The Nature and Consequences of Organization-Employee and Union-Member Exchange: An Empirical Analysis

Drawing on a study of 423 union members in a UK Primary Care Trust, we use structural equation modeling to investigate the extent to which organizational and union commitment and citizenship behaviors are a function of economic and social exchange. Findings suggest that the organization-employee and union-member exchanges are distinct, with organizational commitment a function of organization-employee exchange and union commitment and citizenship behaviors (UCB) a function of union-member exchange. Findings also suggest that union commitment and UCB are motivated primarily by social exchange, with economic exchange playing a supporting role. In addition, for organizational commitment, social exchange also seemed to be relatively more important. There was no evidence that perceived industrial relations climate moderates these relationships. Implications for industrial relations and workplace social partnerships are considered.     

When do stories change our minds? Narrative persuasion about social problems

Scholars in a number of disciplines have sought to assess the power of reading or viewing a personal story to modify people's beliefs. However, the research, which has been pursued under diverse programs, has produced conflicting findings. We focus on the persuasiveness of personal stories about problems that are structural (rather than individual) and whose solution requires government action. Overall, the research suggests that although personal stories can overcome people's tendency to resist new information, they often do not do so. People's preexisting beliefs, assumptions, and stereotypes affect their willingness to be absorbed by a story, to empathize with the stories' protagonists, and to endorse the message communicated by the story. We argue also for a sociological perspective on narrative persuasion, one which, unlike the mostly experimental research conducted so far, pays attention to the context in which people encounter stories and to the norms shaping people's assessment of a story as credible, relevant, and important.     

Commitment to the union: a survey of research and the implications for industrial relations and trade unions

This paper presents an overview of the literature on union commitment. The aim is to survey the main approaches, findings and implications of the research. The nature and dimensionality of union commitment are examined, and the antecedents and consequences of union commitment are discussed in detail, including a review of the implications for union participation. There is also a discussion of the possibility of dual commitment to union and employer, and of the 'multiple constituencies' view of commitment. An attempt is made to link the union commitment findings to the wider industrial relations literature on, for example, why people join unions and the 'union renewal' thesis. The article concludes by discussing the implications of the literature for union–management relationships and for unions themselves, and with some suggestions for future research.     

Living in the shadow of OD: HRD and the search for identity

The paper attempts to describe the similarities and differences between organizational development (OD) and human resource development (HRD). While it is argued that HRD practitioners need to acquire some of the skills of OD consultants, these are likely to be limited to the development of personal skills and learning in the attempt to achieve intrapreneurialism and personal transformations. We argue that HRD is living in the shadow of OD because it is slow to recognize its roots in the debates of that discipline. It is therefore suggested that HRD will recognize its true potential only when it identifies its core knowledge and skills. We argue that HRD can find its essential identity in four main ways: by focusing on the organization's business strategy; by devolving responsibility to line managers; by adopting an employee-centred approach to learning; and by emphasizing workplace learning. However, a wider behavioural understanding and a greater degree of reflectiveness in relation to the politics of change and the skills of the change agent must inform this identity.     

Approaches to the study of urban ecosystems: The case of Central Arizona—Phoenix

CAP LTER focuses on an arid-land ecosystem profoundly influenced, even defined, by the presence and activities of humans and is one of only two LTER sites that specifically studies the ecology of an urban system. In this large-scale project, biological, physical, and social scientists are working together to study the structure and function of the urban ecosystem, to assess the effects of urban development on surrounding agricultural and desert lands, and to study the relationship and feedbacks between human decisions and ecological processes.Our interdisciplinary investigations into the relationship between land-use decisions and ecological consequences in the rapidly growing urban environment of Phoenix are of broad relevance for the study of social ecological systems and cites in particular. Refinements in our conceptual model of social ecological systems focuses our attention on recognizing the scales and periodicities of ecological and human phenomena, understanding the means and impacts of human control of variability in space and time, and finally an evaluation of the resilience of various aspects of socio-ecological systems especially their vulnerabilities and their potential for adaptive learning.     

Green Human Resource Management: A Review and Research Agenda*

The paper makes a case for the integration of the largely separate literatures of environmental management (EM) and human resource management (HRM) research. The paper categorizes the existing literature on the basis of Ability–Motivation–Opportunity (AMO) theory, revealing the role that Green human resource management (GHRM) processes play in people‐management practice. The contributions of the paper lie in drawing together the extant literature in the area, mapping the terrain of the field, identifying some gaps in the existing literature and suggesting some potentially fruitful future research agendas. The findings of the review suggest that understanding of how GHRM practices influence employee motivation to become involved in environmental activities lags behind that of how organizations develop Green abilities and provide employees with opportunities to be involved in EM organizational efforts. Organizations are not using the full range of GHRM practices, and this may limit their effectiveness in efforts to improve EM.     

The Consequences of Perceived Age Discrimination Amongst Older Police Officers: Is Social Support a Buffer?*

This paper considers the psychological consequences of perceived age discrimination, and the buffering effect of social support. Findings suggest that age discrimination acts as a stressor, with negative effects on job and life satisfaction, perceived power and prestige of the job, and affective and normative commitment, along with positive effects on withdrawal cognitions and continuance commitment. For work‐based social support, there were positive main effects on job and life satisfaction, power and prestige of the job, and affective and normative commitment, and a negative main effect on withdrawal cognitions. However, there were no significant moderating effects for work‐based social support, and we found the anticipated buffering effect for non‐work‐based social support only for life satisfaction, with reverse buffering for job satisfaction and normative commitment