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The role of human resource management in implementing a 'new agreement' between employers and employees

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Abstract

When quality in an organisational context includes more employee-oriented arrangements and systems, the introduction of a new relationship pattern between employers and employees can rightly be considered a quality program. In this article we describe the shifting roles of HRM and 'people management' in general within a changing environmental and organisational context. We present an original 'FIT' organisational model, in which the role of HRM as 'partner-champion' is highlighted, and which was implemented during the 1990s in a multinational company. More specifically, we describe the company background, the motives for this new approach, the basic principles and the main phases of implementation of this new 'social contract'.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Antwerp University, B-428, Prinsstraat 13, 2000 , Antwerp, Belgium

    Daniël Vloeberghs

  2. Topconsult, Isabella Brantstraat 26, 2018 , Antwerp, Belgium

    Erik Faes

Authors
  1. Daniël Vloeberghs
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  2. Erik Faes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniël Vloeberghs.

Additional information

This article is based on a presentation by the main author during the International Conference on TQM and Human Factors in Linköping, Sweden,15-17 June, 1999.

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Vloeberghs, D., Faes, E. The role of human resource management in implementing a 'new agreement' between employers and employees . AI & Soc 17, 134–149 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-003-0246-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-003-0246-1

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