Article Abstract
In this article, we honour David Marsden's most important contribution: his Theory of Employment Systems (ToES). Grounded in standard economic analysis, ToES sets out to explain how a relatively small number of employment systems solve fundamental problems associated with open-ended employment relationships (flexibility and opportunism). In the period since its publication, the employment relationship remains the dominant form of engaging workers; however, employment arrangements in the UK and elsewhere have been transformed, and employment systems in many settings more closely resemble configurations of rules that ToES predicted would prove unstable. While ToES does not explicitly integrate a number of important dimensions that define all aspects of employment systems, we show why Marsden's core theoretical insights retain analytical purchase as an explanatory framework. That said, taking a more sociologically and historically informed approach to understanding contemporary employment systems is required to comprehend the diversity of employment systems and how they evolve in the twenty-first century.
British Journal of Industrial Relations, July 2024
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About the researcher
Peter Gahan is Professor of Management at the University of Melbourne and a Research Fellow at the Centre for Workplace Leadership, where he was Foundation Director from 2012 to 2017. He has previously held academic and visiting positions at UNSW, Monash, University of South California, The European University Institute, Cardiff Business School, New York University and Stockholm Business School.
Professor Gahan has also worked as senior public servant as Director of Workplace Innovation in the Victorian Department of Industry, Innovation and Regional Development. He has undertaken commissioned research for both state and commonwealth governments on areas related to employment relations, regulatory arrangements to support workplace innovation, and the consequences of various regulatory labour market reforms.
Over the last 25 years, Professor Gahan has published widely on conflict and negotiations, employment relations and collective bargaining, high performance workplaces, labour markets and the future of work, and the consequences of labour market regulation.
His current research focuses on two major drivers of change at work: workforce ageing and how technology is transforming the nature of jobs. Peter is currently exploring how older works are perceived by others (co-workers, managers and customers) in the workplace and how these perceptions influence hiring decisions, promotion and performance evaluations.