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The Political Economy of Comparative Employment Relations
Abstract
Book synopsis: The Research Handbook of Comparative Employment Relations is an essential resource for those seeking to understand contemporary developments in the world of work, and the way in which employment relations systems are evolving around the world.
Special consideration is given to the impact of globalisation and the role of multinational corporations, including their consequences for the fate of workers’ rights under existing national systems of employment relations (ER) regulation. This Handbook is unique in taking an explicitly comparative approach by discussing ER developments through a series of paired country comparisons. These chapters include a wide selection of countries from all regions, looking beyond those that are frequently discussed. The expert contributors also examine comparative issues from a range of perspectives, including industrial and employment relations, political economy, comparative politics, and cross-cultural studies. These impressive features make this important reference tool the most comprehensive of its kind.
Academics and students in final-year undergraduate and postgraduate courses interested in employment relations will find this compendium enriching and insightful.
... (Farh, Bartol, Shapiro, & Shin, 2010;Froese, Peltokorpi, & Ko, 2012), global leadership (Bird & Mendenhall, 2006), knowledge management in MNCs (Tippmann, Scott, & Mangematin, 2012), decisions on entry mode (Slangen, 2011), and MNC and international joint venture performance (Liu, Adair, & Bello, 2015). We encourage future research to explore how intercultural communication, such as the quality of communication experience (e.g., Liu et al., 2010) Second, institutions are evolving across the world, though in different paces (Frege & Kelly, 2013). In contrast to the relative stability of institutions in advanced economies, institutions in China often feature frequent changes (Liu, 2013;Liu & Smith, 2016). ...
... And about half of them are published in lower ranking journals (measured by the Chartered Association of Business Schools of the UK list and the Australian Business Deans' Council list). The most employed theoretic orientation among these 33 studies is the political economy perspective (seeTable 10), which focuses on power relationships among various stakeholders such as employers, workers, and government, as well as the political, social, and economic conditions underlying these relationships (c.f.,Akorsu & Cooke, 2011, Frege & Kelly, 2013. While this perspective is not among the mainstream theoretical approaches in international HRM, the political nature of much Chinese outward FDI, the high portion of state-owned Chinese MNCs, and the salient labor issues in Chinese firms abroad make the political economy perspective necessary and powerful in understanding the interactions between Chinese MNCs with various home and host country actors. ...
The purpose of this article is to provide an overview on the state of research in the field in human resource management (HRM) issues in multinational corporations (MNCs) in and from China. We integrate previous studies from multiple disciplines to articulate the contextual importance of research on this topic, and suggest overarching themes to expand the field of research. HRM research in the intercultural, interinstitutional context of MNCs in and from China has the potential to provide contextualized insights for longstanding debates in the field such as HRM standardization versus localization and convergence versus divergence and contextual factors behind these patterns. To this end, we call for future research to center on the changing cultural, institutional, technological, and globalization context in understanding HRM and industrial relations issues in these MNCs. Practically, knowledge in this area can help global managers and top management teams in multinational organizations navigate various context complexity, foster more productive coordination and cooperation across borders, and gain legitimacy and MNCs in and from China additional competitive edge in the global marketplace.
... Nuo to laiko, kai ši trilema buvo suformuluota, tapo dar akivaizdžiau, kad taikant industriniu laikotarpiu sėkmingai naudotas politikos priemones deindustrializacijos sąlygomis tai nepadeda spręsti naujų iššūkių ir net sukuriamos naujos problemos. Pavyzdžiui, pagrindine pastarųjų dešimtmečių užimtumo politikos reforma, skirta dėl deindustrializacijos išaugusiam bedarbių skaičiui mažinti, buvo skatinamas bedarbių aktyvumas [12]. Siekiant, kad žmonės aktyviau ieškotų darbo, buvo taikomos tokios priemonės kaip garantuojamų gerovės standartų pažeminimas. ...
... Pagrindinis iššūkis ekonominės politikos formuotojams, norintiems paskatinti šalies ekonominės sistemos servitizavimą, susijęs su poreikiu naujai reglamentuoti darbo santykius. Industrinio etapo užimtumo politika rėmėsi dualizavimo koncepcija [12]. Šalies gyventojai buvo skirstomi į dvi grupes: esančius darbo rinkos viduje (įdarbintus pagal "saugią" darbo sutartį) ir išorėje (bedarbius ir įdarbintus pagal "nesaugią" darbo sutartį). ...
