Outsourcing, Spatial Relocation and the Fragmentation of Employment

Flecker, Jörg

doi:10.1179/102452909x451369

Cited by 40 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Their research follow up Flecker, 2009;Flecker andMeil, 2010 andHuws, 2006, which confirm that this strategy is not an anomaly. Instead, it should rather be conceptualized as a relevant part of the current restructuring efforts of MNCs that are directly linked to the fragmentation of production through foreign direct investment, outsourcing, and 'quasi-externalization' (Sydow, 1998in Flecker et al, 2013.…”

Section: Labour Process Theory and Politicsmentioning

confidence: 70%

Competition for control over the labour process as a driver of relocation of activities to a shared services centre

Mezihorák

2017

Human Relations

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New approaches to the study of multinational companies (MNCs) that are sensitive to the issues of power and politics have made considerable progress towards developing a more realistic understanding of MNCs' behaviour. To achieve a full understanding of this issue, however, it is necessary to incorporate the issue of labour. This paper offers a framework for conceptualizing the nexus of power, politics, and labour in MNCs. It suggests that the units in MNC as a result of fragmentation of production compete for control over the labour processes. This leads to the introduction of controlling mechanisms, norms, and standards across the MNC that add to the fragmentation of labour processes and renders them more codifiable and less complex, and thus makes it easier to externalize them. The proposition is supported by a case study of a firm's relocation of services to a shared services centre and its impacts on labour processes on both the sending and the receiving units in the MNC. It is necessary to understand the presence of power relations, politics, and competition in MNCs not only as a consequence but also as a factor of organizational restructuring connected with the fragmentation of production.

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Section: Labour Process Theory and Politicsmentioning

confidence: 70%

Competition for control over the labour process as a driver of relocation of activities to a shared services centre

Mezihorák

2017

Human Relations

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“…Flecker (2009) has argued that except in exceptional conditions, moves towards increased subcontracting outsourcing tend to have a negative and deleterious effect on the jobs that are outsourced and on the terms and conditions of those jobs that remain in-house. As we have seen, the Manchester-based EWERC researchers suggest a more ambiguous response.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Supply chains and responsibility for OHS management in the Western Australian resources sector

Bahn

Rainnie

2013

Employee Relations

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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse human resource supply chains and the responsibility of occupational health and safety (OHS) management using Australian evidence from two unrelated research studies in the resources sector. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis is based on additional findings from the research projects using qualitative case study methodologies. The paper draws on interviews with the underground mining manager in study 1 and the OHS manager in study 2, together with current literature on supply chains and OHS responsibility in Australia. Findings: The paper uses examples drawn from two research studies conducted in the resources sector in 2011 to present the notion that there has been a shift in responsibility and management of OHS from the top of the supply chain to the bottom. Research limitations/implications: The paper draws on two unrelated studies that investigated different issues in OHS management. There is a need to undertake specific research to confirm the argument that suggests that the OHS management systems are improving for the bottom of the human resources supply chain in the resources sector. Practical implications: Findings suggest that in the middle tier resources sector the bottom of the human resources supply chains have robust OHS management systems and induction training, contrary to the weakening of OHS management in typical supply chains in other sectors. Originality/value: Unlike manufacturing, healthcare, the public sector and transport, there is little research conducted in the resources sector researching supply chains and OHS management. This paper provides limited evidence of a differing picture in the resources sector than other industries; however, it argues that further studies should be conducted

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“…And even if firms gain rewards for their upgrading efforts, the rewards may not be passed on to workers in the form of higher wages, greater job security or improved working conditions, and thus economic upgrading may not lead to social upgrading (Barrientos et al 2011a;Knorringa and Pegler 2006;Plank et al 2012;Rossi 2011). Access to GPNs is often even based on low wages and problematic working conditions, and many industries, including electronics, are characterized by various forms of flexible labour relationships that are closely related to GPNs (Flecker 2009;Raworth/Kidder 2009;Standing 1999).…”

Section: Analytical Lens: the Global Production Network Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Precarious Upgrading’ in Electronics Global Production Networks in Central and Eastern Europe: The Cases of Hungary and Romania

Plank

Staritz

2013

SSRN Journal

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AbstractThe electronics manufacturing sector has played a prominent role in export-oriented development strategies, as participation in this high-tech industry promises access to new technology, high skilled jobs and a fast-growing market. Against this background, many governments in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have sought to attract investment in this sector, where foreign firms became the key actors in reshaping after 1989 and where integrating into global production networks (GPNs) was widely embraced as a means to modernize and upgrade local industries. We assess to what extent the potential benefits arising from integrating into electronics GPNs have materialized in Hungary, an established player and the most important electronics exporting country in the region, and Romania, a newcomer country in electronics manufacturing. To analyse these questions, we look at the organizational and geographical configuration of the electronics sector and examine the impact integration into these networks has had on local firms and workers and to what extent this integration has led to economic and social upgrading. With regard to economic upgrading processes, we suggest that the upgrading concept needs to pay more attention to the 'reach' of economic upgrading. This is particularly important when integration into GPNs takes place via foreign direct investment (FDI), where economic upgrading processes may be focused on transnational corporations (TNCs) with limited spillovers to local firms. The social upgrading trajectory is influenced importantly by global industry dynamics, for example high flexibility pressures and the tiered nature of the workforce in electronics GPNs, and countries' specific institutional and regulatory contexts.

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Outsourcing, Spatial Relocation and the Fragmentation of Employment

Cited by 40 publications

References 14 publications

Competition for control over the labour process as a driver of relocation of activities to a shared services centre

Competition for control over the labour process as a driver of relocation of activities to a shared services centre

Supply chains and responsibility for OHS management in the Western Australian resources sector

‘Precarious Upgrading’ in Electronics Global Production Networks in Central and Eastern Europe: The Cases of Hungary and Romania

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