Welcome to the first PERA newsletter of 2011. Last year was a busy year for the Association and this year looks like we will be even busier and build on the successes of recent years. The focus of this newsletter is news from and about our annual conference. But if there is anything you would like to include in future newsletter please just email it to me at: steven.barrett@adelaide.edu.au or the assistant secretary Louise Ingersoll at: l.ingersoll@uws.edu.au
On a personal note, I have a number of very happy memories of the 2003 IERA Teaching and Learning Symposium that was hosted by Rupert Tipples and held at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Christchurch. Christchurch is a sister city of Adelaide and it was where Edward Gibbon Wakefield, the proponent of Adelaide, settled. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Christchurch, especially the friends I made at that conference and our colleagues at the universities in and around Christchurch. I hope they are all safe and well.
President’s Report 2010
The Annual Conference
2010 was a very successful year for the Pacific Employment Relations Association with the culmination being the annual conference (15-18 November) held at the Gold Coast. This conference, organised largely by PERA Vice President Australia, Christine O’Connor from the University of Ballarat, saw a broad array of papers on the theme of ‘Sustainability, Inclusiveness and Governance: People Management Issues in the Organisation of the Future’.
Last year’s conference also saw a range of prizes for best paper/presentation in each stream and best paper for an early career researcher/first time PERA presenter. The award winners, representing their co authors in most cases, were:
·ECR: Joyce Opare-Addo, Monash University ‘Managing Cultural Diversity at the Workplace’
·Sustainability: Ron Kelly, University of Western Sydney, ‘Employment Sustainability and the Australian Federal Government’s Home Insulation Program’
·Industrial Relations/Employment Relations Paper: Mark Harcourt, Waikato University, ‘Inter-Union Conflict in a Multi-Union, Non-Exclusive Bargaining Regime: New Zealand Lessons for the US’
·HRM and HRM: Janice Langan-Fox, Swinburne University, ‘Air Traffic Controller Competencies and Selection: Future Challenges in system and Role Change’
·Organisations, teams, and networking: John Burgess, Newcastle University, ‘Team Functions in Small Call Centres’
·Diversity and Inclusion: Peter McCraw, Macquarie University, ‘An Investigation of Salary Gaps Between Male and Female Graduates in a Large Australian Financial Services Company: An Analysis of Educational and Labour market Factors’
·Teaching and Learning: Sue Bond, University of Western Sydney, ‘Innovation in the Classroom: Teaching Students to be Engaged learners’
On a lighter note, there were a number of other attendees recognised for their contributions in various forms, including George Lafferty, Apollo Nsubuga-Kyobe, Lenore Pennington, Roslyn Larkin, Karen McNeil, Marjorie Jerrard, Dennis Mortimer, Brien O’Neill, Steven Barrett, and Maurice O’Rourke.
Key note addresses were provided by Professor Kate Hutchings, Griffith University, who spoke on ‘National jobs with international work components: Facilitating a fuller expression of women's work through global careers or minimising inclusivity and work/life balance in global organisations?’ and Associate Professor Glenice Wood, University of Ballarat, who addressed the topic of ‘People Management Issues in Organisations of the Future’.
A PhD/Early Career Researcher Forum was held on the last day of the conference and the participants were able to have a number of concerns and questions addressed by the panellists.
No Elizabeth Whiting Scholarships were awarded to research students this year but it is hoped that sole-authored papers by research students will be submitted to the next conference to be considered for this scholarship.
The welcome BBQ, held at the Surf Regency Apartments, was well attended and a professional BBQ-er was discovered in Maurice O’Rourke who ably assisted Steven Barrett and Brien O’Neill over the hot plate.
2011 PERA Conference
Following on from the success of the 2010 conference, it was decided to hold the 2011 conference at the same venue, Hotel Grand Chancellor, corner Surfers Paradise Boulevard and Hanlan Street, Surfers Paradise, with accommodation offered by the Hotel Grand Chancellor or the Surf Regency Self-contained Apartments (located 5 minutes walk from the Conference Venue) at 9 Laycock Street, Surfers Paradise. The dates are Monday 14 to Thursday 17 November to avoid the onset of ‘Schoolies Week’ beginning 19 November.
A call for papers will be circulated early next year and the conference website will also be activated then. Similar tracks as those in 2010 will be utilised to stream the papers and the theme is ‘People Management Issues: Sustainability, Inclusiveness and Knowledge Management’. The home page is located at: http://www.pera.net.au/page2.php.
Finances 2010
Treasurer, Robyn Johns, reported that the Association’s financial position was looking much stronger than the previous year. Much of this turnaround was due to the successful organisation of the 2010 Conference by Christine O’Connor.
Journals
For those people who indicated an interest in publishing from their conference paper in one of the journals associated with PERA, please submit your papers using the recommended submission process to the respective editor:
International Journal of Employment Studies, Professor Stephen Teo, Curtain University S.Teo@curtain.edu.au
Notes for contributors to the journals appear at the end of each issue of the respective journal. The journals are available through informit.
The Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Initiative
In preparation for the recently announced 2012 ERA round, the Australian Research Council (ARC) will revise the ERA 2010 ranked journal and conference lists. This process will involve the release in early 2011 of the journal and conference lists for a period of public consultation, followed by a review and finalisation phase supported by peak bodies and other academic groups.
I encourage all PERA members to take the opportunity of providing feedback to the ARC through their institutions’ own processes during the consultation period to ensure as favourable rankings as possible for the PERA and IERA (International Employment Relations Association) journals and conferences.
Other Upcoming Conferences 2011-2012
The 29th International labour Process Conference (ILPC) will be held at the University of Leeds 5-7 April 2011. The primary focus of the ILPC conference is work and employment relations in the context of the broader political economy, with an emphasis on employee perspectives and theory-led empirical research.
18th Biennial 2011 IERA Conference to be held in Singapore from 26 June-28 June, 2011 and convened by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The conference theme is: ‘Work, Life and Environment Relations: An International Perspective’
Tracks:
·HRD and HRM policy
·Organisational Culture and Power
·ER Processes: Collective and Individual
·Community Resource Development
·HRM Outcomes: Empowerment, Job Satisfaction and Productivity
BUIRA Conference 2011 convened by the Greenwich Business School from 7-9 July 2011 and located at University of Greenwich, The Old Royal Naval College, Park Row, London, SE10 9LS
7th ILERA Regional Congress of the Americas 5th Brazilian Conference of Labor and Employment Relations Work in the Americas: Challenges and Opportunities São Paulo, Brazil, August 22-25, 2011
Pre Congress visits - August 21 (plants nearby São Paulo)
Post Congress visits - August 26 (Rio de Janeiro or Salvador)
FYI New Book: International & Comparative Employment Relations - please pass on to anyone who might be interested. Thanks.
The 5th edition of International & Comparative Employment Relations: Globalisation & Change, 2011 is now available: Greg J Bamber, Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes (eds) Allen & Unwin, Sydney (ISBN: 9781742370651)/Sage, London (978-1-84920-723-2). There will be online resources for those who adopt this book for teaching. Royalties from this book are contributing to Cancer Research.
It is available only in Australia or New Zealand @ AUD$49.50 incl. free delivery in Australia & NZ:
Earlier editions of this book have become the standard reference for a worldwide readership of students, scholars and practitioners in international agencies, governments, companies and unions. In this new edition, comparative analysis examines globalisation, trends and theories across such economies, including an evaluation of varieties of capitalism ideas. Chapters on employment relations in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Japan and South Korea have been fully revised and updated. It also includes new chapters on China, India and Denmark.
Experts examine the context of employment relations in each country: economic, historical, legal, social and political. They outline the roles of the major players: employers, unions and governments. Then follow descriptions of the main processes of employment relations: local and centralised collective bargaining, arbitration and mediation, joint consultation and employee participation. Topical issues are discussed: non-unionised workplaces, novel forms of human resource management, labour law reform, employee involvement, multinational enterprises, networked organisations, differences between Asian and western companies, small and medium-sized enterprises, migrant workers, technological change, labour market flexibility and pay determination.
“This fifth edition is an indispensable tool for all those interested in keeping abreast with the developments in the world of work on a global scale”, Peter Auer, International Labour Organisation.
“This highly-readable latest edition of the leading comparative labour relations book is an invaluable resource for students, practitioners and policymakers as they confront the challenges of globalisation and of the information age” Janice Bellace, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
“Already the most authoritative comparative account of labour relations across the world, it is admirable that the coverage of this book has been extended to Denmark, China and India. It will be invaluable to student and specialist alike”, William Brown, University of Cambridge, UK.
Contents: Nick Wailes, Greg J. Bamber and Russell D. Lansbury International and Comparative Employment Relations: An Introduction / Mick Marchington, Jeremy Waddington and Andrew Timming Employment Relations in Britain / Harry C. Katz and Alexander Colvin Employment Relations in the United States of America / Mark Thompson and Daphne G. Taras Employment Relations in Canada / Russell D. Lansbury and Nick Wailes Employment Relations in Australia / Lucio Baccaro and Valeria Pulignano Employment Relations in Italy / Janine Goetschy and Annette Jobert Employment Relations in France / Berndt K. Keller and Anja Kirsch Employment Relations in Germany / Jørgen Steen Madsen, Jesper Due and Søren Kaj Andersen Employment Relations in Denmark / Hiromasa Suzuki and Katsuyuki Kubo Employment Relations in Japan / Byoung-Hoon Lee Employment Relations in Korea / Fang Lee Cooke Employment Relations in China / C.S. Venkata Ratnam and Anil Verma Employment Relations in India.
Greg Bamber (Professor), Director of Research,
Department of Management,
Monash University.
PO Box 197,
Caulfield East, Melbourne, Victoria 3145, Australia.
