Michael Brookes

Michael Brookes
University of Hertfordshire | UH · Hertfordshire Business School

About

59
Publications
20,595
Reads
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1,361
Citations
Additional affiliations
January 1999 - December 2014
Middlesex University, UK
Position
  • Reader in Work and Employment

Publications

Publications (59)
Article
Full-text available
Working from home (WFH) has accelerated in occurrence following social distancing measures directed at stemming the spread of Covid-19 globally. Using a sample of 41 in-depth qualitative interviews and measurement of the personality scores of the 41 interviewees, who are UK academics, using the IPIP test questionnaire, we explored how mandatory WFH...
Article
Working from home (WFH) has accelerated in occurrence following social distancing measures directed at stemming the spread of Covid-19 globally. Using a sample of 41 in-depth qualitative interviews and measurement of the personality scores of the 41 interviewees, who are UK academics, using the IPIP test questionnaire, we explored how mandatory WFH...
Article
It has been argued that the different ways human resource management is conducted in different countries can be at least partly explained by theories of comparative capitalisms. Earlier work has highlighted much diversity between coordinated market economies, but the liberal markets are commonly assumed to represent a more coherent category. This a...
Chapter
This chapter outlines the challenges, in terms of deprivation, faced by the communities of Stevenage despite being in fairly close proximity to some very affluent and prosperous local economies. It also describes the challenges that Stevenage Borough Council have encountered while trying to address these issues during a period of extended and tight...
Article
This study explores variations in the incidence of performance appraisals according to setting and multinationality. Using data from Europe and adopting the lens of comparative capitalisms, we found that performance appraisal (particularly, systems linking rating to rewards) is used more in the Anglo-Saxon Liberal Market Economies (LMEs) than in th...
Chapter
This chapter investigates how a South African social enterprise aims to make a dent in the rampant unemployment problem plaguing South Africa. Through analyzing a unique single case study, we show how a social enterprise, well embedded in its environment, can make a difference. The findings suggest that through its dialogue with the job market, the...
Article
This study employs a large on-going survey database to explore the antecedents of comparative differences in union representation and the extent to which employers engage with them at the workplace, and how this has changed over time. It finds that amongst organizations employing more than 100 employees, there has been no uniform decline in the pre...
Article
Full-text available
Compensation systems, such as individualized pay-for-performance (I-PFP) schemes for employees, represent an important approach to aligning employer-employee interests. However, the adoption of I-PFP is much less common in many countries than in the United States. Employing a multilevel analysis of over 4,000 firms in 26 countries, we explore deter...
Preprint
How do European service sector workers evaluate their quality of work and life nowadays? Europeanization and globalization are bringing about major shifts in the economy, but we know little about how this is affecting the well-being of Europe’s citizens. This chapter presents a range of subjective indicators for the quality of work and life as repo...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Definitions of development have often been normative or instrumental, usually pointing to things that are lacking or deficient or things that need to be intensified (Power, 2003, p. 2) in order to bring about changes in the current state of affairs. Such a needs-based approach has transpired in how development interventions have been planned for ma...
Article
Rooted in the literature on comparative capitalism, we examine the effects of host country institutions on the intra-organizational practices of multinational corporations (MNCs), using transnational level survey data, exploring change over time. We found that the less comprehensive institutional mediation of the Liberal Market Economies correlated...
Article
This is a study of institutional change and continuity, comparing the trajectories followed by Mozambique and its formal colonial power Portugal in HRM, based on two surveys of firm level practices. The colonial power sought to extend the institutions of the metropole in the closing years of its rule, and despite all the adjustments and shocks that...
Article
Full-text available
This article explores empirically the economic validity of the relatively limited approach to the regulation of employment protection pursued in the UK over the last three decades and within the European Union more recently. It does so by comparing the UK’s manufacturing labour productivity performance with those of three countries – France, German...
Article
Full-text available
By using the classic works of Durkheim as a theoretical platform, this research explores the relationship between legal systems and social solidarity. We found that certain types of civil law system, most notably those of Scandinavia, are associated with higher levels of social capital and better welfare state provision. However, we found the relat...
Article
Full-text available
Compensation systems, such as individualized pay-for-performance (I-PFP) schemes for employees, represent an important approach to aligning employer-employee interests. However, the adoption of I-PFP is much less common in many countries than in the United States. Employing a multilevel analysis of over 4,000 firms in 26 countries, we explore deter...
Article
This article uses large-scale international data to examine how much autonomy organizations have to assign human resource management responsibilities to line managers, as indicated in the prescriptions of the literature. We use data from 11 countries to explore the impact of a variety of internal characteristics of organizations and the kind of eco...
Book
One of the most influential debates across business and management studies has centered on the relative impact of institutions on the fortunes of firms and nations. However, analyses have primarily focused on institutional effects on societal features, rather than actual firm practices. This volume brings together recent trends in comparative insti...
Thesis
Full-text available
The study uses the Trade Reform Impact Simulation Tool for to evaluate the impact of WTO FTA on Zimbabwe. The findings of the study reveal that the domestic prices are expected to fall by a weighted average of 8.4 percent. Total imports are expected to increase by US$184.9 million if a WTO FTA is implemented. It emerged that Zimbabwe is giving a lo...
Article
This paper brings a comparative aspect to the analysis of direct involvement as the foundation for partnership. It considers how various forms of direct involvement can represent components of a broader partnership paradigm of people management, or a limited shallow partnership concession to facilitate the diffusion of top-down human resource manag...
Article
Full-text available
This study provides a quantitative assessment of the potential imports, exports, revenue and welfare implications of the WTO FTA on Zimbabwe. The study uses the Software for Market Analysis and Restrictions on Trade (SMART) partial equilibrium model for analysis. The findings of the study reveal that the WTO FTA will be beneficial to the country in...
Article
Full-text available
This study provides a quantitative assessment of the potential imports, exports, revenue and welfare implications of the WTO FTA on Zimbabwe. The study uses the Software for Market Analysis and Restrictions on Trade (SMART) partial equilibrium model for analysis. The findings of the study reveal that the WTO FTA will be beneficial to the country in...
Book
Full-text available
This independent research review was commissioned by ILO in order to contribute to establishing a solid empirical basis for future research and interventions. It reviews the empirical relevance of the assumption that a win-win scenario exists in SMEs, especially in the context of developing economies. It also seeks to identify the factors or condit...
Article
Full-text available
Literature on comparative capitalism remains divided between approaches founded on stylized case study evidence and descriptions of broad trends, and those that focus on macro data. In contrast, this study explores the relevance of Amable’s approach to understanding differences in employment relations practice, based on firm-level micro data. The a...
Chapter
How does quality of working life in health care (particularly for doctors) in the UK compare with other sectors and between countries, especially in relation to pan European policies like the European Working Time Directive. In this chapter we summarise data from a wider European Union (EU) project (European Commission 2007) highlighting particular...
Article
Full-text available
Gender wage differentials and discrimination have been widely recorded, unfortunately there have been few attempts to analyse them over time and across countries. This paper contributes to the literature by providing a cross-country analysis of the UK and Germany, as well as identifying the causes of change over time. Using decomposition analysis o...
Article
This paper assesses the relative and joint impact of cultural and institutional factors on firms' use of “calculative” human resource management practices to determine their separate analytic power. To what extent do institutions and culture structure managerial choice? Previous research has been constrained by not having measures for both cultural...
Article
This paper uses the large-scale Cranet data to explore the extent of non-standard working time (NSWT) across Europe and to highlight the contrasts and similarities between two different varieties of capitalism (coordinated market economies and liberal market economies). We explore variations in the extent of different forms of NSWT (overtime, shift...
Chapter
How do European service sector workers evaluate their quality of work and life nowadays? Europeanization and globalization are bringing about major shifts in the economy, but we know little about how this is affecting the well-being of Europe’s citizens. This chapter presents a range of subjective indicators for the quality of work and life as repo...
Article
This article investigates where financial participation is most likely to be encountered, and explores its compatibility with collective forms of employee voice. It is based on the findings of a major international survey of human resource management (HRM) practices. We found that financial participation was not affected by collective employee voic...