This article analizes the esential shift in the structure of the economy from industrial to service-dominated economy and the impact of the increasing role of the service sector to the development of economic system and effectiveness of current economic regulation means. Two key theories are dealing with structural changes - deindustrialization theory and post-industrial economy theory. There are distinct research communities providing different perspectives on the rationale, design and delivery of the economic development and economic regulation. The comparative analysis provide an integrative and organising lens for viewing the various contributions to knowledge production from those research communities addressing economic regulation directions and means. The first part of the paper presents a critical assessment of the recomendations to the employment and equality policy makers provided by the deindustrialization theory developing research community. The second part of the paper is devoted for the evaluation of the post-industrial theory perspectives to develop service-dominated economy. This study provides three main trends in economic regulation, which are identified as main accelerators of the economic system evolution, namely: i) creation and maintenance of information-communication infrastructure; ii) servitization of manufacturing and agriculture, and iii) essential reform of educational system.
... Employee relations refers to managing interactions between workers and their representatives (e.g. trade unions, works' councils, workers' director etc.), on the one hand, and employers and their representatives (e.g. employers' associations or managers) on the other hand (Frege and Kelly, 2013). In contrast to a human resource management (HRM) perspective, which focuses on individual interactions between workers and their managers (and considers employee relations as an element of HRM), we use this term from an industrial relations perspective. ...
This chapter investigates the effects of recent global changes on employee relations. It examines the impact of major trends in the global environment on the two main mechanisms that regulate employee relations in capitalist societies, namely institutions and markets. Considering the rise of individualism and unregulated labour markets across the world, it draws primarily on recent developments in employee relations in Eastern Europe and Anglo-Saxon countries. The experiences of workers and employers in countries with limited workers’ protection are becoming increasingly relevant for understanding the future of employee relations in developed countries, in a context where unregulated markets facilitate the transfer of labour practices from developing to developed countries (to reduce labour costs) rather than vice versa.
In addition, it examines recent developments in two multinational corporations exemplifying the polar opposites of individualized approaches to managing people, namely ‘hard’ human resource management (HRM) in Ryanair and ‘soft’ HRM in Google. It is concluded that in this ever-changing global environment, work-related demands are not fundamentally different from those in the nineteenth century, when labour markets were unregulated. As such, they (only) have to be (re)framed by employee relations actors through the inclusive language of solidarity.
... Oxford: Routledge. Der vonFrege & Kelly (2013) herausgegebene Band gliedert sich in vier Teile: eine vor allem theoretisch orientierte Einführung in ER, inhaltliche Kapitel zu ausgewählten Fragen der Mikro-und Makroebene der ER, Kapitel zu entwickelten und Schwellenländern, Probleme transnationaler Regulierung jenseits der Ebene der Nationalstaaten. Die Autoren sind verschiedenen Disziplinen zuzurechnen und in ihren jeweiligen Spezialgebieten international ausgewiesene Experten.Der Band präsentiert nicht nur Kapitel zu ER in ausgewählten Industrie-und Schwellenländern, wobei wiederum -im Vergleich zu den Beiträgen in dem Band von Bamber et al. explizitere -Bezugnahmen auf den VoC-Ansatz erfolgen. ...
The paper presents an overview on international and comparative employment relations. The introductory part indicates the necessity of this specific area of research and teaching and presents some notes on theories, strategies of research and methods as well as their options and limitations. The main part consists of a review of some selected more recent publications on global as well as EUrelated employment relations; our special focus is on their suitability for teaching purposes. The final part draws some conclusions in comparative perspective and discusses open questions.
... Thus, on the whole, there is a considerable statutory support for social dialogue and collective worker participation in India. From a Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) standpoint, such institutional provisions, which are a hallmark of coordinated market economies like Germany or the Netherlands, should provide promising prospects for labormanagement partnership in India ( Hall & Soskice, 2001;Kelly, 2013). In the wake of a major balance of payment crisis in the late 1980s, India embarked upon wide-ranging economic reforms with a shift from policies of import substitution to export orientation. ...
