Engaging and entertaining in equal measure, Human Resource Management is a book about work, the people who do it and the way they are managed (and mismanaged). Raising issues that are often neglected in typical HRM texts, such as work intensification and unemployment; it explores the realities of work, workers, and the communities that are affected by HRM policy and practice. Grugulis draws on current research to provide a critical and reflective overview of the key debates in HRM today. Conceived by Chris Grey as an antidote to conventional textbooks, each book in the 'Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap' series takes a core area of the curriculum and turns it on its head by providing a critical and sophisticated overview of the key issues and debates in an informal, conversational and often humorous way. Suitable for students of HRM, professionals working in organizations and anyone with an interest in the nature of human resources.

The nature of services in society and the economy is wide-ranging and complex, and the management of services and their innovation provokes a number challenges for practitioners, professionals, and academics. This book provides a range of perspectives on understanding, managing, and reconceptualising service by bringing together contributions from leading figures in service research, to make a timely and significant multi-disciplinary contribution to the theory and practice of service management. The book presents a collection of contemporary perspectives on service management challenges, extending the understanding of service through exploration and critique of service organizational and managerial strategies from selected theoretical and empirical perspectives. Amongst other contributions, it reviews the distinctive role and importance of service to academics, professionals, and practitioners; identifies appropriate bridging strategies; evaluates selected aspects of the practice of service management, and investigates the challenges inherent in managing services; reviews the nature, direction, and applicability of selected theoretical dimensions which inform the understanding of service management; considers contemporary innovations in services and service management; and assesses the opportunities for theory building, to further support understanding of the complexities of service management and its impact on organisations and wider society. It will be of interest to graduate students, academics and practitioners in service management.

"The Skills That Matter" is a collection written by leading scholars from the UK, Europe, the USA and Australia in the area of skills acquisition, formation and development. It combines academic evidence and policy debates with a critical analysis, making it an asset to students of HRM, industrial relations, sociology of work and business and management at both undergraduate and postgraduate level as well as being a useful resource to researchers and policy makers working in the field of skill formation.

Customer service is at the center of many recent changes in work and organizations and is often celebrated as being of benefit to all. This book explores the real nature of customer service from different critical perspectives drawing on a wide range of sectors internationally.