HRM, technical workers and the multinational corporation

About this book

This book is the first major in-depth study of the impact of contemporary management practices on a rapidly expanding set of white-collar occupations, namely technical workers. It investigates whether HRM policies, such as employee appraisals and performance-related pay, have changed technical employment to the point where it is no longer based on a 'service contract'. In doing so, it provides a detailed examination of the nature of managerial control over employees who, by virtue of their commitment, present their employers with problems that are often ignored by prescriptive models of HRM. The empirical evidence features case studies of matched pairs of hi-tech firms in the Irish Republic. The author examines recent debates about the nature of employment and the role of multinational corporations within the so-called 'Celtic Tiger' Irish economy. HRM, Technical Workers and the Multinational Corporation will be essential reading for advanced students and researchers in human resource management, the sociology of work, organization studies and economic geography.