The labor regulatory framework in India provides a conducive environment for social dialogue and collective participation in the organizational decision-making process (Venkata Ratnam, 2009). Using data from a survey of workplace union representatives in the federal state of Maharashtra, India, this paper examines union experiences of social dialogue and collective participation in public services, private manufacturing, and private services sector. Findings indicate that collective worker participation and voice is at best modest in the public services but weak in the private manufacturing and private services. There is evidence of growing employer hostility to unions and employer refusal to engage in a meaningful social dialogue with unions. These findings are discussed within the political economy framework of employment relations in India examining the role of the state and judiciary in employment relations and, the links between political parties and trade unions in India.
... Under the Bombay Industrial Relations Act (BIR 1946) management is legally obliged to seek approval from the representative trade union before constituting any changes to terms and conditions or work arrangements ( Saini 2011). From a Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) standpoint such institutional provisions which are a hallmark of coordinated market economies like Germany or Netherlands should provide promising prospects for labour-management partnership in India ( Hall and Soskice 2001;Kelly 2013). According to Deakin and Sarkar (2011) India has one of the most pro-labour regulatory frameworks even when compared to many developed economies particularly in the areas of employment protection. ...
Trade unions in India find themselves excluded from the political process and marginalized in collective bargaining in the post economic reforms period since 1991. Influential policy analysts and academics alike have called upon Indian trade unions to engage in social partnership with employers as a route to regain influence and protect workers' interests. Using survey and interview data from two large national trade union federations in Maharashtra India, this article examines whether social partnership is a viable option for Indian trade unions as an industrial relations approach. Findings indicate that despite a supportive labour regulatory framework which in theory should facilitate cooperative industrial relations, the ground realities of workplace employment relations coupled with state indifference and judicial interventions weakens labour's prospects for meaningful social partnership.
... More frequently addressed in studies of labor relations on a cross-national scale (e.g. Frege & Kelly, 2013), HRM researchers have largely ignored this significant area of practice that is of fundamental importance to the effective operation of any organization (Wood & Wall, 2007). As an Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU, 2014, p. 15) report claims, " if employees are valued and their voices are heard, then they will be much more willing to provide their full commitment and stay in the firm " . ...
Direct forms of individual employee voice are potentially important yet underexplored antecedents of work engagement. Based largely in job demands–resources theorizing, we develop a conceptual multi-level framework that explores how individual employee perceptions of voice practices affect their level of work engagement. We argue that the extent to which voice practices might converge as ‘best practice’ to create work engagement is influenced by factors at three levels: macro-level national culture (the degree of power distance), meso-level organizational climate (the extent of empowering leadership and participation), and micro-level relationship quality between employee and supervisor (leader–member exchange). Positioning this framework in the human resource management convergence/divergence debate, we develop propositions for future research linking direct employee voice and work engagement.
... When looking at how different national settings have influenced the ways in which constellations of social partners and the state have managed to steer through the crisis, one can encounter differences, depending on the institutional settings of different countries (Lehndorff, 2012). From such a comparative perspective (Frege & Kelly, 2013), the German settings stands out with two distinctive features À an economic model of diversified quality production (Streeck, 1991) as well as a set of labor relations that has been summed up under the term of " social partnership. " As the automotive sector À and especially its OEMs À can count as the showcase of this national model, our study of BMW illustrates how crisis management emerges from micro-initiatives run on company level. ...
PurposeMake a contribution on company business models and typical reactions to economic crises.
Design/methodology/approachMedia-analysis-based case study.
FindingsCrisis is handled through drawing on a strategy deriving from the typical features of the company; through the crisis these features are even intensified.
Research limitations/implicationsMultinational companies are complex and only transparent to a small degree; the empirical data therefore rests on a database with articles.
Social implicationsSocial implications can be seen at the BMW as a functioning example for social partnership as a form of economic embeddedness at the societal level.
... Equally important is the question of how best to conceptualise (and operationalize) the context in which unions function. More recently, Kelly (2011) notes that 'perhaps one of the major challenges… is to think through how we can specify more precisely the conditions under which each of the sets of 'variables' [markets, institutions and actor strategic choices] is more or less effective' (p. 71). ...
The publication of John Kelly’s Rethinking Industrial Relations (1998) spawned a growing interest among researchers in exploring how social movement (SM) theory can be used to inform union research, particularly in the context of revitalization/renewal debates. Our starting proposition is that this approach can be extended thorugh an engagement with the larger corpus of SM theory. We focus in particular on the ‘collective action frame’ (CAF) concept. Drawing on SMT examples, we illustrate how the CAF concept can be more usefully deployed to extend and enrich union theory and pose new questions concerning the role of unions.
One of the most striking genre conventions to emerge in Danish cinema in
recent years is the gangster motif. Replete with gritty social realism, urban decay,
and tribal warfare between different ethnic groups, these films reflect a growing
discontent in the Danish welfare state, particularly regarding multiculturalism and
inclusion. This article follows these trends from the mid-1990s, focusing specifically
on the themes of ethnic division in four films: Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher (1996), Michael Noer’s Nordvest (2013) [Northwest], Omar Shargawi’s Gå med fred, Jamil (2008) [Go With Peace, Jamil], and Michael Noer and Tobias Lindholm’s R (2010) [R: Hit First, Hit Hardest]. The article explores racial division in these films by examining how they reflect
or subvert cultural and political approaches towards diversity in Denmark over the
last two decades.
Seit den 1970er Jahren ist die Globalisierung den Gewerkschaften zur unhintergehbaren Rahmenbedingung geworden. Ihrer strategischen Neuorientierung widmet sich seit einigen Jahren das Forschungsfeld der Global Labor Studies (GLS), dessen Vertreter Möglichkeit und Notwendigkeit eines neuen Arbeiterinternationalismus zu begründen suchen. Als wichtiges Bezugselement dient hierbei unter anderem der Ansatz des ungarisch-österreichischen Historikers Karl Polanyi.
Zusammenfassung: Europäisierungs-und Globalisierungsprozesse führen dazu, dass die Entwicklung von Arbeit konzeptionell nicht mehr nur innerhalb des Nationalstaats analysiert werden kann. Obwohl in der Soziologie eine umfassende Debatte zum Raumbegriff vorliegt, hat eine theoretische Auseinan-dersetzung mit sozialräumlichen Bezügen von Arbeit bislang kaum Eingang in die Kernbereiche der Arbeitsforschung gefunden. Ziel des Artikels ist es Konzepte aufzuzeigen, die in der Lage sind, aktuelle Entwicklungen von Arbeit in ihren multiplen sozialräumlichen Bezügen zu untersuchen. Das Konzept der scales scheint geeignet, globale, nationale und lokale Prozessebenen zu verknüpfen, und nimmt dabei auch die Gleichzeitigkeit bzw. Multiskalarität der Bezüge, die Arbeit und Arbeitshandeln mitbestimmen, in den Blick. Ein raumsensibler Zugriff auf Arbeit kann absolutistische Raumkonzepte, wie sie in der Ar-beitsforschung Großteils nach wie vor bestehen, aufbrechen und damit neue empirische Fragen eröffnen. Abstract: Due to Europeanization and globalization it is not appropriate to limit the research of work and employment to a nation-state framework. Although there is debate about the concept of space in sociology , a theoretical discussion of socio-spatial dimensions of work has scarcely entered the core areas of the research of work and employment. Hence, the aim of this article is to present theoretical concepts which could improve our understanding of recent transnational developments in work and employment. The concept of scales is able to link global, national and local levels taking into account their simultaneous or multi-scaled character. A space-sensitive approach in the sociology of work and employment could over-70
This chapter introduces the key elements of our comparative study. We set out two broad hypotheses: first, that an understanding of the economy and working conditions is incomplete without knowing what happens within and across workplaces; and second, that ‘local’ factors play a key role in shaping the practice of workplace employment relations, but in a more nuanced way that is ordinarily portrayed in the literature. The chapter situates our study within the existing comparative literature, provides a brief portrait of the two economies, and introduces the WERS and REPONSE survey data that provides the basis for our comparative analysis.
