Labouring in the Augean Stables? HRM and the reconstitution of the academic worker Online publication date: Thu, 19-Feb-2009
by Matt Waring
International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy (IJMCP), Vol. 3, No. 3, 2009
Abstract: This paper considers the impact of UK higher education reforms in the context of globalisation on academic workers, and the extent to which those reforms reflect a specific policy trajectory to gain greater control over academic labour through the use of human resource management. The 2001 Rewarding and Developing Staff (RDS) programme is used as a critical incident to consider the academic employment relationship and the effect of RDS on academics by presenting empirical data from a qualitative study of three English universities carried out between 2005 and 2007. There has been a growth in the size and influence of the HR function in universities and an increasing reliance on individual performance management technologies. However, academics have little awareness of these HR strategies. They do have concerns over the increasing business focus of universities and expanding hierarchies of management. There is evidence of both covert and overt resistance.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy (IJMCP):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook