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How has the recession affected the conduct of human resource management? How have HR departments and managers fared? Have leading firms taken measures to sustain and revive their businesses through innovative HR measures? How have union representation and influence been affected? Is the recession reshaping work and employment practices?These are among the questions answered in Recession at Work, the first systematic study in Europe to deal with the effects of the economic crisis on people at work. Drawing on survey data for Ireland provided by nearly 500 managers respon.

This article examines the features and effectiveness of 11 'private dispute resolution arrangements' (PDRAs) established by employers and unions in Ireland since the early 2000s to resolve collective disputes within organizations. These PDRAs are groundbreaking in redrawing the rules aligning internal dispute resolution with services provided by external state agencies. The article extends the boundaries of our knowledge of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) by highlighting the features of PDRAs and by identifying the conditions contributing to their evenhandedness, fairness and independence.

This paper examines the development of procedures for conflict resolution in workplaces in Ireland and the more recent emergence of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practices. Based on a synthesis of data from a series of studies and on a review of reports of conflict resolution innovations, the paper shows how conventional procedures for resolving collective disputes and individual employment grievances had become almost standard by the 1980s, while a series of ADR practices became features of conflict resolution from the 1990s. The changing character of conflict resolution procedures and practices is attributed to a series of influences that include the professionalisation of personnel and human resource management, the changing pattern and context of workplace conflict, the growing importance of multinational firms, and the emergence of professional training and expertise in the provision of ADR support services. The paper projects a continuing rise in the incidence and use of ADR practices but questions the extent to which organisations in Ireland are likely to adopt conflict management systems based on integrated sets of conflict resolution practices.

This paper examines the emergence of a distinct theoretical tradition in Industrial Relations, as represented by John T. Dunlop's theory of industrial relations systems. The author critically appraises the debate engendered by Dunlop's theory and argues that the theory's many 'rehabilitators' have failed to provide a cogent reformulation. The author concludes that Dunlop's 'industrial relations system' is of little theoretical utility. However, he also suggests that what he calls the 'forgotten theory' in Dunlop's Industrial Relations Systemns may well turn out to be of greater significance than that part of his thought which has received major attention.

Der landesweite Streik in Großbritannien, an dem 1,5 Millionen Metallarbeiter beteiligt waren, bedeutete den Auftakt der sich entwickelnden europäischen Kampagne für eine verkürzte Arbeitszeit. Gegen Ende des Streiks kam es im Enklang mit dem nationalen Abkommen in der Metallindustrie in einer Reihe von Fällen, die sich über den gesamten Bereich der Wirtschaft erstreckten, zu einer Verringerung der Normalarbeitszeit. Die Frage der Arbeitszeitverkürzung war damit zu einem zentralen Thema der industriellen Beziehungen geworden. In diesem Beitrag wird die Entstehung und der Verlauf der Kampagne für die Arbeitszeitverkürzung und seine Konsequenzen für die industriellen Beziehungen untersucht. Vorab werden die alternativen Ansätze für die gesellschaftliche Organisation und Handhabung der Arbeitszeit diskutiert. (GF)

This article explores recent trade union efforts in Ireland to re-engage activists and members and promote revitalization following the termination of a 22-year period of tripartite social partnership. It analyses four case studies of major unions' strategies to involve activists and members in a workplace-anchored model of firm-level collective bargaining. The findings indicate that decentralized bargaining has become the preferred model of pay determination for Irish unions, and they express little interest in returning to national-level centralized bargaining. Union leaders are enthusiastic about company-level bargaining primarily for three reasons. First, it revitalizes unions by sustaining and expanding union membership at the workplace. Second, it supports local bargaining arrangements that produce tangible benefits for workers, showcasing the effectiveness of unions in advocating for their members. Third, workplace arrangements enhance union influence over management decision-making, both directly through firm-level collective bargaining and indirectly by fostering incentives for continuous dialogue and information exchange.

Abstract
This paper reviews human resource management (HRM) reforms in the Irish public service over the past twenty-five years. The narrative is based around five HRM themes which have been the main focus of public service reform efforts: performance management, public service careers, leadership, strategic HRM and employment relations. The paper examines all available independent empirical research as well as internal and external reviews commissioned by the public service. The paper contributes to the empirical literature on HRM in the public service and in Ireland, and locates the pattern of HRM reform in the public service in Ireland in comparative context. The paper concludes by noting that while progress has been made, further energy is required in respect of HRM reform.

The international literature on the economic and fiscal crisis that heralded the Great Recession emphasizes the negative effects of 'disorganized decentralization' on unions' capacities for pay coordination and ultimately on their effectiveness in representing their members. These effects are seen as particularly pronounced in countries on the 'European periphery' such as Ireland. The article challenges this view by showing how the collapse of social partnership and centralized bargaining in Ireland was soon followed in the private sector by a new form of coordinated decentralized pattern bargaining. Coordinated sectoral bargaining emerged and was sustained in the public service. The durability of pay coordination is attributed to the strategic postures of unions, combined with embedded features of industrial relations institutions. The comparative import of the Irish case arises less from 'disorganized decentralization' than from the resilience of coordination following one of the most severe economic and fiscal shocks experienced by any advanced economy.