Paul Jarley

Planning for Change: Determinants of Innovation in U.S. National Unions

Although it is commonly argued that unions need to innovate in order to grow and achieve success, little is known about the characteristics of unions that facilitate or hinder innovation. The authors of this study develop a model of union innovation and test it using data collected from many sources, including a 1990 survey of 275 officials and staff members from 111 American national unions. The results suggest that certain union characteristics, such as environmental monitoring (systematic monitoring by the union of developments that could affect it) and rationalization (good structuring and management of administrative activities), are positively associated with innovative behavior. In addition, there is a positive relationship between innovation and the heterogeneity of a unions members.

Are We Playing the Same Game?: Publishing Task Environments and Research Productivity Among Management Specialists

Archival data on over 15,000 contributors to 33 management journals are used to examine productivity differences among scholars in different areas of management. The results suggest that a fragmented publication network offers specialists from different areas dissimilar publication opportunities and experiences, and may contribute to varying levels of publication productivity among authors. The implications of our results for future research and faculty evaluation processes are explored.

American trade unions and public approval: Can unions please all of the people all of the time?

Public opinion about labor unions has long been viewed as an important determinant of industrial relations outcomes. Yet, analyses of changes in union popularity over time have been largely qualitative and have focused on the impact of short-term idiosyncratic events. This paper provides a quantitative analysis of the determinants of American public approval of unions from 1936 to 1991. Hypotheses relating to the union wage advantage, strike activity, the national unemployment rate, and World War II, receive the strongest support. The implications of these results for organized labor and future research on attitudes toward unions are discussed.

Understanding Organising Activity Among US National Unions

It is well known that US aggregate union election activity under the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has fallen for several years. It is also well known that NLRB win rates have increased moderately during the Sweeney era relative to the later part of the Kirkland years. This article sheds new light on organising activity and win rates, by examining these data on a national union basis. The results show that several unions, including most of the largest nationals, experienced both increases in organising activity and increased win rates for the period of 1999 to 2004 compared with the years 1990–95 (the end of the Kirkland era). While explanations of variations in inter-union organising success remain elusive, understanding and building on the experience of these ‘resurging unions’ holds the promise of union renewal more generally.