ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how employment relations contexts and employer roles and behaviours interact and shape each other, albeit within a still broader set of contextual elements. In this way, the chapter seeks to explain how, when and why employers – and their managers – may choose some approaches to managing ER over others. To do this, it draws upon insights from the fields of industrial relations and human resource management, focusing on rule-making and employer strategies, particularly those targeting ‘high-road’ and ‘low-road’ approaches. Analysis moves across three levels – the individual employment relationship; organisation; and wider labour market – allowing discussion of the individual as well as collective dimensions of ER. To assist in this, the chapter engages with diverse disciplines to highlight theories of motivation and commitment as well as conflict and control. In particular, it briefly discusses literature on psychological contracts, labour process theory, internal labour markets, labour flexibility, high-performance work systems, employer choices regarding collectivism and employer associations. Historical as well as contemporary cross-national examples highlight how these dynamics can work in practice.
