Julian Teicher

Trust in management: the role of employee voice arrangements and perceived managerial opposition to unions

This study examines the relationship between employee voice arrangements and employees trust in management using data from the 2007 Australian Worker Representation and Participation Survey of 1,022 employees. Drawing on social exchange theory and employee relations literature, we test hypotheses concerning the relationships between direct and union voice arrangements, perceived managerial opposition to unions and employees trust in management. Consistent with our predictions, after controlling for a range of personal, job and workplace characteristics, regression analyses indicated that direct voice arrangements were positively related to employees trust in management. Union voice arrangements and perceived managerial opposition to unions were negatively related to trust in management. The article concludes by highlighting the studys implications for management practice and avenues for further research.

Conclusion: Globalization, Labour Standards and Flexibility in the Asia-Pacific Region

The contributions to this publication have illustrated the degree to which globalization, labour standards and labour flexibility are informing the debate on industrial relations in the Asia Pacific region. Whilst the effect and interpretation of these dynamics vary from country to country, their perverseness has seen major changes in the past two decades to the way labour is managed both at a state institutional and enterprise level.

Internet and Email Monitoring in the Workplace: Time for an Alternate Approach

In this article we examine changes to the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth) and the implications of those changes for the protection of workplace privacy. This examination is undertaken in the context of two factors: the absence of statutory protections for employee privacy in the workplace; and the development of sophisticated human resource management practices and increasing individualization of workplace relationships. We argue that instead of eroding privacy rights in the workplace, the federal government should implement a legal regime that poses the least threat to employees’ dignity and rights to privacy in the context of work.

Gérer la confiance et les relations dans les partenariats public-privé: Quelques exemples australiens

Les administrations australiennes font de plus en plus appel a des prestataires de service du secteur prive pour ameliorer l’efficacite de la prestation de service public et ont conclu une serie de partenariats avec ces prestataires. Dans cet article, nous nous penchons sur l’efficacite des modeles de partenariat public-prive utilises dans la prestation de services publics. Nous verrons que certaines initiatives de partenariat ont ameliore l’efficacite au niveau de la gestion locale mais sans parvenir a instaurer la confiance. Par ailleurs, la notion de valeur publique n’a pas ete prise en compte dans la definition des objectifs du service public. D’autres modeles ont plutot mis l’accent sur la participation communautaire dans la formulation des politiques ainsi que sur l’instauration de la confiance parmi les clients et les fournisseurs. Ces modeles pourraient bien indiquer la voie a suivre pour reussir de telles initiatives. Ces conclusions provisoires sont fondees sur une analyse de deux exemples de partenariats qui ont eu un effet sur les methodes de fonctionnement et de gestion: Job Network et Best Value dans le gouvernement local de l’Etat de Victoria.