Article
Using organizational level survey data, this article analyzes larger German private employers’ inputs to employee skills development, to test the theory that unions and employers’ associations raise employer incentives for training. Large German employers maintained their overall contribution between 1995 and 1999. Indicative data for 2004 suggest...
Article
Full-text available
This is a study of the nature of internal diversity within liberal and collaborative market economies. Based on large scale comparative survey data, we assess the extent to which specific clusters of practices are associated with specific varieties of capitalism. Given that recent literature has pointed to internal diversity within specific nationa...
Article
Theories of post-bureaucracy point to a breakdown of traditional modes of managerial authority in the face of a range of pressures commonly associated with globalization and technological advance. This may make for a proliferation of alternative practices and/or allow for a genuine sharing of power in the workplace, associated with higher levels of...
Article
There is considerable debate as to the determinants of the human resource policies of human resource management: do they reflect national institutional or cultural realities, emerging common global practices, parent country effects or the dual effects of transnational and national realities? We use an extensive international database to explore the...
Article
Full-text available
terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf This article maybe used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or m...
Article
Full-text available
This article assesses whether the operation of works councils or joint consultative committees (JCCs) is inimical to unionization in different business systems. An extensive transnational survey reveals that both works councils and JCCs are positively associated with a union presence; there is no evidence from this sample that either is used to any...
Article
Full-text available
This paper is the first systematic attempt to provide an overview of industrial relations practices at firm level in Mozambique. Through a nationwide survey of firms, the paper assesses the extent to which specific sets of practices are associated with particular regions, and/or sectors, and explores the relationship between IR practice and nationa...
Article
This article provides a critical review of the nature and state of union organization in Mozambique, based on a survey of employees in the country™s two principal urban centres, Maputo and Beira. The findings of the survey underscore the point that the ability of unions to retain a physical presence in adverse circumstances does not necessarily rep...
Article
What determines the resources allocated to an HR department? The antecedents of the size of HR departments within firms and the relationship between HR department size and the role that HR departments perform are issues of theoretical and practical importance. Using large-scale survey data from organizations in Europe and Japan, this article explor...
Article
Full-text available
Business systems theory holds that specific nations are locked onto a particular developmental trajectory reflecting differences in both institutional configuration and corresponding social agency; these variations are reflected in the role and structuring of firms and employment practices. This article uses an international survey of firms to test...
Article
Full-text available
This is a study of horizontal and vertical solidarity within a national labour movement, based on a nationwide survey of members of affiliated unions of the Congress of South African Trade Unions. On the one hand, the survey reveals relatively high levels of vertical and horizontal solidarity, despite the persistence of some cleavages on gender and...
Article
ABSTRACT Unemployment,amongst the economically active population of South Africa has been increasing since the early 1980s and according to official statistics now stands at 30.5 per cent. Using the broader,definition of unemployment the figure rises to almost 42 per cent of the economically active population. Given these internationally high unemp...
Article
This is a study of horizontal and vertical solidarity within a national labour movement, based on a nationwide survey of members of affiliated unions of the Congress of South African Trade Unions. On the one hand, the survey reveals relatively high levels of vertical and horizontal solidarity, despite the persistence of some cleavages on gender and...
Article
Full-text available
Standard real business cycle models must rely on total factor productivity (TFP) shocks to explain the observed comovement of consumption, investment, and hours worked. This paper shows that a neoclassical model consistent with observed heterogeneity in labor supply and consumption can generate comovement in the absence of TFP shocks. Intertemporal...
Article
Full-text available
The aim of this study is to estimate the impact past unemployment spells have on three different factors. Firstly current wage levels, secondly the likelihood of returning to employment and finally the contractual terms under which people return to work. In each case it is established whether these effects differ across gender. Using the first 3 Wa...

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