Swimming against the tide: Social partnership, mutual gains and the revival of 'tired' HRM

This paper explores the theoretical antecedents underpinning the social partnership approach and examines the motives behind, and the potential benefits of, the partnership agenda as a model for the future of employment relations. It puts forward an analysis that eschews a simplistic 'good' or 'bad' interpretation of partnership. Instead, it argues for a framework that is sensitive to its evolution and complex construction. Central to this approach is the recognition that both management and trade unions are faced with a series of complex choices in responding to partnership, and that the evolution and outcomes of partnership are influenced by the prevailing economic environment, regulatory infrastructure and political ideology. The paper suggests that in the context of the UK partnership represents an attempt to renew what we consider to be the 'tired' project of HRM, in order to overcome the historic difficulties of constructing the project of the high-performance workplace. © 2004 Taylor and Francis Ltd.