ILR Impact Briefs

ILR Impact Brief - Knowledge, Skills, and Performance: Getting the Most From Team Training

Bradford S. Bell et al. — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 08:25:28 PDT

Teams are an integral feature of the American workplace; indeed, more than 80% of the Fortune 500 companies make extensive use of work teams. Action teams, pulled together to carry out a particular time-limited function that requires the specialized expertise of its members, are becoming increasingly common. Researchers have noted that the success of these teams is often thwarted by their lack of information about teamwork in general and their insufficient mastery of basic team competencies. Most organizations train team members for the particular job at hand, so the question arises as to the utility of generic team training. In other words, would imparting knowledge and skills that could be applied in, and adapted to, any number of situations improve outcomes, and if so, what is the mechanism that facilitates this result?

ILR Impact Brief - The Privatization of Public Higher Education: Can We Afford It?

Ronald G. Ehrenberg — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 07:29:13 PDT

[Excerpt] Public colleges and universities are in danger of losing their place as engines of social mobility and generators of knowledge. State appropriations to public colleges and universities, as a share of their overall budgets, have been shrinking since the 1980s even as enrollments have climbed. The resulting financial pressures have led to tuition hikes, cutbacks in the number of full-time and tenure-track faculty, reduced support for low- and middle-income students, and fewer subsidies for graduate students. Despite the widely acknowledged social good produced by public higher education, many policymakers hold to the view that the individual beneficiaries should pay more of its cost, especially now that the education-based income gap is widening. Decreased state funding also reflects policymakers’ assumption that forcing public institutions to behave more like private institutions, which have long competed for resources, will eliminate waste and boost efficiency.

ILR Impact Brief - Pathways to Success: Human Resource Practices Do Matter

Christopher J. Collins et al. — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 07:21:09 PDT

[Extract] Most researchers agree that human resource (HR) practices affect attitudes and discretionary behavior on the job and that employee actions and motivations influence company performance. The academic literature also suggests that investing in employees, through high-commitment HR practices such as internal labor markets, selecting new employees who “fit” the company rather than a particular job, compensating employees on the basis of group and company results, and training and development programs that stress team building and long-term growth, are all indirectly related to organizational success. Missing from the literature is an exploration of the causal mechanisms that "mediate" between these HR practices and favorable outcomes for companies operating in dynamic environments; this research begins filling the void.

ILR Impact Brief - Faculty Tenure and the Gap between Policy and Practice

Pamela S. Tolbert et al. — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 06:29:16 PDT

Almost all four-year institutions of higher education have adopted the tenure system as a formal policy for faculty employment. The degree to which tenure systems are actually implemented, however, depends on resource flows and institutional pressures. Fewer resource constraints (i.e., greater per-student revenues and larger endowments) increase the proportion of professors employed on tenure-track lines; likewise, a stronger research orientation positively affects the share of faculty in tenure-track slots. Colleges and universities that rely more heavily on tuition for revenues and those with larger numbers of accreditations (from professional and occupational associations) generally employ fewer tenure-track professors. Other variables also matter:

Tenure is more prevalent at public, older, and more complex universities and colleges and is less widespread among institutions that enroll larger numbers of students and among those that include a medical school. And finally, the share of tenure-track faculty declines on campuses with a larger pool of graduate students who are available to teach.

ILR Impact Brief - Ownership Status Matters: Call Centers, Employment Systems, and Turnover

Rosemary Batt et al. — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 06:32:33 PST

"Each type of call center (i.e., ownership status) is associated with particular strategies and systems, which in turn influence quit rates. In-house call centers typically focus on service quality and adopt quasi-professional employment systems (higher pay, more opportunities for employee problem-solving, minimal performance monitoring). Cost control, by contrast, is the strategic driver of outsourced and offshore call centers, which favor low-commitment employment systems that depend on close monitoring and limited on-the-job discretion. Turnover, a major problem for the entire industry, is lowest at in-house call centers and highest at outsourced facilities."

ILR Impact Brief - Sustainable Workforce Development: The Paths of Singapore and India

Sarosh Kuruvilla — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 06:21:23 PST

Globalization compels developing economies to address workforce skill levels. Reliance on a low-skill, low-wage competitive advantage is perilous because countries with even less developed economies will inevitably undercut local standards. Given the established link between investment in human capital and economic growth, developing countries have a strong interest in fostering continuous skills improvement. Singapore and India are two cases worth noting.

ILR Impact Brief - Phased Retirement: Opportunities for Some but Not for All

Robert M. Hutchens et al. — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 06:11:02 PST

"Nearly three-quarters of employers surveyed indicate that some form of phased retirement could be worked out for white-collar employees aged 55 and older. Workers’ willingness to take advantage of this option, however, may diminish when employers' terms and conditions are factored in. In other words, the majority of white-collar workers are presented with constrained opportunities for phased retirement when the possibility arises."

ILR Impact Brief - Doomed to Fail: The Unintended Consequences of Guestworker Programs

Vernon M. Briggs Jr. — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 12:45:54 PST

The ILR Impact Brief series highlights the research and project based work conducted by ILR faculty that is relevant to workplace issues and public policy. Brief #2 highlights the authors' research on immigration policy and the American labor force.

ILR Impact Brief - Employment Arbitration: Emergence of a New Profession

Ronald L. Seeber et al. — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 08:57:44 PST

The ILR Impact Brief series highlights the research and project based work conducted by ILR faculty that is relevant to workplace issues and public policy. Brief #1 highlights the authors' research on employment arbitration, including a survey of the National Academy of Arbitrators.