Phil Beaumont

Diffusing 'best practice' in multinational firms: prospects, practice and contestation

This article explores the possibilities and problems of transferring best practice within multinational enterprises. Following a discussion of the literature on the transfer of best practice, we draw on a case study of ABB to highlight some of the issues and problems involved. In particular, we focus on the use of benchmarking as a powerful tool for the diffusion of best practice in ABB. We conclude that under certain conditions the case for the transfer of best practice within multinational enterprises is relatively sound and that the use of internal benchmarking can be a highly effective method of producing such organizational change. However, any form of diffusion has to take into account (a) the local cultural and institutional context and (b) the ability and incentive of local managers to implement best practice.

Company‐based lifelong learning: what’s the pay‐off for employers?

Addresses the question: will investment in HRD through company‐based programmes of lifelong learning pay dividends to companies in terms of knowledge transfer from courses and more positive psychological contracts? Develops a model of the relationship between HRD investment, the content of psychological contracts and key consequences such as satisfaction, continuance commitment and knowledge transfer. This model is tested empirically using data from a survey of a cohort of participants in a major Scottish electronics company. The results show that the programme paid off in terms of more positive psychological contracts and knowledge transfer. However, contrary to other research, the nature of the transfer climate (e.g. manager support, career and salary advancement, etc.) was not seen to be important in affecting knowledge transfer. This latter finding has important implications for HR policies in knowledge creating companies.

PFI, Public—Private Partnerships and the Neglected Importance of Process: Stakeholders and the Employment Dimension

The prominence of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Public—Private Partnership (PPP) policy and practice is growing as a mechanism for improving resources available to, and value for money throughout, UK public services. This interest has not been accompanied by an appropriate level of academic scrutiny, nor by depth of insight into the impact of the PFI/PPP process upon public sector organizations. The authors draw on the experience of a National Health Service PFI project to examine key aspects of the PFI process, in particular, structural characteristics affecting design and implementation of PFI projects, financial and other organizational costs, and the nature of stakeholder involvement and the wider employment dimension. The article concludes by reflecting on implications for PFI/PPP policy, management and research.

Models of Customer-Supplier Relations

In building relationships, how deeply do customers look into the internal activities of suppliers?

Human Resources and Total Quality Management

The growing interest in total quality management programmes is well‐known, although there is some concern that such programmes have, in practice, paid only limited attention to human resource management issues. Uses the findings of a primary case study and two secondary case studies to examine this particular proposition. The basic findings indicate that both the introduction and the operation of total quality management programmes require a consistent management approach, with particular effort being given to making complementary changes in related human resource management practices.

The uncertain road to partnership: An action research perspective on “new industrial relations” in the UK offshore oil industry

This paper examines the problems involved in developing collective bargaining in the traditionally non‐union environment of the strategically important UK offshore oil industry. In doing so it provides evidence on the success of the “new”, stakeholder industrial relations environment established by the present UK government. Drawing on an in‐depth insight into management and union strategies gained from action research, the paper documents the attempt to establish a collective agreement and a partnership approach to industrial relations in the drilling sector of the North Sea offshore oil industry, a sector which has had no previous history of unionisation. In doing the research provides evidence partnership policy, the literature on union recognition and the process of negotiation in international organisations.

TQM, Customer/Supplier Relations and Human Resource Management

Examines a Japanese‐owned customer organization in Britain which has adopted Kaizen (continuous improvement) programmes in order to discover what effect this has had on the internal organization of its suppliers. With a particular interest in HRM and workforce training, uses a questionnaire and case studies to illuminate the changes made in supplier organizations and the mechanisms which support these developments. The evidence suggests that 63 per cent of supplier organizations studied have made changes, with the leading changes being made in the areas of quality management and workforce training as they have become more open to examination by the customer organization and with the increased emphasis on quality. Concludes that increasing adoption of Kaizen or TQM by customer organizations has implications for personnel and HRM functions in supplier organizations, and that the traditionally self‐contained boundaries of companies will become less rigid.