Quality management requires increasing employee involvement, with the aim of attaining improved employee and customer satisfaction. However, although it may lead to increasing job demands and intensification, the evidence of an association between employee job satisfaction and quality management remains mixed and narrow. This study investigates this link in the wider economy, and addresses the role of human resource management practices that target direct employee participation (job enrichment and high involvement management) in this relationship.

Outsourcing is a strategy which involves sourcing activities that firms may not have completed in-house in the past, or the substitution of internal activities by transfer, in part or whole, to a third party supplier. This research focuses on two exploratory research questions - how do new firms use outsourcing to access valuable resources and capabilities residing in supplier networks, and secondly, what capabilities do new firms need to successfully outsource in supplier networks?

In the UK, the benefits of flexible working, for both employees and employers, have been widely advocated. Data suggests there has been an increase in the offering of flexible working options to employees in Britain, and that similar schemes have been introduced across Europe. A systematic review of the academic research showed that a clear link between flexible working arrangements and organisational performance is yet to be established. In fact, a large empirical study of firms in the UK, France, Germany and the USA concluded that there was no direct link between flexible working practices and firm performance. This study examines data from the Workplace and Employment Relations Survey of 2004 to facilitate further understanding.

Managers play a significant role in the adoption, modification, and even discontinuation of pay for performance. However, there has been no existing literature on the contributions of line managers to pay for performance practices in the Chinese context. This paper explores line managers' perception of pay for performance and the key supports and barriers to their involvement in pay for performance design and implementation. A multi-case study approach was conducted in 12 non-public sector knowledge intensive firms, aligned with semi-structured interviews with HR and line managers. The findings show that project intensification could be an important factor that impacted on line managers' understanding and responsibility in pay for performance.