The Operation of Internal Labor Markets
Staffing Practices and Vacancy Chains

Authors: Lawrence T. Pinfield



Employment systems consist of complex arrays of formal and informal rules that structure the relationships between employees and employers. There are many different types of employment systems. Some are specified in considerable detail in collectively bargained quasilegal employment contracts, while others are left to discretion. This book describes the latter type of employment system-one in which there is an active market for knowl- edge and skills. This is the salaried employment system of ForestCo-a large multiplant manufacturing company in the forest products industry. Here, supervisors and managers actively adjust the jobs and persons under their authority to meet the market, social, and institutional forces that influence the activities and performance of their departments. The study of employment systems is a relatively recent phenomenon, and few prior studies or theories were found to guide this investigation. Neither the scope nor the components of employment system studies are yet established. The field is confused and contested. Nevertheless, there is related literature which can be used to focus attention on different features of employment systems. One emerging body of work that holds the most promise for the study of employment systems is internal labor market (lLM) theory.

Table of contents

Front Matter
Pages i-xvi

An Introduction to Internal Labor Markets and ForestCo
Front Matter
Pages 1-1
The Operation of Internal Labor Markets
Pages 3-28
ForestCo
Pages 29-57

Vacancy Chain Perspectives on Internal Labor Markets
Front Matter
Pages 59-59
Vacancy Chains as Bundles of Staffing Actions
Pages 61-77
Minimal Vacancy Chains
Pages 79-103
Medium-Length Vacancy Chains
Pages 105-138
Long Vacancy Chains
Pages 139-161
Back Matter
Pages 163-167

Staffing Action Perspectives on Internal Labor Markets
Front Matter
Pages 169-171
Staffing Practices as Internal Labor Market Processes
Pages 173-201
Staffing as an Administered Process
Pages 203-224
Organizational Staffing and the Posting Process
Pages 225-250
Criteria Used to Evaluate Different Candidates
Pages 251-278
Postselection Considerations of Staffing
Pages 279-303
Back Matter
Pages 305-310

Summary and Review
Front Matter
Pages 311-311
The Operation of Internal Labor Markets
Pages 313-342

Back Matter
Pages 343-356