In this comparative qualitative study, the authors examine how local bargaining shapes the trade-off between labor flexibility and employment security policies in four multinational subsidiaries in Belgium, Britain, and Germany. They also consider whether and how union power to shape flexibility and security policies is affected by national institutions, the way that multinationals organize their subsidiaries, and local contextual factors. Findings support this multilevel, interdependent framework. Trade-offs are shaped by differences in workers’ structural power in specific local subsidiaries. Differences in inter-subsidiary organizational configurations, markets, and technologies modify how unions can leverage collective resources to wield power in their relationship with management.
German trade unions are trying to revitalize themselves by using a variety of different strategies. Influenced by the partial success of the organizing model of the US trade unions, German unions have debated, and in some cases, adapted this model. There are however reservations, whether organizing can be transferred from a voluntaristic model of industrial relations to the German model. Its complex structuring seems to be a challenge for organizing projects in Germany, particularly due to its dual system of representation of workers interests, the tradition of social partnership and well-rehearsed relations between authorized actors, notably, work councils and shop floor union representatives (Vertrauensleute). Applying the concept of strategic capacity from Marshall Ganz, this article analyzes opportunities for, and problems of organizing within the German model on the basis of two case studies in the hospital sector. We conclude that organizing can be a path-dependent revitalization, if it is strategically adapted to the German model.
The trade union movement around the world remains in the throes of a prolonged and deep decline, whether measured by membership and density, bargaining power in relation to employers or political influence over the ubiquitous neoliberal narrative that underpins the policies of many governments. Decline has not been arrested or reversed by the many strategic initiatives undertaken in recent years such as organising campaigns or coalition building, although it is possible that the state of the unions would be even more parlous if these initiatives had not been pursued. Against this bleak backcloth, there are some positive signs: unions representing specific occupations, such as school teachers, nurses and airline pilots, have retained high levels of density; and union confederations in many parts of Europe have launched successful general strikes against unpopular government reforms to pensions and welfare benefits. Unions need to position themselves as agencies that can help deal with the growing problems of wage stagnation, low wages, income inequality and insufficient economic demand. That in turn requires a coherent challenge to the dominant neoliberal narrative.
German trade unions are trying to revitalize themselves by using a variety of different strategies. Influenced by the partial success of the organizing model of the US trade unions, German unions have debated, and in some cases, adapted this model. There are however reservations, whether organizing can be transferred from a voluntaristic model of industrial relations to the German model. Its complex structuring seems to be a challenge for organizing projects in Germany, particularly due to its dual system of representation of workers interests, the tradition of social partnership and well-rehearsed relations between authorized actors, notably, work councils and shop floor union representatives (Vertrauensleute). Applying the concept of strategic capacity from Marshall Ganz, this article analyzes opportunities for, and problems of organizing within the German model on the basis of two case studies in the hospital sector. We conclude that organizing can be a path-dependent revitalization, if it is strategically adapted to the German model.
(Deutsch: Die deutschen Gewerkschaften erproben verschiedene Strategien gewerkschaftlicher Erneuerung. Vor allem der von den US-Gewerkschaften zum Teil erfolgreich praktizierte Organizing-Ansatz wurde hier zu Lande diskutiert und auch in einigen Faellen bereits adaptiert. Gleichzeitig gibt es aber auch eine Reihe von Bedenken, ob die Implementierung von Organizing aus einem voluntaristischen System in das deutsche Modell industrieller Beziehungen gelingen kann. Die komplexe Strukturierung dieses Feldes – vor allem die Dualitaet der Interessenrepraesentation, sozialpartnerschaftliche Verhandlungsmuster aber auch tradierte Beziehungen zwischen legitimierten Akteuren wie Betriebs- und Personalraete und Vertrauensleuten – stellen eine Herausforderung fuer Organizing-Projekte dar. Dieser Beitrag analysiert mit Hilfe Marshall Ganz‘ Konzept des strategischen Handlungsvermoegens die Chancen und Probleme anhand des Verlaufs zweier Intensivfallstudien im Krankenhaussektor und kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass Organizing eine pfadabhaengige Revitalisierung bewirken kann, sofern es nicht uebertragen, sondern strategisch an das deutsche Modell adaptiert wird.)
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