Individualism versus collectivism within academia: implications for managing the academic employment relationship

The Howard Government's recent proposed industrial reform for higher education has sparked renewed interest in the debate about individualism and collectivism, most obviously where contracts of employment are concerned. However contract individualism is not the only means by which an employment relationship may be individualised, and there is a growing body of research that considers the use of certain HRM practices to individualise the employment relationship as well. Within academia and tertiary education in particular, the perception of a strong history of collectivism is seen to be under attack from certain HRM initiatives, in particular the notion of performance management, which is seen by some as an attempt to strategically individualise the employment relationship. With the Coalition Government supporting a move to both individual contracts and performance management within the academic employment relationship, it is timely to consider the nature of this relationship. The focus of this study therefore is the changing scope of the employment relationship, within universities, and whether universities are using performance functions (either on their own, or in addition to, individual employment contracts) to drive this individualisation further. It would appear from this initial exploratory analysis that the relationship is changing, though the desire to individualise does not seem to be an agenda pushed by the employer.