global business teaching and ongoing research of an interactive group of professors working together in the service delivery of online MBA education at University of Maryland University College . A model for collaborative teaching by delocated professors who literally span the globe – from Australia to Canada, including the United Kingdom, both coasts of the USA, China and Dubai - is offered, underscoring the enormous mobility of knowledge and knowledge workers. Working together as a collaborating team, it was found that the "whole is greater than the sum of the parts". The teachers became more than a teaching team, they became a collaborating operation as they worked together in the sharing and development of materials, insights and knowledge. The model demonstrates how the teaching of global business in an MBA environment is really an exercise in the management of global service operations.

Encouraging SMEs to participate in the management of common pool resources

In this paper we contribute to an understanding of how small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) can be encouraged to participate in the management of environmental common pool resources. We do this by applying ideas from general theories about collective actions and, using evidence from interviews of people with experience dealing with SMEs, show how the ideas are relevant to SMEs. In line with previous research, we present evidence that communication is also necessary to help ensure SME participation. We conclude noting some evidence that suggests that local networks may contribute to successful management of global common pool resources.

Intranet and internet uptake and usage within UK building surveying practices. A user based evaluation of advantages and disadvantages

The ‘single most important technological discovery since the birth of the p.c.’, (Gates, 1996). The swift increase in Internet utilisation within businesses and surveying has changed working methods within UK based Surveying practices. User numbers expanded rapidly since the early 1990’s and estimates place a figure of 150 million internet users globally (www.Yahoo.com, 2000). Sloan and Kee Low (2000) established that ‘e-commerce’ is a revolutionary way of trading and conducting business activities. There are opportunities for surveying practices including, reducing communication time, increasing revenues from new and existing sources, enhanced client satisfaction and competitive advantage (Cronin, 1996). Others (Dixon, 1998) perceive threats, such as ‘disintermediation’, to the traditional role of the surveyor.

This research examined the levels of internet and intranet access within the UK Building and Quantity Surveying practices and corporate firms to establish how the internet has affected working methods and client requirements. The research method comprised a qualitative approach using an email and postal questionnaire survey of a random sample of practices. The questionnaire findings formed the basis of semi structured interviews conducted with senior management of large practices to gain a deeper understanding of the issues identified within the survey.

Data analysis revealed the traditional role of the surveyor as a broker of information may be under threat in the long term. Generally levels of internet access in the sample exceed that of general business levels (Dti, 2000) with the largest growth pre 1997. The perceived advantages and barriers to Intranet and Internet usage were identified by the research.