Home  |  Search  |  Events
 Conferencing | My Home Page | FAQ


School of Business









University of Alberta

Printer friendly page

PATTERNS OF WORKPLACE PRACTICES 

from
Harry C. Katz and Owen Drabishire. 2000. 
Converging Divergences: Worldwide Changes in Employment Systems
Pages 10-11

LOW WAGE

HRM

JAPANESE-ORIENTED

JOINT TEAM-BASED

Managerial discretion with
informal procedures

Corporate culture
and extensive
communication

Standardized
procedures

Joint decision
making

Hierarchical
work relations

Directed
teams

Problem-solving
teams

 Semi-autonomous
work groups

Low wages
with
piece rates

Above-average
wages with
contingent pay

High pay linked to
seniority and
performance appraisal

 High pay
with
pay-for-knowledge

High
turnover

Individualized
career
development

Employment
stabilization

 Career
development

Strong
anti-union
animus

Union
substitution

Enterprise
unionism

 Union and
employee
involvement

  •  Low-wage employment pattern is characterized by work practices that afford management substantial discretion and power.

  • The HRM employment pattern focuses on individualized rewards and career development.  It attempts to sustain a strong, managerially driven corporate culture through extensive corporate communication.

  • The Japanese-oriented workplace pattern is distinguished from a more joint team-based approach by the extent to which workers are granted autonomy to decide how and when they carry out their job tasks.



All rights reserved ©2000 University of Alberta
Contact Webmaster