Sukanya Sengupta

When and why is small beautiful? The experience of work in the small firm

Small firms account for a substantial proportion of employment in advanced economies; yet understanding of the quality of jobs in them remains poor. Studies using national-level data find that indicators such as autonomy are high but find it hard to say why. Analyses within small firms stress the structuring of jobs and not size as such. Data from 384 employees in small firms from three contrasting sectors are used to test three hypotheses. 1) There is a pure size effect; such an effect was found in such areas as good relations with managers, and explained in terms of the informality of small firms. 2) Size is in fact a proxy for other influences; there was little evidence of this. 3) Factors not associated with size are more important; features such as autonomy and work pressure reflected sectoral differences and not size. Overall, qualified size effects were found, suggesting the continuation of traditional small-firm relationships.

Beyond the enterprise: Broadening the horizons of International HRM

In this article we argue that International HRM research will benefit from an extended research agenda that moves: i) beyond the enterprise, ii) beyond managerialism, and iii) beyond universalism. This will require both a wider range of theoretical resources to be brought to bear and a greater attentiveness to the interpenetrating levels of the empirical worlds that are subject to evaluation and explanation. The article reflects on the opportunities for drawing on theoretical frameworks from proximate research areas and advances a multi-level approach in order to achieve a more holistic and situated understanding of HRM in its international and comparative contexts.

The context-dependent nature of small firms’ relations with support agencies: A three-sector study in the UK

Strategic networking is widely seen to be important for small firms, but most attention has been given to the operation of networks rather than the nature of links with firms’ strategies and resources. The article addresses these links through a study of 89 firms in three sectors.Variations in their involvement in external relationships are the focus. Previous theory suggests that product market conditions and firms’ internal structures, such as reliance on family labour, will explain the level of involvement. The evidence supports some of these ideas but also shows that the context of the sector is central. For firms, the lesson is to develop distinct kinds of external relationship, depending on the firm’s context and strategic position. The policy implication is that business support agencies need to be sensitive to these highly specific contextual factors.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ordinary Work Identities in “Good” and “Bad” Jobs in the United Kingdom

Much debate exists about postbureaucratic organizational forms that are sometimes felt to strengthen the polarization between good and bad jobs. Small firms provide one test in that they lack bureaucracy. Such firms from two contrasting sectors, food manufacture and the media, are used to assess, respectively, the models of good and bad jobs. Data from 66 firms and 203 employees show a mixed picture: Food jobs are bad for pay but relatively good for autonomy. Media jobs offer autonomy, but this is constrained by tight performance demands and low pay. These results help to explain why national surveys find no polarization in terms of autonomy and are explained by the economic contingencies of the two sectors. Ordinariness rather than stark polarization is the key picture.

The Impact of Enterprise Size on Employment Tribunal Incidence and Outcomes: Evidence from Britain

Employment Tribunals are the formal means of adjudicating disputes over individual employment rights in the UK. This article hypothesizes that, because small firms favour informality over formality, they are more likely (i) to experience employee claims than large firms; (ii) to be subject to different types of claims; (iii) to settle prior to reaching a formal Tribunal; and (iv) to lose at a Tribunal. Data from the 2003 Survey of Employment Tribunal Applications are used to examine these hypotheses. They are generally supported, although in relation to the third there was no size effect. Furthermore, our results show that firms that have procedures and follow them are more likely to win than those firms that do not have any procedures. Recognizing the benefits of informality, while also ensuring that small firms follow proper standards of procedural fairness, is a policy dilemma that has yet to be resolved.

The impact of employee-share-ownership schemes on performance in unionised and non-unionised workplaces

Conventional wisdom suggests that higher performance is observed when employee-share-ownership (ESO) schemes coexist with employee participation arrangements. However, the evidence is inconclusive and it has been suggested that performance benefits occur in ESO workplaces only when employees are actually involved in the decision-making process. Drawing on the cross-section data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey, the article shows that higher productivity is observed in those workplaces where unions coexist with ESO schemes. This result highlights the relevance of unions to High Performance Work Systems.

The associations between organisational performance, employee attitudes and human resource management practices: an empirical study of small businesses:

Most research on the associations between organisational performance, employee attitudes and Human Resource Management (HRM) practices has adopted a theoretical framework that proposes that HRM practices lead to HR outcomes (e.g. job satisfaction, skills, etc.) which in turn affect organisational performance. Building on theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence from the fields of organisational psychology-performance and HRM-performance, this paper presents a study that develops and tests an alternative view of the association. This model depicts the influence of organisational performance on employee attitudes and the role of HRM practice as a mediator between the two. It was tested using data collected from employee surveys and management interviews in 32 small firms. The results suggest that employees in firms with better business performance have more positive attitudes towards three attitude measures (overall perceptions of work, job autonomy and the perceived link between reward and performance) and that the association between business performance and employee attitudes is partially mediated by HRM practices. The findings are discussed with respect to the nature of the complex performance-attitude-HRM relationship and their implications for management and future research

Employee share ownership and organisational performance : a tentative opening of the black box.

Purpose – A range of studies have shown that performance is typically higher in organisations with employee share ownership (ESO) schemes in place. Many possible causal mechanisms explaining this relationship have been suggested. These include a reduction in labour turnover, synergies with other forms of productivity-enhancing communication and participation schemes, and synergies with employer-provided training. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This paper empirically assesses these potential linkages using data from the 2004 and 2011 British Workplace Employment Relations Surveys, and provides comparisons with earlier analyses conducted on the 1990 and 1998 versions of the survey. Findings – Substantial differences are found between the 2004 and 2011 results: a positive relationship between ESO and workplace productivity and financial performance, observed in 2004, is no longer present in 2011. In both years, ESO is found to have no clear relationship with labour turnover, and there is no significant association between turnover and performance. There is, however, a positive moderating relationship with downward communication schemes in 2004 and in 2011 in the case of labour productivity. There is no corresponding relationship for upward involvement schemes. Research limitations/implications – The results are only partially supportive of extant theory and its various predictions, and the relationship between ESO and performance seems to have weakened over time. Originality/value – The study further questions the rhetoric offered in support of wider ESO.