JBRMR
Online ISSN 2056-6271 ICO Registration Number: ZA522255
Accepting submissions

Article Details

Volume 01 Issue 2

Labour Flexibility and the Ethical Responsibility of Businesses

Published: 29 Feb 2012 Issue:Volume 01 Issue 2 Jul 2007 Author details below

Frank Bamfo

Breyer State University London Centre

Download PDF Reading View How to Cite BibTeX / RIS XML Metadata JSON Metadata View Issue
Share

Article Metrics Report

Views, downloads, citations, engagement
Views 567704
Downloads 56
Citations 0
Engagement 567760

Cited by

Current citation count

Research summary

This article seeks to examine labour flexibility within the context of the ethical and social responsibilities of businesses. Our aim is to find out what bases there are for businesses and organisations to claim moral and ethical responsibilities as they implement flexible employment policies. The article shall define labour flexibility and examine the implications of the different flexible employment contracts for stakeholders namely organisations and employees. The problem of ethics and the difficulty of using ethical arguments in determining right and wrong decisions shall be highlighted. Consequently the article shall use normative ethics which incorporates approaches such as the utilitarian approach, justice approach, moral or natural right approach and individualism approach as the bases to evaluate the ethical dimensions of labour flexibility

Article History

Published 29 Feb 2012

How to Cite

Bamfo, F.. (2012). Labour Flexibility and the Ethical Responsibility of Businesses. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, Volume 01 Issue 2.

Citation Context

Archive cited by No internal citing article yet
Reference depth 34 sources listed
DOI record DOI not listed
Citation signal Citation exports and metadata ready

APA

Bamfo, F.. (2012). Labour Flexibility and the Ethical Responsibility of Businesses. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, Volume 01 Issue 2.

MLA

Bamfo, Frank. "Labour Flexibility and the Ethical Responsibility of Businesses." Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, Volume 01 Issue 2, 2012.

Chicago

Frank Bamfo. "Labour Flexibility and the Ethical Responsibility of Businesses." Journal of Business and Retail Management Research Volume 01 Issue 2 (29 Feb 2012).

Harvard

Bamfo, F. (2012) Labour Flexibility and the Ethical Responsibility of Businesses. Journal of Business and Retail Management Research, Volume 01 Issue 2

