Dominance Effects from Local Competitors: Setting Institutional Parameters for Employment Relations in Multinational Subsidiaries; a Case from the Spanish Supermarket Sector

Dominance effects are normally associated with multinational corporations (MNCs). However, we argue that a strong local competitor can create ‘dominance effects’ setting the institutional parameters for employment relations in multinational subsidiaries. Moreover such an effect can be persistent. In this case the Spanish‐owned El Corte Inglés (ECI) used its power and influence to establish an employer's federation and two ‘yellow unions’. These yellow unions infiltrated the French‐owned MNC Carrefour and most of the Spanish supermarket sector by the early 1980s and continue to dominate collective bargaining rounds and works council elections, marginalizing the main independent trade unions. This has resulted in poor pay and working conditions and a lack of effective employee representation across most of the Spanish supermarket sector. The fact that Carrefour established an international framework agreement to observe union rights in 2001 has as yet not changed this situation.     

In Unions We Trust! Analysing Confidence in Unions across Europe

Public institutions and trade unions in particular are often portrayed as facing a deep crisis. In order to better understand to what extent unions are still perceived as legitimate institutions from the society as a whole (working and non‐working individuals), we analyse the determinants of confidence in unions across 14 European countries between 1981 and 2009. Confidence in unions is explained through individual‐level variables (by a rational and an ideational mechanism) and contextual‐level factors (relevant economic and employment relations characteristics). Using data from the European Values Study (EVS) merged with contextual datasets, we develop a series of regression models to examine the main determinants of confidence in unions. We demonstrate that confidence in unions cannot only be traced back to the support from members and left‐wing oriented individuals but it is also related to non‐working individuals and vulnerable social groups, in particular when confronted with economic shocks. Our findings challenge both the ‘crisis of confidence’ in institutions and the ‘crisis of unionism’ narratives. Implications for union representation and organizing strategies are discussed.     

An International Study of Trade Union Involvement in Community Organizing: Same Model,Different Outcomes

This article reports on a two‐year study of union/community organizing in the UK, USA and Australia. It takes a particular model of organizing — that of the Industrial Areas Foundation — and analyses trade union engagement in coalition‐building activity in each of the three countries. Findings show mixed approaches to working with community groups from ad hoc instrumentalism to deep coalition‐building. While these variations may, in part, be explained by different industrial relations contexts, it appears that the ‘fit’ between ideology and culture of unions and their coalition partners, as well as the practices and strategies that reinforce this fit, have much greater effect on the attitude and behaviour of unions towards non‐workplace‐based organizing. The article contributes to debates about the conditions under which unions succeed (or not) in sustaining strong coalition‐building beyond their traditional constituencies.     

Heightening Tension in Relations between Trade Unions and the Labour Government in 2002

During 2002 tension between trade unions and the Labour government reached a level not seen before in their relationship. This review examines the source of the tension and its manifestations. It shows that during the year a range of issues emerged that divided the government and unions. New Labour ‘modernizers’ cited these differences as reasons to further distance the Party from trade unions. The article argues that relations between trade unionism and the government are at low ebb, and that the extent of disagreement between the two is now more pronounced than at any other time since 1997.     

Internal differentiation within multinational corporations

This paper argues that the internal structure in complex, multi-unit organizations such as a multinational corporation (MNC) is not homogeneous throughout the organization, but is systematically differentiated so as to ‘fit’ the different environmental and resource contingencies faced by the different national subsidiaries. Based on a survey of 66 of the largest European and North American MNCs, yielding data on 618 cases of headquarters-subsidiary relations, it is shown that the different contextual conditions faced by the different subsidiaries of the MNC can be meaningfully classified into four generic situations. Furthermore, for each of these situations the exchange relation between the MNC headquarters and the subsidiary is characterized by a ‘fit’ governance structure consisting of a different combination of structural elements such as centralization of authority, formalization of rules and systems, and normative integration of members. Following the existing literature, these ‘fit’ structures are labeled in this paper as hierarchical, federative, clan and integrative. The multinational is then described as an internally differentiated organization in which each headquarters-subsidiary link corresponds to one or the other of these administrative forms.     

The Early Mobilization of Women Union Leaders — A Comparative Perspective

This article explores the initial reasons for union joining of women who became union leaders in the UK and the USA by drawing on concepts from mobilization theory and the literature on women and unions. The comparative study demonstrates similarities and differences in early mobilization influences on UK and US women with respect to family, ideology, instrumentality and injustice. Informed by the women and unions literature, the article critiques mobilization theorists for failing to problematize the term ‘injustice’ and underplaying the importance of ideology which are shown to be gendered and racialized and located in time and place.     

