Mark Bray is Foundation Professor of Employment Studies and Head of the Newcastle Business School at the University of Newcastle. Before taking up this position in 1997, he held teaching positions at the universities of New South Wales, Wollongong and Sydney. He has taught both Australian industrial relations and comparative industrial relations over many years, while more recently he has also taught research methods and human resource management. His research interests range from ‘micro’ studies of industrial relations and human resource management in industries like road and air transport, manufacturing and health care to more ‘macro’ studies of national public policy and comparisons between industrial relations in Australia and other countries.

Stephen Deery is Professor of Human Resource and Public Sector Management at King’s College London. Prior to this appointment he was Professor of Industrial Relations and Foundation Head of the Department of Management and Industrial Relations at the University of Melbourne. He has published in the areas of telephone call centres and human resource management, dual commitment, trade unions and organisational performance and employee absence.

Janet Walsh is Reader in Human Resource Management at King’s College London. She has held appointments at Royal Holloway, University of London, the University of Melbourne, Leeds University and the University of Cambridge. Her principal areas of research include HRM and employment systems, working-time, gender and the work-family interface, workforce diversity, HRM practices and multinational corporations and front-line service work and call centres.

Peter Waring B. Com (Hons) PhD Newcastle is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Employment Studies Centre of the Faculty of Business and Law, University of Newcastle, Australia where he also obtained his PhD. Prior to being appointed as research fellow, Peter was a lecturer in industrial relations and management at the Newcastle Business School. In addition to his industrial relations teaching experience, Peter also lectures in the fields of human resource management and negotiation and advocacy. Before commencing a career in academia, Peter was employed as an industrial relations advisor and advocate for a major Australian trade union.

Peter has published in a wide variety of journals including Australian Bulletin of Labour, Personnel Review, Journal of Business Ethics, Asia Pacific Business Review and Journal of Industrial Relations. His current research interests include investigating relationships between financial markets and employment relations practice within public corporations. Peter’s international teaching experience includes teaching for the University of Newcastle in Malaysia and Hong Kong as well as for the University of Adelaide’s Graduate School of Business in Singapore and Hong Kong. He has lived in Penang, Malaysia and in Singapore.