Institutional Pressures, Human Resource Strategies, and the Rise of Nonunion Dispute Resolution Procedures

Colvin, Alexander J.S.

doi:10.2307/3590914

Cited by 59 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…In nonunion workplaces, introduction of grievance procedures is at the discretion of management, who may choose to have no procedure, only a simple informal procedure, or to develop a more elaborate formal procedure. Research in the United States has found wide variation in both the adoption and structure of nonunion grievance procedures (Feuille and Chachere 1995;Colvin 2003a) and there is no obvious reason to expect an absence of similar variation in Canada. This raises the possibility that in the nonunion workplace, employee involvement will be related to both the presence and the usage of grievance procedures.…”

Section: Theory and Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship between Employee Involvement and Workplace Dispute Resolution

Colvin

2005

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This paper examines the relationship between employee involvement programs and workplace dispute resolution using data from the Workplace and Employee Survey (WES) conducted by Statistics Canada. The results provide support for a link between employee involvement and lower grievance rates in unionized workplaces. This link existed for establishments in both the goods and service sectors, but the practices involved differed between industrial sectors. By contrast, in nonunion workplaces, results of the analysis provided support for a link between the adoption of employee involvement programs and formal grievance procedures, but not between employee involvement and lower grievance rates.

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Section: Theory and Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship between Employee Involvement and Workplace Dispute Resolution

Colvin

2005

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“…Across industry type, those reporting use of mediation for employment disputes varied from 64 to 91 percent, but again, this represents, on balance, occasional use. Colvin (2003) found that both institutional pressures and human resource strategies are factors driving adoption of EDR. Private sector employers adopt mandatory arbitration to avoid individual employment rights litigation and because of expanded court deferral to arbitration.…”

Section: Private Sectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Employment dispute resolution: The case for mediation

Bingham

2004

Conflict Resolution Qtrly

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“…There was a significant difference in the area of adoption of nonunion grievance procedures, but with establishments in Pennsylvania being much more likely to have these procedures. Although this last finding goes directly against the idea of greater American flexibility in employment, a possible explanation may be that organizations in the U.S. frequently adopt procedures as a preventative measure against potential lawsuits (Colvin 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Whereas much of the initial HPWS research was limited to their effects on organizational performance (Godard and Delaney 2000;Handel and Levine, 2004;Godard 2004), a growing body of work has begun to examine the effects of these practices on worker outcomes such as: wages (summarized in Handel and Levine 2004); job satisfaction (Batt 2004); worker voice (Bryson 2004); layoffs (Osterman 2000); and turnover (Batt, Colvin andKeefe 2002, Morissette andRosa 2003). Some of the HPWS literature has suggested that adoption of these systems should be associated with stronger protections for fair treatment of employees in the workplace, such as adoption of formal grievance procedures (Arthur 1992;Huselid 1995;Colvin 2003Colvin , 2004. The rationale for expecting stronger fairness protections in workplaces adopting HPWS is that these systems are premised on obtaining high levels of commitment from employees, which may be undermined if management takes full advantage of the flexibility to fire or discipline the workforce.…”

Section: Flexibility and Management Employment Strategies In Liberal mentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexibility and Fairness in Liberal Market Economies: The Comparative Impact of the Legal Environment and High‐Performance Work Systems

Colvin

2006

Brit J Industrial Rel

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This paper compares management flexibility in employment decision-making in the United States and Canada through a cross-national survey of organizations in representative jurisdictions in each country, Pennsylvania and Ontario respectively, that investigates the impact of differences in their legal environments. The results indicate that, compared to their Ontario counterparts, organizations in Pennsylvania have a higher degree of flexibility in employment outcomes, such as higher dismissal and discipline rates, yet do not experience any greater flexibility or simplicity in management hiring and firing decisions. One explanation for this result may lie in the finding that organizations in Pennsylvania experience greater legal pressures on decision making, reflecting the generally more intense conflict in the employment law system in the United States. By contrast, high performance work systems, which some have looked to as a possible management-driven mechanism for enhancing fairness in employment, had more modest effects. Pennsylvania have a higher degree of flexibility in employment outcomes, such as higher dismissal and discipline rates, yet do not experience any greater flexibility or simplicity in management hiring and firing decisions. One explanation for this result may lie in the finding that organizations in Pennsylvania experience greater legal pressures on decision making, reflecting the generally more intense conflict in the employment law system in the United States. By contrast, high performance work systems, which some have looked to as a possible management-driven mechanism for enhancing fairness in employment, had more modest effects.2

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Institutional Pressures, Human Resource Strategies, and the Rise of Nonunion Dispute Resolution Procedures

Cited by 59 publications

References 4 publications

The Relationship between Employee Involvement and Workplace Dispute Resolution

The Relationship between Employee Involvement and Workplace Dispute Resolution

Employment dispute resolution: The case for mediation

Flexibility and Fairness in Liberal Market Economies: The Comparative Impact of the Legal Environment and High‐Performance Work Systems

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