Research

Explore the key research areas of the Centre for Labour, Employment, and Work.

The Centre for Labour, Employment, and Work (CLEW) is organised around three key areas of research:

Organisational dynamics and performance

What happens in organisations matters. Strategies, business processes, management practices, worker experiences, knowledge sharing, collaboration, innovation, productivity, engagement, and trust all impact how individuals and organisations perform.

Current CLEW research investigates:

  • high performance work practices,
  • human capability and its development,
  • productivity and firm performance,
  • worker experiences,
  • management practices and processes, and
  • growing organisations and employment.

Contact

Associate Professor
School of Management

Employment rights and institutions

What is the role of trade unions and of collective bargaining in New Zealand’s contemporary economy and society? Is the current system of employment rights and the institutions and processes for enforcement of those rights in New Zealand still relevant? Is it efficient, and how does it contribute to overall productivity growth?

Issues explored by CLEW include:

  • collective bargaining and its outcomes,
  • non-wage employee benefits,
  • employee voice and representation,
  • labour market adjustment,
  • regulation of work and employment,
  • the employment relations system,
  • the role of unions in firm performance and the broader economy and society, and
  • human rights and equity in employment.

Contact

Senior Lecturer

School of Management

Changing nature of work and the workforce

Rapid and increasing change in the external environment of organisations has fundamentally changed the world of work. Factors shaping how we organise and participate in work include rapid technological development, intensifying environmental and resource pressures, globalised markets, mobile workforces, and changing demographics.

Indicative issues explored in this research area include:

  • atypical or non-standard work,
  • new and flexible forms of work arrangements,
  • shifting worker demographics,
  • skill adjustment and re-skilling,
  • changes to jobs and occupations,
  • globalisation of employment, and
  • rise of the knowledge economy.

Contact

Associate Professor

School of Management