Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T19:57:49.916Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Exploring Skill Ecosystems in the Australian Meat Processing Industry: Unions, Employers and Institutional Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Richard Cooney ,
Marjorie Jerrard ,
Ross Donohue  and
Nell Kimberley
Richard Cooney
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Monash University
Marjorie Jerrard
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Monash University
Ross Donohue
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Monash University
Nell Kimberley
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Monash University
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This article discusses the concept of the skill ecosystem in the context of the network oriented literature on learning and skill acquisition. Three critical features of skill ecosystems are identified and then applied to an analysis of the abattoir sector of the Australian meat processing industry. The analysis highlights the important role of the employee union in the skill ecosystem, including maintaining a flow of new entrants into the sector. The article then examines the impact of major institutional change, through the deregulation of industrial relations, on the ecosystem. It concludes by discussing the applicability of the skill ecosystem concept to a mature, low-skill industry such as meat processing and then draws some conclusions about the limitations of the skill ecosystem concept itself.

Keywords

Industrial relationsmeat processing industrytrade unionsworkforce development
Type
Symposium: Innovation, Skills and Training
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , December 2010 , pp. 121 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2010

References

Agri-food Industry Skills Council (2008) Meat processing: Work in the industry, available: http//www.agrifoodskills.net.au/display_main.php?id=about-meat[accessed 8 July 2008].Google Scholar
AMIEU (2005) Recruitment and retention of labour within the meat industry, Discussion paper commissioned by Graham Smith, State Secretary, AMIEU (SA), Adelaide.Google Scholar
Anderson, P. (2010) ‘The utility of operationalising the concept of skill ecosystems’, Employee Relations, 32(4), pp.435–452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batista, W. M. (2010) The future for the red meat industry. Keynote address to the Australian Meat Industry Council, by CEO and President JBS USA, AMIC Meat Industry Conference, 2 September, Sheraton Mirage Resort, Gold Coast.Google Scholar
Belussi, E (1996) ‘Local systems, industrial districts and institutional networks: Towards a new evolutionary paradigm of industrial economics?’, European Planning Studies, 4(1), pp. 5–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clough, B (2007) ‘The union learning representative: Challenges and opportunities’ in Buttigeig, D., Cockfield, S., Cooney, R., Jerrard, M. and Rainnie, M.A. (eds), Unions in the Community: Values, Issues, Shared Interests and Alliances, Heidelberg Press, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Cooke, P. and Morgan, K. (2000), The Associational Economy. Firms, Regions and Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Creswell, J. W. (1994), Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, Sage Publications, London.Google Scholar
Crouch, C. (2005) ‘Skill formation systems’ in Ackroyd, S., Batt, R., Thompson, P. and Tolbert, P. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Work and Organization, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 95–114.Google Scholar
Crouch, C., Le Gales, P., Trigillia, C. and Voelzkow, H., (eds) (2001), Local Production Systems in Europe: Rise or Demise?, Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Davies, S. (2008), ‘Union Learning Reps in a high tech industry’, Journal of Education and Work, 21(4), pp. 297–315.Google Scholar
DEEWR (2009) Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Job Outlook, available: http://joboutlook.gov.au/Pages/occupation.aspx [accessed 16 July 2010].Google Scholar
De Garis, D. (2010) The GFC — What the future holds for business, Address to the Australian Meat Industry Council by the Director and Senior Economist, National Australia Bank, AMIC Meat Industry Conference, 2 September, Sheraton Mirage Resort, Gold Coast.Google Scholar
Denzin, N. (1989) The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, Third edition.Google Scholar
Eisenhardt, K. (1989) ‘Building theories from case study research’, Academy of Management Review, 14(4), pp. 532–550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erickson, C. and Jacoby, S. (2003) ‘The effect of employer networks on workplace innovation and training’, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 56(2), pp. 203–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finegold, D. (1999) ‘Creating self-sustaining, high-skill ecosystems’, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 15(1), pp. 60–81.Google Scholar
Florida, R. (1995) ‘Toward the Learning Region’, Futures, 27(5), pp. 527–536.Google Scholar
Forrant, R and Flynn, E. (1998) ‘Seizing agglomeration’s potential: The Greater Springfield Massachusetts metalworking sector in transition, 1986–1996’, Regional Studies, 32(3), pp. 209–222.Google Scholar
Glaser, B. (1998), Doing Grounded Theory: Issues and Discussions, Sociology Press, Mill Valley, CA.Google Scholar
Grattan, M. (2006) ‘Meat industry to get temps deal’, The Age, 4 August.Google Scholar
Hall, R. and Lansbury, R. (2006) ‘Skills in Australia: Towards workforce development and sustainable skill ecosystems’, Journal of Industrial Relations, 48(5), pp. 575–592.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harper, G. and Makatouni, A. (2002) ‘Consumer perception of organic food production and farm animal welfare’, British Food Journal, 104(3/4/5), pp. 287–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawke, A. and Wooden, M. (1998) ‘The changing face of Australian industrial relations: A survey’, The Economic Record, 74(224), pp. 74–88.Google Scholar
