Valerie Antcliff

Networks and social capital in the UK television industry: The weakness of weak ties

Accounts of the shift to post-industrial modes of employment have tended to present an over-simplified view of networks as an assemblage of contacts used to gain individual advantage in the labour market. Creative industries represent a challenge to this as typically they rely on networks to foster collaboration, trust and co-operation. In this article we explore how a variety of networks are used to promote both individual competition and co-operation in an industry where re-regulation has resulted in the break up of bureaucratic organizations and widespread casualization of the labour market. We argue that there is a need to extend the debate on the role of networks in a casualized labour market to examine how individuals organize themselves via the plethora of networks that result from organizational break up.We use qualitative data from a series of interviews with freelance television production workers in the United Kingdom to suggest that workers use networks as a source of competitive advantage and, at the same time, support and co-operation. Overall our research suggests that network activity is more complex, and networks themselves more dynamic, than existing research and theory implies.

Enterprise and entrepreneurship in English higher education: 2010 and beyond

Purpose – This article aims to report the results of a complete survey of enterprise education in all higher education institutions (HEIs) in England, undertaken in 2010 by the Institute for Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ISBE) on behalf of the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE). The survey builds on prior work undertaken by the NCGE in England in 2006 and in 2007.Design/methodology/approach – The survey aimed to establish a complete picture of curricular and extra‐curricular enterprise and entrepreneurship education. The survey uses a similar structure to the previous survey, enabling comparison to be made with enterprise provision over the 2006‐2010 period, as well as with the 2008 European survey of entrepreneurship in HE.Findings – The results provide a stock‐take of enterprise education provision in participating HEIs and highlight the connections in institutional strategies between enterprise education, incubation/new venture support, graduate employability, innovation and aca...

Broadcasting Discontent Freelancers, Trade Unions and the Internet

This paper examines the potential of web-based networks for representing the interests of freelance audio-visual workers. It suggests that while such networks provide for a for the expression and mobilization of interests, their ability to represent workers is limited. Consequently, they provide an opportunity for trade unions to extend organization.

Work orders: Analysing employment histories using sequence data

The analysis of employment histories has been facilitated recently by advances in survey methodology, statistical processes and computing power. While much work has focused on transitions between states and time spent in one state, the potential of analysing a series of states (i.e. careers) has largely been ignored. A concentration on movement between two states, whilst allowing relevant contextual covariates to be controlled for, often ignores valuable data both prior to and after the episode in question. Analysis of extended sequences of employment states is better able to describe employment trajectories. Furthermore, comparison of sequences permits either allocation to theoretical categories, or the identification of latent groupings using cluster analysis. The resulting typology of careers can then be used in inferentially based analyses. This paper explores sequence analysis using Optimal Matching Analysis (OMA). OMA is explained in relation to one broad substantive issue: the relationship between employment trajectories and gender.

Accompaniment, Workplace Representation and Disciplinary Outcomes in British Workplaces Just a Formality?

The Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2004 provides data that, for the first time, measure the extent to which workforce representation is part and parcel of grievance and disciplinary processes in British workplaces. This article explores the impact of the introduction of the statutory right to accompaniment at grievance and disciplinary hearings on rates of disciplinary sanctions, dismissals and employment tribunal applications. It concludes that there is little evidence to suggest that either the right to accompaniment or the operation of formal grievance and disciplinary procedures moderates disciplinary outcomes. Instead, it argues that trade union and employee representatives may be influential in facilitating the resolution of workplace disputes.

Broadcasting in the 1990s: competition, choice and inequality?

Restructuring of the UK television industry has resulted in a shift from secure, long-term employment to casualized, project-based working, with the period prior to restructuring typically described as one of structured careers and stable employement. The article draws on documentary evidence to suggest that, for women, it was a period of widespread discrimination and gendered occupational segregation. While legislation and equal opportunity initiatives from the mid-1970s onwards made some progress in remedying the situation, fragmentation and informal working practices were welcomed by many women as an opportunity to gain control over the organization of their working lives. Yet project-based employment has allowed individual producers discretion in the organization of work, and placed the industry at odds with theories of equal opportunities that emphasize the need for centralized policies and administration. The article concludes by drawing on a series of interviews to suggest that many issues addressed by earlier equal opportunity initiatives have re-emerged in the context of short-term contracting.

Dynamic capabilities in a sixth-generation family firm: Entrepreneurship and the Bibby Line

In this paper we draw on the theory of dynamic capabilities to examine development of the only surviving family-owned Liverpool shipping company. The Bibby Line was founded in 1807 to take advantage of the growing sea-trade based in Liverpool. The company remained in shipping until the mid-1960s, when a series of external crises led the owner, Derek Bibby, to begin a process of diversification. In the last 50 years, the Bibby Line has grown into a £1bn business with interests in retail, distribution and financial services as well as a continuing commitment to shipping. Our intention is to demonstrate how multigenerational ownership contributes to the creation of dynamic capabilities in family firms. The distinctive nature of Bibby as a long-standing family business is related to unique assets such as patient capital, flexible governance structures as well as the ability to mobilise social and human capital.

Explaining Activity and Exploring Experience-findings from a Survey of Union Learning Representatives

This article draws on data from one of the largest surveys to date of union learning representatives (ULRs) in order to build a unique picture of ULR experience and activity. It is found that ULRs made a contribution to increased diversity and represented an injection of ‘new blood’ within workplace union structures. Moreover, ULRs with no previous union involvement were just as likely to be active in promoting learning as their more experienced colleagues. At the same time, we found that a significant minority of trained ULRs were not active in union learning. While ULR activity was not confined within traditionally unionised settings, active and effective ULRs were most likely to be found in workplaces with substantive structures and institutions that underpinned union learning and reflected a clear commitment from the employer. ULR activity was more difficult to start and to sustain in workplaces in which this support was absent. The article concludes that in order for ULR activity to permeate such environments, some degree of additional statutory support may be necessary.

Discipline, representation and dispute resolution—exploring the role of trade unions and employee companions in workplace discipline

This article reports findings that suggest that trade union representation both protects worker interest and also facilitates the informal resolution of disciplinary disputes. However, this is dependent on robust representative structures and high-trust relationships with employers. Conversely, non-union companions were found to have no substantive impact on disciplinary processes and outcomes.

Social Capital and Union Revitalization: A Study of Worker Networks in the UK Audio‐Visual Industries

This article examines Jarleys contention that trade union revitalization is conditional upon the generation of social capital through the systematic creation of networks. It draws on a qualitative study of freelance workers in the UK audio‐visual industry to consider two propositions. The first, that ‘social capital within networks is forged on “bonds” that are conducive to trade union identity’ was not sustained by the data, which instead suggested that social capital is more likely to be generated by networks outside trade union structures. However, the data did support the second proposition that ‘trade unions can harness social capital in order to achieve concrete industrial relations outcomes’ by linking networks to reservoirs of expertise and influence.