Title: Contemporary analyses of the model employer: is there a new ideal?

Authors: Stephen Gibb

Addresses: Department of HRM, University of Strathclyde, 50 Richmond Street, Glasgow, G1 1XT, UK

Abstract: A singular ideal of the model employer can be seen to have shaped Human Resource Management (HRM), in the Anglo-American social and organisational contexts, in the past. In a period of change, and new conditions, redefinitions of what makes a model employer are prompting contemporary studies. Whether these identify a new ideal or not is the issue. On the one hand, these do have elements of a common agenda of concerns, suggesting a new ideal for employers to attain. But they also have differences, with competing or contradictory emphases in defining what a model employer is, and what HRM involves. A review of the factors associated with being a ||model employer|| is presented. This suggests tensions between a socially oriented and an organisationally oriented understanding of change in HRM. The theoretical framework of Social Construction is suggested as a way of understanding and engaging with these tensions as new models of good employers are evolved.

Keywords: HRM; model employers; new deal; theory; human resource management; social construction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRDM.2004.004771

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 2004 Vol.4 No.3, pp.288 - 296

Published online: 07 Jul 2004 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article