Abstract
Few contemporary studies of change in industrial relations use Carter Goodrich’s classic concept of the ‘frontier of control’ (FoC), especially in cross-national comparative research. Our study maps FoC struggles in two public transport organizations in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Qualitative methods generate significant insights into complex day-to-day workplace control patterns in these two cases. Despite changes in the frontier of control in both organizations over time, it is observed that employment relations in the Irish case are more cooperative than in the British. The frontier of control still matters, because workplace control regimes shape managerial ability to secure worker consent and are always potentially contestable terrains.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 327-344 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | European Journal of Industrial Relations |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors express gratitude to Richard Hyman and the anonymous reviewers who provided helpful feedback. They also thank all the people who kindly participated in the research case studies. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
Keywords
- Autonomy
- conflict
- frontier of control
- Ireland
- public transport
- UK
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Business, Management and Accounting(all)
- Strategy and Management
- Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
- Management of Technology and Innovation