IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/iaecre/v6y2000i4p649-66110.1007-bf02295375.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Labor flexibility and firm performance

Author

Listed:
  • Mireia Valverde
  • Olga Tregaskis
  • Chris Brewster

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to add to the labor flexibility debate by exploring the relationship between different forms of flexible working practices and the performance of the firm. Although there is a strong argument that labor flexibility can lead to greater financial success through the reduction in labor costs and the ability to use labor resources more efficiently, little empirical evidence has been provided to demonstrate the existence of such a relationship. This paper reviews the existing literature, puts forward a number of research propositions, and tests them by using data drawn from the Cranet-E International Survey of Strategic Human Resource Management. Only one form of numerical flexibility is found to have a positive relationship with firm performance. Proposals for further research are suggested. Copyright International Atlantic Economic Society 2000

Suggested Citation

  • Mireia Valverde & Olga Tregaskis & Chris Brewster, 2000. "Labor flexibility and firm performance," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 6(4), pages 649-661, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:iaecre:v:6:y:2000:i:4:p:649-661:10.1007/bf02295375
    DOI: 10.1007/BF02295375
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/BF02295375
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/BF02295375?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laurie Hunter & Alan McGregor & John Maclnnes & Alan Sproull, 1993. "The ‘Flexible Firm’: Strategy and Segmentation," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 383-407, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Saibal Ghosh, 2022. "Firm Performance and Productivity: Is Labour an Obstacle?," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(3), pages 709-728, September.
    2. Somaieh Alavi, 2016. "The influence of workforce agility on external manufacturing flexibility of Iranian SMEs," International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(1), pages 111-127.
    3. Kozica, Arjan & Kaiser, Stephan, 2012. "A Sustainability Perspective on Flexible HRM: How to Cope with Paradoxes of Contingent Work," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(3), pages 239-261.
    4. Rupietta, Kira, 2015. "How does Part-time Work Affect Firm Performance and Innovation Activity?," Working papers 2015/05, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    5. Nico Dewaelheyns & Cynthia Van Hulle & Yannick Van Landuyt & Mathias Verreydt, 2021. "Labor Contracts, Wages and SME Failure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-15, July.
    6. Andreas Koch & Jochen Späth & Harald Strotmann, 2013. "The role of employees for post-entry firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 733-755, October.
    7. Adriana AnaMaria Davidescu & Simona-Andreea Apostu & Andreea Paul & Ionut Casuneanu, 2020. "Work Flexibility, Job Satisfaction, and Job Performance among Romanian Employees—Implications for Sustainable Human Resource Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-53, July.
    8. Andreas Koch & Jochen Spaeth, 2009. "New Firms---Different Jobs? An Inquiry into the Quality of Employment in Start-ups and Incumbents," IAW Discussion Papers 50, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    9. Uschi Backes-Gellner & Marlies Kluike & Kerstin Pull & Martin R. Schneider & Silvia Teuber, 2016. "Human resource management and radical innovation: a fuzzy-set QCA of US multinationals in Germany, Switzerland, and the UK," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 86(7), pages 751-772, October.
    10. A. Arrighetti & E. Bartoloni & F. Landini & C. Pollio, 2019. "Exuberant proclivity towards non-standard employment: evidence from linked employer-employee data," Economics Department Working Papers 2019-EP02, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    11. Luca Cattani & Stefano Dughera & Fabio Landini, 2023. "Interlocking complementarities between job design and labour contracts," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(2), pages 501-528, July.
    12. Stuart Glosser & Lonnie Golden, 2005. "Is labour becoming more or less flexible? Changing dynamic behaviour and asymmetries of labour input in US manufacturing," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 29(4), pages 535-557, July.
    13. Jochen Späth, 2013. "Non-standard Employment, Working Time Arrangements, Establishment Entry and Exit," IAW Discussion Papers 98, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    14. Smirnykh, Larisa & Wörgötter, Andreas, 2019. "The importance of institutional and organizational characteristics for the use of fixed-term contracts in Russia," Journal of East European Management Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 24(1), pages 89-121.
    15. Andreas Koch & Daniel Pastuh & Jochen Späth, 2013. "New Firms and New Forms of Work," IAW Discussion Papers 97, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    16. Christopher J. Boudreaux, 2021. "Employee compensation and new venture performance: does benefit type matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1453-1477, October.
    17. Berkery, Elaine & Morley, Michael J. & Tiernan, Siobhán & Peretz, Hilla, 2020. "From start to finish: Flexi-time as a social exchange and its impact on organizational outcomes," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 591-601.
    18. A. Arrighetti & L. Cattani & F. Landini & A. Lasagni, 2019. "Work Flexibility and Firm Growth," Economics Department Working Papers 2019-EP04, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter Cappelli, 1995. "Rethinking Employment," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 563-602, December.
    2. Jos Gamble & Qihai Huang, 2009. "One Store, Two Employment Systems: Core, Periphery and Flexibility in China's Retail Sector," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(1), pages 1-26, March.
    3. Nicole Torka & Jan Kees Looise & Stefan Zagelmeyer, 2011. "Ordinary Atypical Workers, Participation within the Firm and Innovation: A Theoretical Endeavor and Empirical Outlook," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 22(3), pages 221-239.
    4. Robert MacKenzie, 2002. "The Migration of Bureaucracy: Contracting and the Regulation of Labour in the Telecommunications Industry," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 16(4), pages 599-616, December.
    5. Kim Hoque & Ian Kirkpatrick, 2003. "Non-Standard Employment in the Management and Professional Workforce: Training, Consultation and Gender Implications," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 17(4), pages 667-689, December.
    6. Christian Pfeifer, 2005. "Flexibility, Dual Labour Markets, and Temporary Employment. Empirical Evidence from German Establishment Data," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 16(3), pages 404-422.
    7. Andrew E. Clark, 1996. "Job Satisfaction in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 34(2), pages 189-217, June.
    8. Damian Raess & Brian Burgoon, 2015. "Flexible Work and Immigration in Europe," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(1), pages 94-111, March.
    9. A. Arrighetti & E. Bartoloni & F. Landini & C. Pollio, 2019. "Exuberant proclivity towards non-standard employment: evidence from linked employer-employee data," Economics Department Working Papers 2019-EP02, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    10. Byoung-Hoon LEE & Dong-Bab KIM & Joonmq CHO, 2005. "Union Effect On The Use Of Non-Regular Labor In The Republic Of Korea," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 43(4), pages 425-449, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:iaecre:v:6:y:2000:i:4:p:649-661:10.1007/bf02295375. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.