New approaches to employee voice and participation in organisations
Guest editors: John Budd (University of Minnesota), Paul J. Gollan (London School of Economics and Macquarie University), Adrian Wilkinson (Griffith University)
The special issue will explore new approaches and perspectives of employee voice and participation in organisations. Employee voice and participation are defined as encompassing the range of mechanisms used to involve the workforce, either directly or indirectly through their representatives, in decisions at all levels of the organisation as the means not only to communicate or consult but to potentially influence the decision-making process.
It is apparent from existing research that little is known is know about (1) how far new voice systems express the goals of managers and workers in relation to participation, (2) change the process of decision-making or (3) affect organizational outcomes. It is anticipated that addressing these questions will improve on current theories of employee voice by developing more sophisticated explanations of variations in the operation and efficacy of voice. This special issue intends to draw linkages between voice practices on the one hand and organisational and individual performance (including productivity and value added contribution) on the other.
In particular, we invite papers that provide high quality research to extend our knowledge of employee voice in terms of new organisational forms, practices and processes that affect the nature, structure and conditions of work and organisations. Such new forms include non union forums and employee voice in non-traditional organisation and employment settings (e.g. temporary and causal workers, home work, individual contractors and labour hire firms). We are also interested in the interplay between union and non-union representation arrangements and the relationship between representative voice and direct forms of employee voice. The focus is on new and innovative forms and the interaction of voice practices.
We invite papers investigating employee voice in terms of structures, processes and their impact on organisational value (e.g. profits, share market value etc) and individual performance (e.g. labour productivity etc) and outcomes (e.g. stress, organisational commitment, well-being etc).
Potential topics include the following:
- Procedural changes: what new voice arrangements are being introduced?
- Process outcomes: how voice arrangements affect the process of management in such areas as decision making, employee motivation, and employee-management cooperation.
- Business outcomes: how voice affects key human resource factors that contribute to the ‘bottom line’ such as absenteeism, turnover, training, and productivity.
- Employee outcomes: how does voice affect satisfaction, commitment or discretionary effort?
Papers should aim to meet one or more of the following objectives: (a) to provide a more systematic overall evaluation of how voice arrangements are working and what are their effects; (b) to examine the policy implications of such arrangements; and (c) to provide examples of how organisations have implemented the new arrangements.
Contributors should note:
- This call is open and competitive, and the submitted papers will be blind reviewed in the normal way.
- Submitted papers must be based on original material not under consideration by any other journal or outlet.
- The editors will select five papers to be included in the special issue, but other papers submitted in this process may be published in other issues of the journal.
The deadline for submissions is 31st May 2008. The special issue is intended for publication in the second half of 2009.
Papers to be considered for this special issue should be submitted online via www.humanrelationsjournal.org. Please indicate on your paper, or on a covering note, that the paper is intended for this special issue. Direct questions about the submission process, or any administrative matter, to Neil Walshe at editorial@humanrelationsjournal.org.
The editors of the special issue are very happy to discuss initial ideas for papers, and can be contacted directly:
John Budd
JBudd@csom.umn.edu
Paul J. Gollan
P.J.Gollan@lse.ac.uk
Adrian Wilkinson
adrian.wilkinson@griffith.edu.au
