In the light of the long-standing concern in management regarding the gap that can arise between organizational policy prescriptions and line-management practice, the purpose of this article is to provide insights into the nature and causes of that gap. The particular focus of analysis is the line manager's role in facilitating the employment security of employees who have contracted serious illness, injuries or disabilities. More specifically, the article presents findings from four case-study organizations in the UK, and identifies a number of factors that militate against the ability of line managers to comply with organizational policies on the provision of workplace adjustments and employment security for ill or disabled workers. These factors include: contradictory policy requirements, weaknesses in training, lack of support from relevant internal and external specialists and various work and budgetary pressures. The authors suggest four areas of action that may begin to reduce the potential for conflicts between management and employees, and minimize the legal vulnerability of organizations in an area of increasing domestic and international regulation.

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The aim of this paper is to consider the extent to which the comparative capitalism literature fully reflects the available empirical evidence in its attempts to model different versions of capitalism, and in particular whether it adequately captures the roles of diverse stakeholders within the capitalist system. In doing so, particular attention is accorded to the varieties of capitalism literature, business systems theory and regulation theory. In addition, there is reflection in the paper on whether any strand of the literature is able to deal effectively with the recent economic crisis and systemic change. It is argued that more attention needs to be devoted to exploring the structural causes of change, and the marginalization of the interests of key social groupings, most notably workers, from the process of institutional redesign.

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The varieties of capitalism and employment relations literature have largely focused on formally regulated market economies, with a general neglect of the informal economy and of emerging markets where this work arrangement is dominant. In this article, however, the intention is to propose the Informally Dominated Market Economy as a form of capitalism that could be usefully incorporated into the industrial relations literature. To start to unpack this variety of capitalism, this article explores institutions and employment relations practices in the African economy of Mozambique. The outcome is a conceptual framework that includes both formal and informal institutions and considers the implications for work and employment relations.