This book makes use of a four country research programme, covering France, Germany, Great Britain and Japan. Investigations and interviews at store, company and individual levels paint a picture of working times in the sector and in each of the countries. The volume provides some explanations for national differences as well as the similarities; supply and demand issues, as well as societal and social backgrounds. Large format food retailing is a major force in each country, employing millions in many different situations and conditions. This book suggests opportunities for retailers and employees to better manage their situations.
List of figures viii List of tables ix List of contributors xii Acknowledgements xiv Introduction xv The rise of the large format food store 1(11) Leigh Sparks Consumer behaviour, consumption and food retailing changes 2(3) Characteristics of the large format food store 5(1) The origins of large food retail outlets 6(2) Employment aspects of large format retail food stores 8(3) Summary 11(1) Employment in food retailing 12(9) Leigh Sparks Retailings position in the economy 13(1) Characteristics and trends of food retailing employment 14(5) Understanding food retailing employment relations 19(1) Summary 20(1) Working time configurations: theory, methods and assumptions for an international comparison 21(10) Jean Gadrey Methodology 22(3) Some earlier hypotheses and the acid test of international comparison 25(3) The need for a societal approach of the systemic type 28(1) What room for manoeuvre? 28(3) The organisation of working time in large French food retail firms 31(27) Christophe Baret Legislation and the industry collective agreement 31(5) The hard laws of competition and the hardening of employment forms 36(11) Cost reduction and the externalisation of uncertainty 47(4) The organisation of working time in a supermarket 51(5) Conclusion 56(2) The organisation of working time in large German food retail firms 58(25) Johannes Kirsch Martina Klein Steffen Lehndorff Dorothea Voss-Dahm Employment and working time policy in the retail food trade in Germany: the institutional context 58(5) The conditions of competition in the retail trade and the key role of personnel costs 63(2) Flexibility through improvisation and fragmentation 65(14) Why is the dominant working time practice in the retail food trade so stable? 79(4) The organisation of working time in large UK food retail firms 83(31) Paul Freathy Leigh Sparks Regulation and employment in UK food retailing 84(1) The origins of large food retail outlets 85(5) The organisation of working time and flexibility 90(14) Social demands in the organisation of working time and the management of flexibility 104(7) Conclusions 111(3) The organisation of working time in large Japanese food retail firms 114(29) Thierry Ribault Legislation and collective agreements: the main elements in the regulation of working time in Japan 115(6) The norms of competition and the organisation of working time 121(14) Flexibility versus a sustainable balance between working time and social time: the search for a compromise 135(4) Conclusion 139(4) A societal interpretation of the differences and similarities in working time practices 143(24) Jean Gadrey Steffen Lehndorff The comparative findings: a common trend, but substantial and persistent differences 143(5) The family division of labour and family roles 148(12) The effects of institutional norms relating to working time in Europe and Japan 160(4) Conclusion: the organisation of working time and the four dimensions of comparative analysis 164(3) Societal constraints and strategic room for manoeuvre: what options do firms have for improving employee satisfaction? 167(21) Christophe Baret Human resource management as a basis for improving the performance of service-sector companies 168(7) Examples of alternative strategies in France, Japan, Germany and the UK 175(8) HRM practices as sources of a sustainable competitive advantage 183(5) Bibliography 188(6) Index 194
Baret, Christophe; Lehndorff, Steffen; Sparks, Leigh
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