Managers and Enterprise Bargaining: Some Preliminary Findings

Encouraged by a series of tribunal decisions in an economic climate demanding greater productivity, enterprise bargaining in Australia has gained momentum since the mid-1980s. Bargaining is now permitted at the decentralized level of organizations which has assisted in workplace reform and flexibility. This study explores its impact on the practice of managing human resources and industrial relations. The experiences of employers and key practitioners engaged in enterprise bargaining processes are reported, focusing on the quality of management and changes in management performance stemming from entetprise bargaining.