Journal of Human Resource Management

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Negotiating Employee Contracts Case Study Review Negotiations and Conflict Resolution

Received: Apr. 27, 2020    Accepted: Jun. 03, 2020    Published: Jun. 23, 2020
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Abstract

This paper is a review of a case study in human resource management with a slant towards the legal aspect of contract of employment and renegotiation of contracts. As none of the authors is a lawyer, the paper is reviewed from the managerial rather than from the legal point of view. Cindy is the lady employee in question who worked for a company for many years and never thought that a time would come when her employer would transfer her to a far off and forlorn place in the midst of nowhere. Her relocation puts her off and she thought she had been unfairly treated by her employer. In the analysis of the issues at stake in the scenario, the authors came to the conclusion that both Cindy and her employers had merit in their case should they go to court for adjudication and pronouncement of a verdict. Cindy on her part did not follow due process at the onset to ask questions about her job. It seemed also that her employers on their part did not do full disclosure about the nature of the job and the need to relocate staff when necessary. The authors decided to use the exploratory approach methodology in this case study review as there was not much information in the scenario to go by. The case study method has been found to be a suitable method of research that enables a phenomenon to be examined closely at a micro level so that knowledge from a small sample can be extended to cover generalizations of all similar cases, using the deductive and inductive approaches. Therefore the authors made some assumptions and used the deductive and inductive approach to arrive at logical conclusions. This article is therefore a narrative article and a commentary that does not include any primary research material. Readers are free to come to their own conclusions on the merit of the case as the main objective of the authors of this article is to generate knowledge for academic discourse. Human Resource practitioners and theoreticians will hopefully find the article stimulating food for thought and pertinent to their work.

DOI 10.11648/j.jhrm.201200803.14
Published in Journal of Human Resource Management ( Volume 8, Issue 3, September 2020 )
Page(s) 139-145
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Employment Contract, Negotiations, Attributes of Valid Contract, Employer-Employee Relations, Full Disclosure, Sources of Power, Psychological Contract, Perception, Contract Re-negotiation

References
[1] ACAS Written statements of terms and conditions of employment http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3970
[2] Armstrong, M. & Taylor, S. (2017) Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice London: Kogan Page.
[3] Armstrong, M. (1993) A Handbook of Personnel Management
[4] Beardwell, J. & Thompson, A. (2017) A Human Resource Management- A Contemporary Approach London: Pearson Learning
[5] Bedard, G. (n. d.) Welcome to Negotiation and Contract Management-NVIT [Online].
[6] Byars, L. L. & Rue, L. W. (1997) Human Resource Management (5th ed.) Boston: Irwin
[7] Capelli, P. & Keller, J. (2014) Talent Management: Conceptual Approaches and Practical Challenges Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior 1 Vol. 1 pp. 308-331.
[8] CEO World. biz (2018) How to renegotiate your employment contract when you have achieved success [Online] https://ceoworld.biz/2018/02/01/how-to-renegotiate-your-ceo-employment-contract-when-you-have-achieved-success
[9] Cole, G. A. (2002) Personnel and Human Resource Management (5th ed.) London: Cengage Learning.
[10] Cole, G. A. (2004) Management Theory and Practice (6th ed.) Singapore: Thomson Learning.
[11] Francis, K. A. (2019) Terms & Conditions of an Employment Contract - Small Business [Online] Retrieved from - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/terms-conditions-employment-contract-4784.html. 15 March 2019.
[12] Gennard, J. & Judge, G.(2012) Employee Relations (4th ed.) London: CIPD. Key, S. (2015) 9 Ways to negotiate a contract like a boss [Online] Entrepreneur Franchise 500.
[13] Harvard Business Review (HBR) (2016) How to Renegotiate a Bad Deal Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School Retrieved from https://www.pon.harvard.edu./.
[14] Heneman, Schwab, Fossum (1995) Personnel/Human Resource Management New York, N.Y.: Irwin
[15] Key, S. (2015) 9 Ways to negotiate a contract like a boss [Online] Entrepreneur Franchise 500.
[16] LawTeacher (2018) Main Elements Constituting a Valid Contract https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/contract-law/main-elements-constituting-a-valid-contract-contract-law-essay.php
[17] Lawyers Weekly.com (n. d.) Five things to think about when signing or re-negotiating your employment contract [Online] https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/opinion/23569-five-things-to-think-about-when-signing-or-re-negotiating-your-employment-contract.
[18] Lazear, E. P. & Gibbs, M. (2015) Personnel Economics in Practice New York, N. Y.: Wiley.
[19] Mansfield, G., Banerjee, L. & Brown, D. (2017) Blackstone’s Employment Practice (9th ed.) Oxford: OUP.
[20] Morrison, E. (2014) Employee Voice and Silence Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior
[21] Mullins, L. J. & Christy, G. (2010) Management and Organisational Behaviour (11th ed.) Harlow, Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited.
[22] Perkins, S. & White, G. (2009) Employee Reward London: CIPD.
[23] Rose, E. (2008) Employment Relations London: FT Prentice Hall.
[24] Teacher, Law (November 2013). Main Elements constituting A Valid Contract. Retrieved from https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/contract-law/main-elements-constituting-a-valid-contract-contract-law-essay.php?vref=1
[25] Torrington, D., Hall, L., Taylor, S. and Atkinson, C. (2011) Human Resource Management (8th ed.). London: Pearson Education.
[26] Ury, W. (1993) Getting Past No: Negotiating your way from Confrontation to Cooperation (Revised Edition) New York: Bantam Books.
[27] Weightman, J. (2004) Managing People (2nd ed.) London: CIPD chp. 13 and 14.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Kwesi Atta Sakyi, Esnart Mwaba Tayali, Godffrey Kapasa Mweshi, David Musona. (2020). Negotiating Employee Contracts Case Study Review Negotiations and Conflict Resolution. Journal of Human Resource Management, 8(3), 139-145. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.201200803.14

