HRM and the pursuit of a service culture: Managerial encounters with competing discourses

Aims to draw attention to how managers actively re-construct inherent contradictions characterising the employment relationship that in the service sector, are rooted in drives for increased efficiency and customer-oriented behaviours. Design/methodology/approach - Presents a case study of the human resource implications of changes taking place within a contract catering firm seeking to attain "world class" service delivery. Findings - Finds that managers' accounts of "the reality" of change were constructed upon three overlapping and competing discourses - labelled "enagagement", "enterprise" and "compliance". Originality/value - Highlights the active role of discourse in the management of HRM and organisational change