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Full-Text Articles in Labor Relations
Complementary Or Conflictual? Formal Participation, Informal Participation, And Organizational Performance, Adam Seth Litwin, Adrienne Eaton
Complementary Or Conflictual? Formal Participation, Informal Participation, And Organizational Performance, Adam Seth Litwin, Adrienne Eaton
Adam Seth Litwin
Most studies of worker participation examine either formal participatory structures or informal participation. Yet, increasingly, works councils and other formal participatory bodies are operating in parallel with collective bargaining or are filling the void left by its decline. Moreover, these bodies are sprouting in workplaces in which workers have long held a modicum of influence, authority, and production- or service-related information. This study leverages a case from the healthcare sector to examine the interaction between formal and informal worker participation. Seeking to determine whether or not these two forces—each independently shown to benefit production or service delivery—complement or undermine one …
Intermediary Cooperative Associations And The Institutionalization Of Participate Work Practices: A Case Study In The Danish Public Secto, Ole Henning Sørensen, Virginia Doellgast, Anders Bojesen
Intermediary Cooperative Associations And The Institutionalization Of Participate Work Practices: A Case Study In The Danish Public Secto, Ole Henning Sørensen, Virginia Doellgast, Anders Bojesen
Virginia Doellgast
Scandinavian countries are known for having a high adoption of cooperative models of work design. This article investigates the role of parity labour market associations, termed intermediary cooperative associations, in the dissemination of these models. Findings are based on an examination of the Centre for the Development of Human Resources and Quality Management (SCKK), a social partnership-based organization that funds workplace development projects at state workplaces, and of nine participative development projects that received financial and logistical support from the SCKK. These projects increased union and management commitment to partnership-based approaches to problem-solving, despite their ambiguous results for both …
Institutional Change And The Restructuring Of Service Work In The French And German Telecommunications Industries, Virginia Doellgast, Hiroatsu Nohara, Robert Tchobanian
Institutional Change And The Restructuring Of Service Work In The French And German Telecommunications Industries, Virginia Doellgast, Hiroatsu Nohara, Robert Tchobanian
Virginia Doellgast
This study analyses recent changes in collective bargaining institutions and their implications for employer strategies in the French and German telecommunications industries, drawing on case studies and survey data from call centre workplaces. Findings demonstrate that differences in both formal institutions and past logics of action influenced actor responses to changing markets and ownership structures. French trade unions were more successful in establishing encompassing bargaining structures and reducing pressures for pay differentiation, due to state support for the mandatory extension of agreements and unions’ strategic focus on centralizing bargaining. In contrast, bargaining in Germany has become increasingly fragmented and decentralized …
Collective Voice Under Decentralized Bargaining: A Comparative Study Of Work Reorganization In Us And German Call Centres, Virginia Doellgast
Collective Voice Under Decentralized Bargaining: A Comparative Study Of Work Reorganization In Us And German Call Centres, Virginia Doellgast
Virginia Doellgast
This article compares the process of and outcomes from work reorganization in US and German call centres, based on four matched case studies in the telecommunications industry. Both German cases adopted high-involvement employment systems with broad skills and worker discretion, while the US cases relied on a narrow division of labour, tight discipline and individual incentives. These outcomes are explained by differences in institutional supports for collective voice. Works councils in the German companies used their stronger participation rights to limit monitoring and encourage upskilling at a time when US managers were rationalizing similar jobs. Findings demonstrate that industrial relations …
Job Loss And The Fraying Of The Implicit Employment Contract, Kevin F. Hallock
Job Loss And The Fraying Of The Implicit Employment Contract, Kevin F. Hallock
Kevin F Hallock
[Excerpt] Most workers have one employment contract that is explicit and another one that is implicit. The explicit employment contract specifies working hours, compensation, and job tasks. The implicit contract involves expectations about the extent to which the employment relationship is not just a payment for labor on the spot market but instead is likely to continue over time. The possibility of a longer-term commitment between an employer and its employees in turn has a number of implications: for example, whether firms will seek to avoid mass layoffs unless or until absolutely necessary; whether firms may cushion the wages and …