Professor Peter Berg

Fulbright Senior Scholar

Media Profile

“Among economically advanced countries, Australian workers are experiencing the most dramatic changes in employment, placing it high on the public policy agenda. My research on flexible working time practices has the potential to help companies understand the specific conditions under which working time flexibility policies raise employee well-being, improve family functioning, and enhance organisational commitment, along with providing insight to unions about their role in creating positive outcomes for workers from flexible working time practices.”

Peter Berg is an Associate Professor of Industrial Relations at Michigan State University. He is one of four Americans granted a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award to Australia in 2005. Professor Berg will conduct his research in conjunction with the University of Sydney, School of Business, Department of Work and Organisational Studies (WOS) examining the effect of flexible working time practices on Australian workers.

Professor Berg is one of the leading international young scholars in the field of labour relations and human resources. He was awarded the 2000 Outstanding Young Scholar Award by the Labor and Employment Relations Association, and co-authored the award-winning book “Manufacturing Advantage” and edited “Creating Competitive Capacity” addressing critical issues at the forefront of today’s industrial relations. His research in the U.S. and Germany, has been funded by prominent organisations such as the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation and the German Marshall Fund.

With plunging public support for the latest Australian industrial relations changes, the issue of working time has become a matter of growing public and research concern to Australians in recent years. Professor Berg’s research proposal addresses key questions about workplace flexibility and human resource management. Using a multilayered empirical research methodology, Professor Berg will examine whether workers have positive or negative experiences with various flexible working time practices. He will also measure their level of job satisfaction and resulting organisational commitment.

 “Non-standard employment arrangements and flexible working time practices have increased substantially in Australia over the last ten years,” Professor Berg explains. “My research will examine if these changes have positive or negative experiences for the Australian working public and also define the specific conditions under which work time flexibility policies can benefit both employees and employers.”