Theme 3: Worker Voice, Equality, Diversity and Identity

Theme members: Dr Samsul Alam, Dr Peter Butler, Amina Chitembo, Dr Chibuzo Ejiogu, Dr Divya Jyoti, Fatima Malik, Dr Never Muskwe, Professor Jonathan Payne, Dr Jennifer Robinson

This theme explores the perennially topical areas of voice, equality and diversity and the manner in which they interact to shape the nature of the contemporary employment relationship.

The topic of equality and diversity considers the effects of difference and social identity on individual and collective experiences of work and the role of employment, educational and societal stakeholders in regulating, managing and developing policy in the related areas of Human Rights and equality and diversity. Work in this area presents critical analyses of the theory and practice of human rights and diversity management. Particular area of interest and foci of research include:

Managing aspects of diversity and identity in higher education
Managing aspects of diversity and identity in the workplace
The experiences of under-represented groups in employment and education
The link between socio-economic deprivation and equality outcomes

We are concerned to provide voice for often-unheard stakeholders, to influence workplace practice and to present innovative solutions to long-standing problems of under-representation and disadvantage. The theme of ‘voice’ more broadly continues to attract significant academic interest - particularly within the context of change management. This popularity is evidenced in a growing refinement in the theoretical modelling of the precursors to effective change. However, the role of trade unions and ‘collective voice’ in the process – be it as change agents, facilitators and enablers or reactionary defenders of the status quo – has been largely overlooked. The complexities of managing a significant change agenda in a unionised setting – one in which the presence of competing interests is formally acknowledged – remain significantly under researched.

Project: Voice, trade unions and management – how close can we dance?

Theme research member: Peter Butler

The research is based upon a study undertaken in a highly unionised heavy engineering MNC. The project involved Dr. Peter Butler. Prof. Olga Tregaskis (University of East Anglia) and Dr. Linda Glover. The trade union relationship was reconfigured in the study organization as part of an organisational change initiative. The project has been assessing experiences at all levels of the management-trade union hierarchy and offers detailed insights into the role that trade unions can play in successful change management. As such, it explores the genesis and operationalisation of a major change initiative in a highly unionised company. The findings demonstrate how a collaborative workplace partnership between management and trade unions was configured to enhance organizational capacity for change in the context of significant employee cynicism. The project employs a multi-method, longitudinal design combining objective performance metrics with observational data, longitudinal survey data and around 200 interviews.

Key findings include:

Successful change management is closely intertwined with employee involvement. On the one hand partnership may act as an antecedent for the utilization of employee involvement and wider organizational change (forward synergies). Conversely, our findings also point to reverse synergies – the situation where involvement is used by management to initiate and subsequently bolster workplace cooperation and consensus.
The implementation of partnership allied to high performance work systems can be associated with subsequent and sustained increases in productivity and safety performance. However, other intermediary variables associated with the implementation process may be critical in mitigating potentially detrimental worker welfare effects arising from work intensification.
Partnership working as a tool for effective change management can come under pressure in periods of economic difficulty. However, some formats are more durable than others. The twin influences of trust and a ‘value added’ competitive strategy will shape the resilience of such pacts as will managerial skill and political sensitivity.
Managerial-trade union collaboration can, under certain circumstances, serve to overcome employee cynicism towards organizational change and joint managerial-trade union (distributed leadership) may be crucial in enhancing capacity for change.
The findings indicate that workplace cynicism can be a fairly resilient and stable employee emotion. The creation of a positive industrial relations climate can off-set cynicism to a degree. Distributed leadership may be particularly pertinent in creating such a climate, especially so given that employees are more sensitive to injustices than positives during times of change. However, it may take considerable time for cynicism to fall – particularly where workforce tenure is high.

Selected outputs

Butler, P. and Tregaskis O (2018) Distributed leadership and employee cynicism: Trade unions as joint change agents. Human Resource Management Journal, Journal 28,4, 540-554

Butler, P. Lavelle, J. Gunnigle, P.and O’Sullivan, M. (2018) ‘Skating on thin ICE: A critical evaluation of a decade of research on the British Information and Consultation Regulations’. Economic and Industrial Democracy., 39,1, 173-190

Butler, P. and Tregaskis, 0. (2015) Workplace partnership and legitimacy: a multi-layered analysis of the shop steward experience. Work Employment & Society December 2015 vol. 29 no. 6, 895-911

Glover, L. Tregaskis, O. and Butler, P. (2014) Mutual gains? The workers’ verdict: A longitudinal case study, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25, 895-914.

Butler, P. Tregaskis, O. and Glover, L. (2013) ‘Workplace partnership and employee involvement –contradictions and synergies: Evidence from a heavy engineering case study, Economic and Industrial Democracy, 34.1.5-24.

Tregaskis, O. Daniels, K. Glover, L. Butler, P. and Meyer, M. (2013) High performance work practices and firm performance: A longitudinal case study, British Journal of Management, 5. 225-244.

