updated: 23 August 2007


 

Labour flexibility
Labour flexibility can be defined as the ability and/or willingness of workers to work at variable times, places, wages or functions.
See also flexible labour.
 
Labour market
Labour is a commodity that has market value. The term refers to the general supply of labour in an economy.
 
Labour market participation
This term refers to the proportion of the population of working age (the exact age parameters vary from nation to nation but are the starting point is usually the official school leaving age and the end point the official retirement age) that is active on the labour market and therefore forms the supply side of the labour market.
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Labour Market Segmentation (LMS)
This theory assumes that the labour market is not a homogeneous entity, but, instead, composed of two or more segments. The underlying mechanisms and structures at work with regard to payment, promotion, job security, etc. differ fundamentally between segments. In its original form, LMS distinguished two segments: a secondary and a primary sector.
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Labour market segregation
This term is mostly used to indicate unequal chances on the labour market of men and women (or of different ethnic groups) because of the existence of barriers to labour market mobility. Employment may be segregated both horizontally and vertically.
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Labour-market flexibility
Labour market flexibility is a form of labour market regulation that gives priority to variable company needs for labour by ensuring a supply of workers at variable wages, times and working conditions and allowing companies to develop external flexibility . It implies weak employment protection regulation (EPR) as well as differentiation of labour contracts and decentralisation of wage setting.
See also flexibility of labour, externalisation and atypical work.
 
Labour market mobility
Labour market mobility refers to changes in the position on the labour market of an individual.
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Lean organisation
The concept of a 'Lean organisation' is one of several production paradigms.
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Lean production
The lean production concept is the generalisation of the philosophy of just-in-time (JIT) to the whole organisation of production. An organisation of production aiming at minimising labour and overhead costs, eliminating stockpiling, minimising down-time caused by gaps in the production chain.
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Learning organisation
A 'learning organisation', one of several production paradigms, is also frequently referred to as a High Performance Work Organisation System (HPWS) and is typically defined as the opposite of a mass production model.
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Learning on the job/ off the job
Learning at work does indeed take many forms, although traditionally it has been divided into just two modes: on-the-job (informal) and off-the-job (formal).
(Source: The Impact of Informal Learning at Work on Business Productivity, www.dti.gov.uk)
The phrase 'off-the-job' could be used 'to indicate a spell of training which takes place within a contract of employment, but not as part of the day-to-day tasks associated with that employment'.
(TARGETED SOCIO-ECONOMIC RESEARCH PROGRAMME, N° PL 95 2124, Schooling, Training and Transitions: An Economic Perspective (STT), EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, March 2000, Co-ordinated by Catherine Sofer, LEO-CRESEP, University of Orléans.)
 
Life-long learning
Education as part of living is a concept that Basil Yeaxlee developed in the first book-length exploration of lifelong education in 1929. The concept emphasises on the understanding of education as a continuing aspect of everyday life.
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Locational flexibility
See Spatial flexibility
 
Logistics
The logistics function involves ensuring that the necessary labour, raw materials, infrastructure and equipment to carry out a particular task are all available in the right quantities at the time and place they are needed.
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Low road work organisation flexibility practices
'Low road work organisation' is a term for company practices that seek competitiveness through management methods that are aimed at price competition rather than quality competition, and entail downgrading rather than upgrading human resources. They include low wages, labour churning (hire and fire practices), extensive overtime, temporary work and piecework. See also high road work organisation flexibility practices.