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    ACS Style

    Kwesi Atta Sakyi; Esnart Mwaba Tayali; Godffrey Kapasa Mweshi; David Musona. Negotiating Employee Contracts Case Study Review Negotiations and Conflict Resolution. J. Hum. Resour. Manag. 2020, 8(3), 139-145. doi: 10.11648/j.jhrm.201200803.14

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    AMA Style

    Kwesi Atta Sakyi, Esnart Mwaba Tayali, Godffrey Kapasa Mweshi, David Musona. Negotiating Employee Contracts Case Study Review Negotiations and Conflict Resolution. J Hum Resour Manag. 2020;8(3):139-145. doi: 10.11648/j.jhrm.201200803.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jhrm.201200803.14,
      author = {Kwesi Atta Sakyi and Esnart Mwaba Tayali and Godffrey Kapasa Mweshi and David Musona},
      title = {Negotiating Employee Contracts Case Study Review Negotiations and Conflict Resolution},
      journal = {Journal of Human Resource Management},
      volume = {8},
      number = {3},
      pages = {139-145},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jhrm.201200803.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jhrm.201200803.14},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jhrm.201200803.14},
      abstract = {This paper is a review of a case study in human resource management with a slant towards the legal aspect of contract of employment and renegotiation of contracts. As none of the authors is a lawyer, the paper is reviewed from the managerial rather than from the legal point of view. Cindy is the lady employee in question who worked for a company for many years and never thought that a time would come when her employer would transfer her to a far off and forlorn place in the midst of nowhere. Her relocation puts her off and she thought she had been unfairly treated by her employer. In the analysis of the issues at stake in the scenario, the authors came to the conclusion that both Cindy and her employers had merit in their case should they go to court for adjudication and pronouncement of a verdict. Cindy on her part did not follow due process at the onset to ask questions about her job. It seemed also that her employers on their part did not do full disclosure about the nature of the job and the need to relocate staff when necessary. The authors decided to use the exploratory approach methodology in this case study review as there was not much information in the scenario to go by. The case study method has been found to be a suitable method of research that enables a phenomenon to be examined closely at a micro level so that knowledge from a small sample can be extended to cover generalizations of all similar cases, using the deductive and inductive approaches. Therefore the authors made some assumptions and used the deductive and inductive approach to arrive at logical conclusions. This article is therefore a narrative article and a commentary that does not include any primary research material. Readers are free to come to their own conclusions on the merit of the case as the main objective of the authors of this article is to generate knowledge for academic discourse. Human Resource practitioners and theoreticians will hopefully find the article stimulating food for thought and pertinent to their work.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Negotiating Employee Contracts Case Study Review Negotiations and Conflict Resolution
    AU  - Kwesi Atta Sakyi
    AU  - Esnart Mwaba Tayali
    AU  - Godffrey Kapasa Mweshi
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    AB  - This paper is a review of a case study in human resource management with a slant towards the legal aspect of contract of employment and renegotiation of contracts. As none of the authors is a lawyer, the paper is reviewed from the managerial rather than from the legal point of view. Cindy is the lady employee in question who worked for a company for many years and never thought that a time would come when her employer would transfer her to a far off and forlorn place in the midst of nowhere. Her relocation puts her off and she thought she had been unfairly treated by her employer. In the analysis of the issues at stake in the scenario, the authors came to the conclusion that both Cindy and her employers had merit in their case should they go to court for adjudication and pronouncement of a verdict. Cindy on her part did not follow due process at the onset to ask questions about her job. It seemed also that her employers on their part did not do full disclosure about the nature of the job and the need to relocate staff when necessary. The authors decided to use the exploratory approach methodology in this case study review as there was not much information in the scenario to go by. The case study method has been found to be a suitable method of research that enables a phenomenon to be examined closely at a micro level so that knowledge from a small sample can be extended to cover generalizations of all similar cases, using the deductive and inductive approaches. Therefore the authors made some assumptions and used the deductive and inductive approach to arrive at logical conclusions. This article is therefore a narrative article and a commentary that does not include any primary research material. Readers are free to come to their own conclusions on the merit of the case as the main objective of the authors of this article is to generate knowledge for academic discourse. Human Resource practitioners and theoreticians will hopefully find the article stimulating food for thought and pertinent to their work.
    VL  - 8
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    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Directorate of Research Consultancy and Innovation, ZCAS University, Lusaka, Zambia

  • Department of Work Employment and Organization, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland

  • Department of Social Sciences, ZCAS University, Lusaka, Zambia

  • Department of Accounting and Finance, ZCAS University, Lusaka, Zambia

  • Section