Huggins, R. (1998) ‘Local business cooperation and Training Enterprise Councils: The development of inter-firm networks’, Regional Studies, 32(9), pp. 813–826.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jerrard, M.A. (2000) ‘“Dinosaurs are not dead”: The AMIEU (Qld) and industrial relations change’, Journal of Industrial Relations, 42(1), pp. 3–38.Google Scholar
Jerrard, M. (2006) ‘Meat industry unions: Industry restructuring and employment relations change in New Zealand and Australia’, New Zealand Journal of Industrial Relations, 31(1), pp. 37–59.Google Scholar
Jerrard, M. A. (2007) ‘Building alliances to protect jobs: The AMIEU’s response to live animal export’, In Buttigieg, D., Cockfield, S., Cooney, R., Jerrard, M. and Rainnie, A. (eds), Trade Unions in the Community: Values, Issues, Shared Interests and Alliances, Heidelberg Press, Melbourne, pp. 185–200.Google Scholar
Jerrard, M., Donohue, R., Kimberley, N. and Cooney, R. (2008) ‘Reinventing meat-workers: Old skills but new careers for the twenty-first century?’ Employment Relations Record, 8(1), pp. 51–67.Google Scholar
Kay, S. (2010) Issues and opportunities, Address to the Australian Meat Industry Council by the Editor and Publisher, Cattle Buyers Weekly, Petaluma, California. AMIC Meat Industry Conference, 2 September 2010, Sheraton Mirage Resort, Gold Coast.Google Scholar
Keeble, D., Lawson, C., Moore, B. and Wilkinson, E (1999) ‘Collective learning processes, networking and “institutional thickness” in the Cambridge Region’, Regional Studies, 33(4), pp. 319–332.Google Scholar
Kilpatrick, S. and Bound, H. (2005), Skilling a Seasonal Workforce: A Way Forward For Rural Regions, Australian National Training Authority, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Lee, T., Mitchell, T. and Sablynski, C. (1999) ‘Qualitative research in organizational and vocational psychology, 1979–1999’, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 55(2), pp. 161–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maskell, P. and Malmberg, A. (1999) The competitiveness of firms and regions. “Ubiquitification” and the importance of localised settings’, European Urban and Regional Studies, 6(1), pp. 9–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mintzberg, H. (1979) ‘An emerging strategy of “direct” research’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, pp. 582–589.Google Scholar
Morgan, G. and Smircich, L. (1980) ‘The case for qualitative research’, The Academy of Management Review, 5(4), pp. 491–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Notter, D. (2002) ‘Opportunities to reduce seasonality of breeding in sheep selection’, Sheep and Goat Research Journal, 17(3), pp.21–32.Google Scholar
O’Connor, G. and O’Connnor, K. (2006) A cut above’, Well Worthwhile, Agri-food Industry Skills Council. Canberra.Google Scholar
O’Leary, P. and Sheldon, P. (2008) ‘Strategic choices and unintended consequences: Employer militancy in Victoria’s meat industry, 1986–1993’, Labour History, 95, pp. 223–242.Google Scholar
Payne, J. (2008) ‘Skills in context: What can the UK learn from Australia’s skill ecosystem projects?’ Policy and Politics, 36(3), pp. 307–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillimore, J. (2000) ‘The limits of supply-side social democracy: Australian Labor, 1983–96’, Politics and Society, 28(4), pp. 557–587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Provan, K. and Human, S. (1999), ‘Organizational learning and the role of the network broker in small firm manufacturing’, in Grandori, A. (ed.), Interfirm Networks. Organizational and Industrial Competitiveness, Routledge, New York, pp. 185–207.Google Scholar
Ransom, E. (2007) ‘The rise of agricultural animal welfare standards as understood through a neo-institutional lens’, Journal of Sociology of Food and Agriculture, 15(3), pp. 26–44.Google Scholar
Schröder, M. and McEachern, M. (2004) ‘Consumer value conflicts surrounding ethical food purchase decisions: A Focus on animal welfare’, International Journal of Consumer Studies, 28(2), pp. 168–177.Google Scholar
Smith, G. (2006) Unpublished interview with State Secretary, AMIEU (SA), 13 November, Adelaide.Google Scholar
Stewart, G. (2002) ‘The decline and fall of the tally system in the meat processing industry’, Australian Bulletin of Labour. 28(3), pp. 184–197.Google Scholar
Stuart, M. and Cooney, R. (2008) ‘Training and the limits of supply-side skill development’, Industrial Relations Journal. 39(5), pp. 346–353.Google Scholar
Stuart, M., Cook, H., Cutter, J. and Winterton, J. (2010) Assessing the impact of union learning and the Union Learning Fund: Union and employer perspectives, CERIC Policy Report No. 4. University of Leeds.Google Scholar
Sunday (2001) Channel 9, 8 April. Statement made by Kevin O’Connor, CEO of G. and K. O’Connor, Pakenham, Victoria.Google Scholar
Vere, D. T. and Griffith, G. (1995) ‘Modifying quantitative forecasts of livestock production using expert judgements: An application to the Australian lamb industry’, Journal of Forecasting, 14, pp. 453–464.Google Scholar
Windsor, K. (2006), Skill Ecosystem National Project: Mid-term evaluation report, NSW Department of Education and Training, Darlinghurst.Google Scholar
Windsor, K. and Alcorso, C. (2008), Skills in Context: A Guide to the Skill Ecosystem Approach to Workforce Development, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Canberra.Google Scholar
Work Choices Act (2005), Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act No. 153, 2005, Parliament of Australia, Canberra.Google Scholar