Case study 3.1 Workplace structure in the Australian hotel industry

MNCs, McDonald’s and Disney, have been hailed as ‘influential models of excellence in the development of particular organisational cultures or systems of production and job design with their respective implications for management and the conduct of employee relations’ (Hollinshead, 1999: 108). International chains display more sophisticated HRM, e.g. in Greece (Paraskevas, 2000). Larger units and those owned by foreign chains appear to veer towards the ‘best practice’ models of HRM (Lucas and Laycock, 1991; Price, 1994; Kelliher and Johnson, 1997).