US—Soviet grain embargoes: Regulating the MNCs

The US government has often attempted to regulate commercial interaction between US grain MNCs (multinational corporations) and the Soviet Union. The US government tried to prohibit the sale of grain to the Soviet Union prior to 1971, to swap US grain for Soviet oil in 1975, and to embargo all grain sales to the Soviets in 1980. Distinctive characteristics of grain MNCs and grain as a commodity, however, have made such efforts at national regulation by the US government a difficult administrative task. These characteristics include the secrecy surrounding grain trading, the fungibility of grain, the use of ‘optional origins’ contracts, and the possession of a considerable number of foreign subsidiaries by the grain MNCs.     

Collective Bargaining and Technological Investment: The Case of Nurses’ Unions and the Transition from Paper‐Based to Electronic Health Records

Does the presence of a unionized nursing workforce retard US hospitals’ transition from paper‐based to electronic health records (EHRs)? After tying archival data on hospitals’ structural features and health information technology (IT) investment patterns to self‐gathered data on unionism, I find that hospitals that bargain collectively with their registered nurses (RNs) appear to delay or forego the transition away from paper, consistent with existing theory and research in industrial relations and institutional economics. However, this relationship is fully mediated by a hospital's payer mix: those serving a larger share of less lucrative, elderly, disabled and indigent patients are more likely to adopt EHRs if they are unionized than if they are not, a result that holds even at the median payer mix. Indeed, this accords with research on the interplay of labour and technology as the aforementioned dynamics are driven entirely by RN‐exclusive bargaining units for whom the new IT serves as a complement rather than as a substitute in production. Given the outsized role that unions play in the US healthcare sector, the overall sluggish performance of the sector, and the expectations that policymakers have for EHRs, evidence that these unions are welfare‐enhancing should be welcome news.     

Operational flexibility and market valuation of earnings

This paper examines the association between the stock returns and accounting earnings of firms that have different levels of operational flexibility. Operational flexibility is a firm’s ability to respond profitably to environmental fluctuations by shifting factors of production within a multinational network of subsidiaries. The geographic breadth and depth of a firm’s multinational network are used as indicators of operational flexibility. We find a significantly greater coefficient relating stock returns and accounting earnings for multinational firms that operate in many countries, but limit their concentration in any one foreign country, than for other multinational firms or domestic firms. This coefficient is significantly smaller for multinational firms whose foreign subsidiaries are highly concentrated in a few countries. When all multinational firms are pooled together, we find their earnings‐returns association does not differ from that of domestic firms. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

UK Unions,Collective Action and the Cost Disease

This article looks at the financial resources of trade unions in the UK. The core argument is that trade unions are subject to ‘cost disease’ pressures such that costs rise over the long term above the general level of inflation. They have this property because of the difficulty in solving first- and second-order collective action problems. First-order problems refer to the problems of initiating collective action and second-order problems refer to the management of collective action organizations. Both UK aggregate and case-study data — from one of the largest UK unions, Unite — are presented to illustrate the cost disease problem and to suggest options for its management. In conclusion, the wider implications of ‘cost disease’ pressures for unions are assessed.     

Towards a New Flashmob Unionism: The Case of the Fight for 15 Movement

Unionism renewal has been described as a hybridization process between ‘old’ and ‘new’ logics. Understanding how these two potentially conflicting logics might be combined, however, has so far received little attention. Through the study of the Fight for 15 (FF15) movement, we investigate how the old ‘collectivist’ logic of action-oriented unions and the new ‘connectivist’ logic are being hybridized. To do so, we develop a mixed-methods approach that combines interviews with Twitter data. We evidence three mechanisms through which the collectivist and connectivist logics are being hybridized, namely, imbrication, camouflage and cumulation. We suggest to name ‘flashmob unionism’ the hybrid logic of FF15, characterized by apparently spontaneous mobilizations, a loosely co-ordinated organization, a personalized communication and online virality.     

Strength in Networks: Employment Rights Organizations and the Problem of Co‐Ordination

In recent decades, alternative organizations and movements —‘quasi‐unions’— have emerged to fill gaps in the US system of representation caused by union decline. We examine the record of quasi‐unions and find that although they have sometimes helped workers who lack other means of representation, they have significant limitations and are unlikely to replace unions as the primary means of representation. But networks, consisting of sets of diverse actors including unions and quasi‐unions, are more promising. They have already shown power in specific campaigns, but they have yet to do so for more sustained strategies. By looking at analogous cases, we identify institutional bases for sustained networks, including shared information platforms, behavioural norms, common mission and governance mechanisms that go well beyond what now exists in labour alliances and campaigns. There are substantial resistances to these network institutions because of the history of fragmentation and autonomy among both unions and quasi‐unions; yet we also identify positive potential for network formation.     

Women's Participation in a Radical Trade Union Movement That Claims to be Feminist

This article investigates the under‐researched topic of women's representation in radical unions, drawing on an in‐depth case study of the French Solidaires, Unitaires et Démocratiques (SUD) movement. In addition to an overview of the institutional and organizational dynamics of unions’ ‘inequality regimes’, it offers a contextually grounded analysis of the barriers and enablers of women's participation in SUD unions. More specifically, this research reflects on the complex interrelationships between class and gender in class‐based militant trade unions that claim to be feminist but fail to support working‐class female workers’ participation.     

Negotiating ‘Difference’: Representing Disabled Employees in the British Workplace

Drawing on qualitative interviews with disabled employees, union officers and disability‐related organizations, this article examines employee attempts to negotiate workplace adjustments and associated issues of workplace representation. UK employment law utilizes an individual medical model of disability, which conflicts with traditional collective approaches favoured by trade unions, which has implications for disabled employees and union representation. We explore the different strategies available to unions and conclude that, despite the role played by disability‐related organizations in supporting employees, unions are the only workplace actors who are capable of reconfiguring the ‘personal as political’ and integrating disability concerns into wider organizational agendas.     

A Typology of Japanese Enterprise Unions

Are Japanese enterprise unions similar, or are there substantial variations among these unions in relation to their dependence on management and their structures for member involvement? Using a survey of unions conducted in 1991 and detailed interviews with union officials in 1993, a typology of enterprise unionism is developed. A preliminary assessment of the model is then made with reference to a range of industrial relations practices and behaviour.     

Centers of excellence in multinational corporations

This paper seeks to understand the conditions under which ‘centers of excellence’ emerge in foreign subsidiaries of multinational firms. We define a center of excellence as an organizational unit that embodies a set of capabilities that has been explicitly recognized by the firm as an important source of value creation, with the intention that these capabilities be leveraged by and/or disseminated to other parts of the firm. Drawing on overlapping research in international business and strategic management, we argue that the formation of centers of excellence is shaped by conditions in the subsidiary's local environment as well as by various aspects of the subsidiary's relationship with other parts of the multinational firm. Based on a survey of 99 foreign units in Canada, our results highlight the fundamental role played by parent firm investment as well as the role of internal and external organizations in the development of subsidiary capabilities. Performance implications of the center of excellence phenomenon are also explored. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Diffusion of Employment Practices of US‐Based Multinationals in Europe. A Case Study Comparison of British‐ and Italian‐Based Subsidiaries

A number of approaches to the diffusion of employment practices within American‐based multinational companies (MNCs) can be discerned. In this paper, two theoretical approaches are contrasted: a ‘country‐of‐origin’ approach in which the influence of the home country is mediated by national features of host‐country institutional environments; and a power resources or strategic choice approach that emphasizes the autonomy of local actors within MNCs and their capacity to shape the diffusion of employment practices. Using a case study comparison of three Italian and two British‐based subsidiaries owned by an American MNC, the paper examines factors and patterns of diffusion of employment practices from the parent company to the local subsidiaries. The argument is put forward that company‐specific features enhance the strategic power of the subsidiary firm within the wider corporation, thus complementing institutional host‐country characteristics in shaping the diffusion of employment practices abroad. Hence, organizational as well as institutional effects contribute to creating the space that the various actors across host countries possess for protecting their interests and for exercising power on the terms and conditions of the diffusion.     

Restructuring Managerial Labour in the USA,the UK and Japan: Challenging the Salience of ‘Varieties of Capitalism’

This article provides a cross‐national, qualitative investigation into the experiences of middle managers in large organizations in the USA, the UK and Japan, following organizational restructuring. Despite well‐documented national differences in administrative heritage, institutional regimes or ‘varieties of capitalism’, our data point towards considerable similitude across the three countries in terms of a general expression of the need for change, and the concrete impacts of organizational reforms on managerial work. Specifically we analyse the changing nature of work roles, career paths, working hours and spans of control of mid‐level managers in five large firms in each of the three countries. The data demonstrate that middle managers in all three countries face fundamental changes to key areas of their work experience. In Japan, although changes do not amount to a genuine shift towards ‘Anglo‐Saxon’ institutions or business practices, the robust use of organizational reforms with very similar aims and underpinning assumptions to those used in the USA and the UK entails similar impacts in terms of work processes of middle managers across the three nations. This shared experience involved the augmentation of middle management skill levels, responsibilities and span of control, but alongside the downgrading of career expectations, and increased workload and work intensity. We argue that these changes are in keeping with some, but not all, of the features explained and predicted in Bravermanian labour process theory.     

Managers and union membership

White-collar unions have been growing substantially in the last decade and managerial unionism is forming an important partof the growth. A number of new trade unions designed exclusively for managers and professional workers are expected to have more appeal than traditional unions. The increasing concentration of employment, more favourable attitudes of employers to white-collar unions, changes in labour law, continuing problems with the managementof the economy and the effecton pay differentials and the developmentof defensive managerial unions with a moderate character are seen as the main factors explaining the growth of managerial unionism. By virtue of their avowed moderation and exclusiveness, doubts are expressed about the likely effectiveness of these unions, and as managers and professional workers are joining the unions for instrumental, rather than ideological reasons, lack of results may lead to further developments toward traditional trade unionism.