Human Resource Management,Cultural Control and Union Avoidance: an Australian Case Study

Non-union industrial relations bas generated increasing interest among researchers both in Australia and overseas. Changes in public policy toward a more deregulated and individualised industrial relations system, as well as increasing employer interest in techniques associated witb human resource management, have become closely linked with the rise of non-union firms. Despite this development there remains a lack of empirical research in Australia that identifies how corporate culture and commitment strategies attempt to exclude, or become substitutes for, workplace trade unionism. In addressing tbese questions, this paper presents evidence from one Australian organisation in which the development of a strong culture and related human resource management practices played a central role in limiting employee propensity to unionise.