Emerald | International Journal of Manpower | Table of Contents

The capability to aspire for continuing training in France: The role of the environment shaped by corporate training policy

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Marion Lambert, Josiane Vero) — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose is to assess the French reform of employees’ access to lifelong learning by addressing the issue of the relationship between corporate training policy and employees’ capability to aspire for learning. Design/methodology/approach - The investigation is based on the French linked employer-employee survey DIFES1 which allows for responses from employees and human resource management to be analysed together. From a mixed ascending hierarchical clustering, the paper highlights the different ways in which the reform was applied within firms, and identifies capability-friendly backgrounds. From bivariate probit models, it examines what factors affect employees’ capability to aspire. Findings - First, the results identify 10,5% of French firms as capability-friendly. Second, it reveals that the capability to aspire is even more influenced by the environment as shaped by the corporate training policy than by professional pathways, occupational groups and other determinants whilst training experiences themselves have no influence. Third, it raises the key issue of capability for voice as a matter of fundamental importance. Research limitations/implications - Because of the cross-sectional nature of the survey, the research is not able to address the temporal dynamics of the capability to aspire, how it evolves over time.Practical implications - In contrast to political pronouncements attributing employees’ lack of aspiration to a personal inclination, the results show: a) how corporate training policies may increase employees’ capability to aspire for training by making it a collective issue; b) provide insights to combat adaptive preferences. Originality/value - The research provides for the first time an understanding of the relationship between corporate training strategies and the capability to aspire.

Employer strategies, capabilities and career development: Two case studies of Spanish service firms

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Martí López-Andreu, Joan Miquel Verd) — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - This article seeks to analyse how company policies and strategies affect career development opportunities. Design/methodology/approach - A longitudinal approach is used, combining quantitative and qualitative data. Panel quantitative data has been used to classify different career paths, and biographical interviews conducted to identify the effects of company policies on these career paths. All the employees interviewed were working in two service organisations in Barcelona (Spain): a retail company and a public transport company. Findings - The results of the analysis show that the combination of new organisational methods, along with the human resource policies developed by the companies, reduces the opportunities for promotion and also actors’ degree of control over transitions. Thus, career development is mainly marked by individual characteristics (educational credentials, age and gender) which are difficult or impossible to transform, and to a much lesser extent by the resources (mostly internal training) companies provide. Originality/value - The article uses the capability approach as an analytical tool to address three specific company policies: those related to work organisation and working conditions, training, and appraisal and promotion. These policies are placed in a longitudinal perspective as a way of assessing their role in the development of workers’ careers.

Individual pathways of prior learning accreditation in France: From individual to collective responsibilities

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Anne-Juliette Lecourt) — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - The paper aims at analyzing employees trajectories within the Accreditation of Prior Experience Learning process (APEL) in France. It seeks to understand how candidates implement this right, the resources and supports required to manage this implementation, and how employer-employee relationships impact on the end result. Design/methodology/approach - The paper draws on a new national survey of more than 3,000 employed APEL candidates, most of whom are women working in the care sector.Findings - The paper argues that individual pathways within this process are influenced more by the socio-economic issues at stake in a given sector, its certification policies, environmental incentives and employer-employee joint investments than by individual characteristics. All these elements go to configure a "capability pathway", comprising individual resources, rights, and environmental, social and individual conversion factors. Practical implications - A better understanding of employers’ role and the support they provide during the course of the overall process can help increase the efficiency of lifelong learning. Spaces of mediation at candidates’ disposal and real freedom at work, such as exercising one’s right to voice and aspiring to development, are determinant.Originality/value - Not much is known about how corporate policies affect individual employee pathways within the framework of the Accreditation of Prior Experience Learning (APEL) process in France. The paper contributes to this literature by using a recent survey econometrically investigating the impact of joint employer-employee investment.

A Capability approach to restructuring processes: Lessons from a Swiss and a French case study

Fri, 05 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - This paper examines to what extent and under which conditions restructuring processes allow workers to effectively voice their concerns with a view to influencing the restructuring logic and transforming its outcomes.Design/methodology/approach - In-depth case studies with semi-structured interviews, documentary analysis and a survey, all conducted at firm-level (taking also into account the impact of the European Workers’ Council when relevant). Findings - Both settings (be it the Swiss flexible labour law and collective labour agreements or the protective professional status enjoyed by the French workers) do not guarantee the enhancement of workers’ capability set in restructuring processes. Whatever the entitlements and the cognitive and political resources available to the workers, two conditions are crucial to enhancing their capability for work and for voice: 1) workers’ ability to re-build collectives and 2) an adequate regulatory framework imposing on employers and shareholders the duty to negotiate.Originality/value - The paper suggests another way of assessing restructuring processes and outcomes based on the capability approach, and demonstrates its greater relevance compared to economic or managerialist views of restructuring, based on efficiency and profitability.

Restructuring processes and capability for voice: Case study of Volkswagen, Brussels

literatinetwork@emeraldinsight.com (Jean De Munck, Isabelle Ferreras) — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Abstract

Purpose - This paper uses the Capability Approach in order to shed light on the capability for voice of workers in an industrial restructuring process. Design/methodology/approach - The research relies on conceptual frames and distinctions borrowed from Amartya Sen, Jon Elster and Jürgen Habermas. It is based on an empirical case study: the restructuring of the Brussels plant of the Volkswagen (VW) group in 2006-2007. Findings - The central distinction established in the paper is the one between deliberation and bargaining. The paper shows the impact of the institutionalised disjunction of these two processes in a globalised firm such as VW on the worker’s capability-for-voice. It goes on to propose an assessment of the capability set of trade unions on three issues: strike, political alliance and (non)representation of outsourced workers. Research limitations/implications - The empirical investigation is focused on trade unions more than on internal management relationships. Originality/value - The application of the Capability Approach to empirical procedures of collective bargaining in the context of a globalised restructuring process in the automotive sector.