3. Research into the Management of Employee Relations at Templeton College, Oxford
| Date | 01 May 1986 |
| Pages | 15-22 |
| Published date | 01 May 1986 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb055080 |
| Author | John Purcell,Roger Undy |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
3. Research into the
Management of Employee
Relations at Templeton
College, Oxford
by John Purcell and Roger Undy
Introduction
The Oxford Institute for Employee Relations (OXIFER) is a small research and teaching
community based at Templeton College, Oxford — previously known as the Oxford
Centre for Management Studies. This article describes the origins and goals of the
institute and the current research projects. The common themes arising from the
different projects are discussed in the concluding part.
Industrial relations research has been an important feature of the work of Templeton
College for many years. The decision to form a community of researchers and teachers
in the college in 1985, under the heading of the Oxford Institute for Employee Relations,
had its origins in three linked events. In 1983, the University of Oxford approved a new
postgraduate degree called MSc in Management (Industrial Relations). This was
administered and largely taught by academics based at Templeton. The following year
successful bids for research grants by John Purcell, Bill McCarthy and Roger Undy
resulted in the recruitment of four full-time researchers to complement the
long-
standing research work of Sid Jennings on the industrial relations training audit. A
natural affinity of interests existed between researchers and teachers concerned with
the MSc. Thirdly, the benefaction of John Templeton allowed the college to expand both
its management teaching and research activities, and an increasing flow of managers on
short courses were attracted to the
college.
Industrial or employee relations teaching for
such managers was, and is, frequently required, and researchers are often invited to
teach on these post-experience programmes.
This strong
overlap,
between teaching
a
variety of people from senior managers through
doctoral and other postgraduate students to undergraduates, and active field research
has strongly influenced the aim of the institute. Both research and teaching must be
relevant — concerned with
"real"
issues and policy oriented. When the institute was
formed in 1985, under the joint direction of Roger Undy and John Purcell, three research
goals were established. We aimed:
(1) To link advanced research with teaching and the widespread dissemination of our
findings, and to view the process of teaching and research as integrated elements
of our work. Thus, in addition to our field work, we run specialist one-day
seminars, a one-week programme for senior managers, contribute to company
and public programmes organised at the college, and organise workshops for
participants in our research activities.
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