Hugh Cook
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Profile
Qualifications
2006: MA Human Resource Management, Distinction, University of Leeds
2004: BSc Psychology, 2:1, University of Liverpool
Associations and Professional Memberships:
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
British Universities Industrial Relations Associations (BUIRA)
Experience
2011-Present: Lecturer in Employment Relations and HRM
2011-Present: Head of 1st Year HRM
2009-2010: Research Fellow, Leeds
2007-2011: Part time Teaching Assistant & Associate Lecturer, Leeds
2007-2011: ESRC funded Doctoral Research Fellow, Leeds
Research
My research centres around work, employment, and the employment relationship, with a specific focus on systems of human resource management. Current research interests are firstly from finalising doctoral research with a major UK retail establishment. Specific interests are how strategic HRM practices are implemented, how they perceived by the workforce, and complementarities between individual HRM practices. Qualitative investigation of these systems and how they are implemented in organisations has been found to be lacking in the current knowledge base, so this has formed the bulk of the doctoral research. The extension of the project to evaluate the impact of partnership with an independent union has broadened my interest to the developing roles of trades unions within private sector organisations, and their effectiveness at returning benefits to employees and members. I am also interested in the contribution of trade unions to skills provision in the UK economy, in particular, partnerships with employers around the learning agenda and how this contributes more broadly to debates around union modernisation and renewal. This has research has stemmed from a key involvement on the most rigorous evaluation of union-led learning undertaken to date, which generated important interest from the current Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills. Finally, I have been involved with comparative research into non-standard employment in the construction industry, which remains an ongoing interest.
Teaching
LUBS1080: Personal Tutorials for Human Resource Management
LUBS2880: Management Research Practice
LUBS3065: Controversies in Employment Relations
LUBS5307M: HRM Research Methods and Practice
Publications
Journal articles:
• Forde, C., MacKenzie, R., Robinson, A., Cook, H., Eriksson, B., Larsson, P. & Bergman, A. (2010) Contingent work in construction: results from a two country study. Industrial Relations Journal.
Book contribution:
• In – Field, A. (2009) Discovering Statistics Using SPSS. Sage publications with Shift-Media. Produced multiple choice questions to accompany each chapter of this statistics textbook for the companion website.
Other published articles and reports:
• Stuart, M. & Cook, H. (2011) Sustaining union-led learning: findings from the UPO follow-on survey. London: Unionlearn
• Stuart, M., Cutter, J., Cook, H. & Winterton, J. (2010) Evaluation of the Union Learning Fund Rounds 8-11 and unionlearn: Final Report. London: TUC
• Stuart, M., Cook, H., Cutter, J. & Winterton, J. (2010) CERIC Policy Report No. 4. Assessing the impact of union learning and the Union Learning Fund: union and employer perspectives. CERIC. April 2010.
• Stuart, M., Cook, H., Cutter, J. & Winterton, J. (2010) Evaluation of the Union Learning Fund and unionlearn: Preliminary findings. London: Unionlearn
• Vincent, S. & Cook. H. (2008) Evaluating learning and assessment methods for teaching management research. A project report prepared under the auspices of the “Research into Teaching” Initiative.
Conference papers and presentations:
• Stuart, M., Cook, H., Cutter, J. & Winterton, J. (2011) Learning as a ‘core’ agenda issue for unions in Britain. Paper accepted for the Industrial Relations in Europe Conference 2011, Barcelona, Spain.
• Stuart, M., Cook, H., Cutter, J. & Winterton, J. (2011) The impact of union-management learning agreements on HRD practice in Britain. Paper presented at the 12th International Human Resource Development Conference. Cheltenham, UK.
• Cook, H. (2011) HRM and performance: qualitative progress at the largest private sector employer in the UK. Paper presented at the 29th International Labour Process Conference. Leeds, UK.
• Stuart, M., Cutter, J., Cook, H. & Winterton, J. (2011) Who stands to gain from union-led learning in the UK? Paper presented at the 29th International Labour Process Conference. Leeds, UK.
• Cook, H. (2011) The retail sector: HRM, partnership and the recession. Paper presented at the ILPC CERIC doctoral conference.
• Stuart, M., Cook, H., Cutter, J. & Winterton, J. (2010) The state of union-led learning in Britain. Paper presented at the 28th International Labour Process Conference. Rutgers, New Jersey.
• Cook, H. (2009) Unpacking complexities of the ‘high performance human resource management and establishment performance’ debate using qualitative research in the retail sector. Paper for the 15th International Industrial Relations Association. Sydney, Australia.
• Cook, H. (2009) A qualitative study of HRM in the retail sector: beginning the fieldwork. Presented at the 2009 Centre for Employment Relations Innovation and Change annual doctoral conference.
• Cook, H. (2008) Reviewing the literature on HRM and organisational performance. Presented at the 2008 Centre for Employment Relations Innovation and Change annual doctoral conference.