IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/indrel/v51y2020i4p351-371.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pay progression in routinised service sector work: navigating the internal labour market in a fast food multinational company

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Butler
  • Anita Hammer

Abstract

The United Kingdom's widespread use of low‐skill, low‐paid employment has been well documented. It has been argued internal labour markets (ILMs) benefit such workers, affording them with opportunities for progression. Relatively little is known, however, about the impact of ILMs on entry level workers undertaking routinised service sector work. Drawing on qualitative data, this article explores the prospects on offer in a market leading, fast food multinational company. Potential enabling features include on‐the‐job training, a transparent and integrated pay structure and a professed culture of progression. Occupational movements to positions above the low‐pay threshold are, however, relatively rare. We conjecture this contradiction is the result of the business context in which the firm operates. The findings suggest that in sectors where price leadership strategies dominate, escape from low pay is likely to be exceptional, even within large organisations featuring some of the classic characteristics of ‘pure’ or strong ILMs.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Butler & Anita Hammer, 2020. "Pay progression in routinised service sector work: navigating the internal labour market in a fast food multinational company," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 351-371, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:51:y:2020:i:4:p:351-371
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12302
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12302
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/irj.12302?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arnaldo Camuffo, 2002. "The Changing Nature of Internal Labor Markets," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 6(4), pages 281-294, December.
    2. Ron Dekker & Andries de Grip & Hans Heijke, 2002. "The effects of training and overeducation on career mobility in a segmented labour market," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(2), pages 106-125, March.
    3. Siebert, W S & Addison, J T, 1991. "Internal Labour Markets: Causes and Consequences," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 7(1), pages 76-92, Spring.
    4. Nicholas Ind, 1997. "The Corporate Brand," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: The Corporate Brand, chapter 1, pages 1-13, Palgrave Macmillan.
    5. Nicholas Ind, 1997. "The Corporate Brand," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-37588-8.
    6. Damian Grimshaw & Kevin G. Ward & Jill Rubery & Huw Beynon, 2001. "Organisations and the Transformation of the Internal Labour Market," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 15(1), pages 25-54, March.
    7. Grimshaw, Damian & Rubery, Jill, 1998. "Integrating the Internal and External Labour Markets," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 22(2), pages 199-220, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Damian Grimshaw & Marcela Miozzo, 2021. "Human Capital and productivity: a call for new interdisciplinary research," Working Papers 006, The Productivity Institute.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robert MacKenzie & Christopher J McLachlan, 2023. "Restructuring, Redeployment and Job Churning within Internal Labour Markets," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(6), pages 1480-1496, December.
    2. John M T Balmer & Wei-Yue Wang, 2016. "The corporate brand and strategic direction: Senior business school managers’ cognitions of corporate brand building and management," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(1), pages 8-21, January.
    3. Vlad I. Rosca & Cristina Veronica Partenie, 2018. "A theoretical overview on understanding customer-based brand equity," Journal of Community Positive Practices, Catalactica NGO, issue 4, pages 19-28.
    4. Endi Isnarno & Harry Soesanto & Andriyansah, 2018. "Developing the Reputation of Distribution Network to Increase the Buying Interest of Electronic Payment: An Empirical Study," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(1), pages 133-143.
    5. Balmer, John M.T. & Lin, Zhibin & Chen, Weifeng & He, Xinming, 2020. "The role of corporate brand image for B2B relationships of logistics service providers in China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 850-861.
    6. Vicenta Sierra & Oriol Iglesias & Stefan Markovic & Jatinder Jit Singh, 2017. "Does Ethical Image Build Equity in Corporate Services Brands? The Influence of Customer Perceived Ethicality on Affect, Perceived Quality, and Equity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(3), pages 661-676, September.
    7. Yu-Te Tu & Heng-Chi Chih, 2013. "An Empirical Study of Corporate Brand Image, Customer Perceived Value and Satisfaction on Loyalty in Shoe Industry," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 5(7), pages 469-483.
    8. Ana Oliveira Madsen & Valentina Chkonia, 2021. "Tendencies Regarding Fish Consumption - The Case of Portugal (Europe’s Leader - 3rd in the World)," European Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies Articles, Revistia Research and Publishing, vol. 7, January -.
    9. Yu-Te Tu & Yu-Yi Chang, 2014. "Customer Commitment as a Mediating Variable between Corporate Brand Image and Customer Loyalty," Journal of Education and Vocational Research, AMH International, vol. 5(1), pages 17-27.
    10. Jooyoung Hwang & Anita Eves & Jason L. Stienmetz, 2021. "The Impact of Social Media Use on Consumers’ Restaurant Consumption Experiences: A Qualitative Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-33, June.
    11. Narissara Sujchaphong & Bang Nguyen & T. C. Melewar & Pakorn Sujchaphong & Junsong Chen, 2020. "A framework of brand-centred training and development activities, transformational leadership and employee brand support in higher education," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(2), pages 143-159, March.
    12. Peter Witt & Verena Rode, 2005. "Corporate Brand Building In Start-Ups," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 13(03), pages 273-294.
    13. Tournois, Laurent, 2015. "Does the value manufacturers (brands) create translate into enhanced reputation? A multi-sector examination of the value–satisfaction–loyalty–reputation chain," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 83-96.
    14. Yu-Te Tu & Hsiao-Chien Chang, 2012. "Corporate Brand Image and Customer Satisfaction on Loyalty: An Empirical Study of Starbucks Coffee in Taiwan," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 3(1), pages 24-32.
    15. Nuttasorn Ketprapakorn & Sooksan Kantabutra, 2019. "Sustainable Social Enterprise Model: Relationships and Consequences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-39, July.
    16. Konecnik Ruzzier, Maja & de Chernatony, Leslie, 2013. "Developing and applying a place brand identity model: The case of Slovenia," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 45-52.
    17. Emilie Lanciano & Michio Nitta, 2010. "How do Japanese and French firms in steel industry address the institutional change and the globalization? Employment adjustment and age management in a downsizing context," Post-Print halshs-00521458, HAL.
    18. Balmer, John M.T. & Mahmoud, Rudiana & Chen, Weifeng, 2020. "Impact of multilateral place dimensions on corporate brand attractiveness and identification in higher education: Business school insights," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 628-641.
    19. Oriol Iglesias & Stefan Markovic & Mehdi Bagherzadeh & Jatinder Jit Singh, 2020. "Co-creation: A Key Link Between Corporate Social Responsibility, Customer Trust, and Customer Loyalty," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 151-166, April.
    20. Boukis, Achilleas & Punjaisri, Khanyapuss & Balmer, John M.T. & Kaminakis, Kostas & Papastathopoulos, Avraam, 2021. "Unveiling front-line employees’ brand construal types during corporate brand promise delivery: A multi-study analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 673-685.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:51:y:2020:i:4:p:351-371. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0019-8692 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.