Are Works Councils and Joint Consultative Committees a Threat to Trade                 Unions? A Comparative Analysis

Brewster, Chris; Wood, Geoffrey; Croucher, Richard; Brookes, Michael

doi:10.1177/0143831x07073027

Cited by 45 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Whitley 1999;Brewster et al 2007a). However, while Mark Harcourt and Geoffrey suggest that training is likely to be correlated with a reduced willingness to make redundancies, this association was only weak.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stronger forms of employee participation would be representative: as employees are represented as a collective, their combined voice will be stronger, whilst individual employees are more likely to enjoy a greater protection from victimization (Harcourt, Harcourt and Wood 2004;Hirschman 1970). Brewster et al (2007a) found that forms of representative participation are likely to be encountered together, i.e., works councils are more likely to be encountered in unionized workplaces. Gooderham, Nordhaug and Ringdal (1999) argue that certain forms of direct participation may be similarly encountered together (c.f.…”

Section: Key Practices and Likely Correlationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Varieties of Firm: Complementarity and Bounded Diversity

Wood

Croucher²,

Brewster

et al. 2009

Journal of Economic Issues

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This is a study of the nature of internal diversity within liberal and collaborative market economies. Based on large scale comparative survey data, we assess the extent to which specific clusters of practices are associated with specific varieties of capitalism. Given that recent literature has pointed to internal diversity within specific national contexts, we explore the nature of internal diversity within both liberal and collaborative market economies, and what makes each variety of capitalism distinct. We find that more than one cluster of practices is indeed likely to be encountered in a particular national context, but that this diversity was bounded: only a limited number of alternative paradigms are likely to emerge and persist. The survey findings not only shed light on the nature of this internal diversity, but also reveal the fact that liberal and collaborative markets remain distinct, with the rights accruing to employees being more deeply embedded in a wide cross section of firms within the latter. This is a study of the nature of internal diversity with liberal and collaborative market economies. Based on large scale comparative survey data, we assess the extent to which specific clusters of practices are associated with specific varieties of capitalism. Given that recent literature (Brewster, Wood and Brookes 2006;Crouch 2005; Crouch and Voelkzow 2004) has pointed to internal diversity within specific national contexts, we aim to explore the nature of internal diversity within both liberal and

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Key Practices and Likely Correlationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Varieties of Firm: Complementarity and Bounded Diversity

Wood

Croucher²,

Brewster

et al. 2009

Journal of Economic Issues

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show abstract

“…Sector is included since it is likely that the nature of the relationship between employers and employees will differ between sectors (Brewster et al, 2007a). It is also likely that public sector organizations will be more collaboratively focused.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is an emerging literature on the relative extent of employee voice in different capitalist archetypes, based on firm-level micro evidence (Brewster et al, 2007a;Goergen et al, 2009). In contrast, we focus here on relative propensity to exit, and other indicators of collaboration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employee turnover, HRM and institutional contexts

Croucher

Wood

Brewster

et al. 2011

Economic and Industrial Democracy

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Literature on comparative capitalism remains divided between approaches founded on stylized case study evidence and descriptions of broad trends, and those that focus on macro data. In contrast, this study explores the relevance of Amable's approach to understanding differences in employment relations practice, based on firm-level micro data. The article examines employeeemployer interdependence (including turnover rates) in different categories of economy as classified by Amable. The findings confirm that exit -whether forced or voluntary -remains more common in market-based economies than in their continental counterparts and that institutionalized employee voice is an important variable in reducing turnover. However, there is as much diversity within the different country categories as between them, and across continental Europe. In Denmark's case, high turnover is combined with high unionization, showing the effects of a 'flexicurity' strategy. While employee voice may be stronger in Scandinavia, interdependence is weaker than in continental Europe.

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“…Another possibility is that American companies could learn the advantages of the Continental European model, which supports the stronger involvement of workers in strategy construction. It is also possible that in the long run both local management and trade unions may seek to expand their international networks and deploy international comparisons to influence organizational change and restructuring, or indeed seek European-level accommodations on some issues which reach across borders by using mechanisms as European works councils (Arrowsmith and Marginson, 2006;Brewster et al,2007;Huzzard and Docherty,2005). These are interesting hypotheses which need a longitudinal research design which would focus on learning and bargaining processes in mergers and acquisitions, but these processes did not take place under the time span of research in which this article is based.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Cross-Border Mergers on the Co-Decision-Making Process: The Case of a Danish Company

Rocha

2009

Economic and Industrial Democracy

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The present article investigates changes over time in the patterns of co-decisionmaking in a Danish multinational company which has grown through cross-border mergers and acquisitions. The findings show the difficulties that trade union representatives face when firms try to introduce a governance regime based on shareholder value ideology. The article argues that hybrid forms of governance are unlikely to develop due to historically embedded governance institutions, which create distinct expectations about how a firm must be governed and who has the right to participate in this governance. The spread of the Anglo-Saxon model of governance in Europe is likely to have negative effects on co-decision-making processes and established patterns of organizational cooperation.

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Are Works Councils and Joint Consultative Committees a Threat to Trade Unions? A Comparative Analysis

Cited by 45 publications

References 46 publications

Varieties of Firm: Complementarity and Bounded Diversity

Varieties of Firm: Complementarity and Bounded Diversity

Employee turnover, HRM and institutional contexts

The Impact of Cross-Border Mergers on the Co-Decision-Making Process: The Case of a Danish Company

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