References

  1. Abraham, K.G. and Taylor, S. K. “Firms’ use of outside contractors: Theory and Evidence”, Journal of labour economics, July 19096, pp.394-424.
  2. Abraham,K.G. (1988) “Flexible staffing  arrangement and employers’ short-term adjustment strategies”, NBER Working Paper No 2617, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge MA
  3. Abraham,K.G. (1990), “Restructuring the employment relationship: The growth of market-mediated work arrangement” in Katharine G. Abraham and Robert B. Mckersie, eds, New Development in the labour market: Towards a new  institutional paradigm, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
  4. Atkinson,J. (1984), “Manpower Strategies for the Flexible Organisation”, Personnel Management Review, August, pp.28-31.
  5. Atkinson, J. and Meager, N. (1986), “Is flexibility just a flash in the pan?” personnel Management, Sept, pp.26-9.
  6. Cavanagh,G. F. et al. “The Ethics of Organisational Politics”, Academy of management Review 6. (1981). 363-374.
  7. Clegg, S. (1990), Modern Organisations: organisation studies in the post-modern world, Sage, London.
  8. Cohan,S. R. (1996), “Workers in alternative employment arrangements”, Monthly labour Review, PP.31-34.
  9. Daft,R.L. (2003), Management (6th edn),Thomson, UAS.
  10. Deakin, S. (1998) “Organisational change, labour flexibility and the contract of employment” ESRC Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge working paper, September, 1998.
  11. DFEE (Department for Education and Employment), (2002), Survey of Patterns of job Mobility, London, DFEE.
  12. ESRC,  (Centre for Business Research), (1998), “Organisational change, Labour Flexibility and the Contract of Employment”, University of Cambridge Working Paper No. 105.
  13. Freedman, A. (1992), “Human resource Outlook”, The Conference Board Report No 985, Washington.
  14. .Harrison, B. and Bluestore, B. (1996) “The dark side of labour market flexibility: Falling wages and growing income inequality in America”, World Employment Programme Research- Labour market analysis and employment planning Working paper No. 17.
  15. Kakabadse, A. and Kakabadse, N. (1989), Smart Sourcing: International Best Practice, Palgrave, Basingstoke, cited in Taylor,S. (2002), People Resourcing (2nd edn), CIPD, London
  16. Kalleberg, A. L. (2003), “Flexible firms and labour market segmentation: Effects of workplace restructuring on jobs and workers”, Work and occupations, Vol 30, No 2. 154-172, Sage publications, New York
  17. Kekes,J.(1998), “Self-Direction: The core of ethical Individualism” in Organisation and Ethical Individualism, (Kolenda, K), (ed), Praeger, New York.
  18. Kessler, I. (1994) “Performance  Pay”, in K. Sisson (ed.) Personnel Management: a Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice in Britain (2nd edn), Blackwell, Oxford. 
  19. Kochan Thomas, A et al, (1986), The Transformation of American Industrial Relations, Basic Books, New York.
  20. Lash, S. and Urry, J. (1987), The End of Organised Capitalism, Policy press, Cambridge
  21. Mallinger, M. “Decisive decision making; an exercise using ethical frameworks”, Journal of Management Education, August, 1997, pp411-417.
  22. Mash,C.C. (1991) “Hours of work of women and men in Britain”, Equal Opportunities Commission, Manchester, cited in (Taylor, S. 2002), People Resourcing (2nd  edn), CIPD, London.
  23. Mcgregor,A. and Sproull, A. (1992), “Employers and the flexible workforce”,  Employment Gazette, May.
  24. NACAB (National Association of Citizen Advice Bureau) (1997) Flexibility Abused: A CAB evidence report on employment conditions in the labour market, NACAB, London. 
  25. NEDO (National Development Office), (1986), “Changing patterns: How companies achieve flexibility to meet the new needs”, NEDO, London. 
  26. Paine, L. S. “Managing for Organizational Integrity”, Harvard Business Review, (March/April1994), 1-18 cited in Daft, R.L.(2003), Management, Thomson, USA.
  27. Proctor, S. and Ackroyd, S. (2006) “Flexibility” in Redman, T. and Wilkinson, A. (eds) Contemporary Human Resource Management (Text and cases) 2nd edn, Pearson Educational limited, England.
  28.  Piore, M.J. and Sable, C.F. (1984), The Second industrial Divide: possibilities for prosperity, Basic Books, New York.
  29. Rubery,J.(1987), “Flexibility of labour costs in Non-union firms” in Roger Tarling, (ed) Flexibility in labour markets, Academie Press, London
  30.  Shea,G,F. (1988), Practical Ethics, American management Association, New York, cited in Daft, R.L. (2003) Management (6th edn), Thomson, USA
  31. Standing, G. (1987), “Globalisation, Labour flexibility and Insecurity: The era of market regulation”, European Journal of Industrial relations, Vol, 3, No1, 7-12. 
  32. Stredwick, J. and Ellis,S. (1998), Flexible Working Practices, CIPD, London.
  33. Taylor, S.(2002) People Resourcing (2nd edn), CIPD, London.
  34. Trevino,L, K.(1986), “Ethical Decision Making in Organisations; A person- situation interactionist model”, Academy of management Review 11, pp.601-617  cited in Daft, R.L.(2003) Management, Thomson, USA. 

Related Articles

Innovation in operational processes and adherence to industry 4.0 technologies in a network of supermarket stores
Revitalizing motivation for healthcare office workers: An Analysis of Job Diagnostic Survey Through the Lens of Hackman and Oldham's Model
Seaport marketing strategies and its impact on customer satisfaction
The impact of Leadershift on cultural agility policy: The search for effective ways of mindfulness

Browse Articles

Failure demand – how part of the total demand can become a burden
AI anxiety and consumer identity: Emotional responses to intelligent systems through the identity-aligned emotional model — quantitative evidence from a mediterranean high -uncertainty-avoidance consumer sample
Impact of heat waves on Spanish tourism demand
Colour and consumer buying behaviour in the UK fashion industry
The impact of the Qatar blockade on customer relationship management
Understanding the impact of reward and recognition, work life balance, on employee retention with job satisfaction as mediating variable on millennials in Indonesia
Organizational culture and job satisfaction: a study Of organized retail sector
How to win back the disgruntled consumer? The omni-channel way
Retail turnover clauses in an online world
Brand awareness of 'generation y' customers towards doughnut retail outlets in India
Failure demand – how part of the total demand can become a burden
AI anxiety and consumer identity: Emotional responses to intelligent systems through the identity-aligned emotional model — quantitative evidence from a mediterranean high -uncertainty-avoidance consumer sample
Impact of heat waves on Spanish tourism demand
Colour and consumer buying behaviour in the UK fashion industry
The impact of the Qatar blockade on customer relationship management