This important, agenda-setting book addresses the key question in employment relations: Where next? It demonstrates that an institutional vacuum is emerging. As managerial demands for decentralized, individualized arrangements have intensified, collective bargaining has declined, yet few employment management innovations have arisen to replace or supplement these traditional collective processes. P B Beaumont first examines the strengths and weaknesses of collective bargaining and the impact of human resource management policies and practices. He then considers some of the alternative institutional arrangements, including works councils, that might fill the current gap. Throughout, the analysis is set firmly within the broader public policy context, and stresses the need to address the ramifications for employment relations of different national approaches to competitiveness.