Butler, P. Glover, L. and Tregaskis, O. (2011) ‘When the going gets tough…: recession and the resilience of workplace partnership’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 49, 4, 6

Project: The Role of Employment and Voice in Promoting and Enabling Equality and Diversity

Theme members: Dr Chibuzo Ejiogu, Dr Never Muskwe, Amina Chitembo

This theme explores the effects of difference and social identity on individual and collective experiences of work and the role of employment, educational and societal stakeholders in regulating, managing and developing policy in the related areas of Human Rights and equality and diversity.

Work in this area presents critical analyses of theory and practice of human rights and diversity management. Particular areas of interest and foci of research include:

Managing aspects of diversity and identity in Higher Education
Managing aspects of diversity and identity in the workplace
The experiences of under-represented groups in employment and education
The link between socio-economic deprivation and equality outcomes

Research in this area includes the unique experiences of migrant workers in terms of equality and diversity and how this may vary based on ethnicity, nationality, gender, skill level, recognition of prior qualifications, language and accent, and other characteristics. ‘Voice actors’ such as trade unions, civil society organisations, social movements, migrant community organisations, migrant networks and ethnic minority support networks within employer organizations play an important role in promoting equality and diversity through advocacy and provision of support services to ethnic minority migrants. Research in this area explores the role of government immigration regulation, institutions and employer practices that results in both the inclusion and integration of migrants as well as the exclusion of migrants. Inclusion has highlighted the benefits migrants bring to host country economies and communities as well as the role of diaspora links and remittances supporting small businesses, entrepreneurial ventures, professional knowledge exchange and sustainable development projects in countries of origin. Exclusion has resulted in precarious work and precarious lives experienced by both high-skilled and low-skilled migrants. Refugees and asylum seekers fleeing situations of fragility, conflict, violence and environmental disasters face a set of unique challenges in their integration into the labour market and social life of host countries, necessitating mutual change and accommodation among both refugees and host societies. Refuges may be high-skilled workers but face de-recognition of their qualifications and work experiences obtained in their countries of origin and consequent de-skilling, resulting in only partial economic integration into host countries within low-skilled, low-wage and low-status segments of the labour market, showing how inclusion and exclusion may occur simultaneously.

Research Outputs

Ejiogu, C. (2020). “Restrictions and Resistance In The Postcolonial Periphery: Labour Power And Skilled Migrant Workers In The United Kingdom”. In Hammer, A. and Fishwick, A. (eds.) The Political Economy of Work in the Global South: Reflections on Labour Process Theory. Critical Perspectives on Work and Employment Series. Basingstoke: Macmillan International Higher Education (Accepted/In Press). https://dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/19838

Ejiogu, A., Okechukwu, O., Ejiogu, C., Owusu, A. and Adeola, O. (2019) Determinants of Informal Entrepreneurship in Africa. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business (Accepted/In Press) https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/17749

Ejiogu, C. (2018). “Precariousness in Unlikely Places: The Role of High-Skilled Migrant Worker Networks in Resisting and Reproducing Precarity”. In Fedyuk, O. and Stewart, P. (eds.) Inclusion and Exclusion in Europe: Migration, Work and Employment Perspectives. London: ECPR Press/ Rowman & Littlefield International. https://dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/17751

Ejiogu, C. and Sallah, A. (2018) “Diaspora Networks, Migrant Workers and Development: Telling the Story of ‘Transnationalism from Below’ through the Sounds of the Mbira and the Repertoire of the Jali.”, paper presented at the Coventry University Research on Africa (CURAS) 2018, convened by the Research Centre for Trust, Peace & Social Relations (CTPSR), Coventry University Simulation Centre, Ground Floor Meeting Room, 8th February 2018. The video of musical poem on the mbira (African thumb piano) as part of academic research paper on Diaspora Migrant Workers and Development, presented at CURAS 2018 conference, Coventry is available at: https://twitter.com/AbdulRaheemAd/status/965993381225811968

Ejiogu, C. (2013). “Business, Human Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility in a Global Financial Crisis: The Global Challenge of Embedding Human Rights in Organizations and Human Resource Management Practices”. In Okram, B. (ed.) Corporate Goals and Responsibilities: Economic, Social and Human Rights. Dudweiler Landstr: Lambert Academic Publishing. https://dora.dmu.ac.uk/handle/2086/17753

Project: Inclusive Procurement in India: An Institutional Perspective

Theme research member: Divya Jyoti

The aim of this project is to examine the nature and form of gender-responsive and inclusive procurement in India. Through this project the research team seek to understand various aspects of inclusive procurement and experiences of firms (both buyers and suppliers). The findings of the study will be disseminated to the academic community through research articles as well as practitioners, policy makers and other relevant decision makers in India and globally.

Research Question/s :

What is the nature and form of gender responsive procurement initiatives in India from the perspective of corporate buyers?

What external and internal factors influence such approaches to gender responsive procurement in large purchasing organisations in India?

How can gender responsive procurement be enhanced in large purchasing organisations in India?

It is a sub-project of the project led by Aston Business School supported by Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC).