Industrial relations policy and managerial custom and practice

This article, using evidence from the air transport industry, extends the concept of managerial and supervisory custom and practice to management's industrial relations policies. It offers an understanding of management's role in industrial relations and the relationship between actions and rules.     

BARGAINING WITHIN THE ENTERPRISE: CENTRALIZED OR DECENTRALIZED?

Decisions on bargaining structure are at the heart of the management of industrial relations. Within the multi-plant company these decisions are influenced by competing centrifugal and centrepetal pressures. Bargaining structure, alongside a series of other techniques, is used by managers at the head office and the plant to achieve a balance between centralization and decentralization. Head office managers exercise central control over some major industrial relations issues, while the extent of their influence is masked by decentralized bargaining structure and other techniques which create an illusion of plant autonomy. These centrifugal and centrepetal pressures emerge not just from industrial relations considerations but are also part and parcel of wider business strategy concerns. Empirical evidence suggests that these countervailing pressures have intensified in recent years.     

Outsourcing,delocalization and firm organization: Transaction costs versus industrial relations in a local production system of Emilia Romagna

This article investigates the firms’ decisions to outsource, taking into account the impact of their embeddedness in a specific regional context on the relative entrepreneurial decision. It focuses on the role of industrial relations, as a factor that could interfere with the entrepreneurs’ decision of resorting to market relationships in discovering and exploiting new business opportunities. We study a local production system in Emilia Romagna (Northern Italy), i.e. the province of Reggio Emilia (RE), whose firms are characterized by a district kind of environment and where entrepreneurship develops in the presence of ‘thick’ industrial relations. The empirical part of the study shows that the role of transaction costs in explaining the outsourcing is blurred, while industrial relations have a stronger explanatory power. Furthermore, it seems that RE firms generally use outsourcing and international delocalization in complementary ways; however, the correlation depends on the activity and the nature of the delocalization channel. Outsourcing strategies appear to be affected by the pattern of socio-economic development in the region where the firms are located. In particular, the entrepreneurial decision to externalize a part of the production process seems to be related to the specific participatory, formal and informal mechanisms involved in regional development.     

Institutional investors and industrial relations data: an empirical survey

Financial institutions play a major role in investing funds in the shares of individual companies. To what extent do investment managers and analysts take account of industrial relations information when making their decisions?     

Comparative industrial relations theory: the role of national culture

This paper explores the use of national culture in comparative industrial relations theory to explain the cross-national pattern of industrial relations institutions. A critical review of the existing body of theory argues that it has not adequately explained cross-national differences in the main industrial relations variables. The review also establishes that, with few exceptions, national culture is currently given negligible weight as an explanatory variable. It is argued that a cultural theory of cross-national difference is required. Following a critical assessment of the work of Hofstede, a cultural model is developed based on his definition and specification of culture. Some hypotheses linking Hofstede's dimensions of culture with our industrial relations variables are derived. As an empirical test of the model, industrial relations variables are regressed on Hofstede's cultural indices. National culture is found to be significantly associated with all the major characteristics of industrial relations systems investigated. The paper concludes that national culture is the primary determinant of cross-national variations in industrial relations institutions and that culture is likely to be a force for ongoing diversity in labour market systems.     

The Industrial Relations Journal and the European Community

British entry into the European Community creates the conditions in which, for good or ill, the country's political, economic and social arrangements could be transformed. This observation applies at least as strongly to industrial relations as to other aspects of the national life. Indeed, it may even be argued that change in industrial relations in itself not only encompasses and reflects the broader patterns of socio-cultural and economic change occurring in society as a whole, but also, on occasion, is instrumental in initiating far-reaching changes outside the immediate concerns of industrial relations. Hence, the study of industrial relations could reasonably be seen as a study of society itself, in that both are concerned with the myriad of adjustments, large and small, which need to be made in the continuous task of reconciling, or providing a framework for reconciling, conflicting interests. Certainly, the study of industrial relations in a European Community context offers academics a practical and definable way of understanding the processes of integration in the organization of which Britain is now an important member. As far as managements and trade unions are concerned, short of some unusual catastrophe befalling multinational corporations, there must increasingly be a need to understand industrial relations systems and ideologies in countries other than our own for the severely practical business of negotiating viable agreements. In short, for the purposes of academic work and the requirements of the practitioner, industrial relations needs increasingly to be researched and discussed in a transnational as well as a national context, even though the latter must remain a large part of the reality for a long time to come.     

British industrial relations and the European Community

The purpose of this paper is to review the influence that Britain's membership of the European Community has had on industrial relations in Britain. More specifically the so-called ‘Social Dimension’ of the 1992 internal market is assessed. The conclusion is that British industrial relations will continue to be influenced by developments in the European Community for the rest of the 1990s and beyond. However, it is more likely that there will be a weaving of a European dimension into national industrial relations systems rather than the imposition of a new EC-wide model.     

Does unionization lead to corporate changes in productivity practices?–insights from Singapore

This paper explores the role of trade unions in influencing corporate change towards productivity improvement for a newly industrialized country– Singapore.Empirical analysis of a sample of firms found unionization to be positively associated with certain productivity practices.The more significant and stronger correlations being the sharing of productivity gains, role Specialization (productivity manager) and productivity as part of corporate policy. Implications of these findings are discussed.

A Sunday Times commentary 2 suggested that, drawing from the Singapore industrial relations experience, trade unions could play a positive role in generating economic growth. If that is seen to be occurring from the macrolevel, it will naturally be interesting to inquire further what effects unionization can have on internal organizational practices, such as in productivity improvement. There may also be practical benefits from having insights into the dynamic forces that are at work when trade unionism is present.

A perspective on the direction (whether positive or negative) and scale of change in the emphasis on productivity improvement practices could help multinational enterprises formulate more effective employee relations policies when operating in Singapore –where tripartite co–operation is the key industrial relations philosophy. Corporations that are in the process of

being unionized may be able to appreciate that resulting change to their operating environments as a consequence of unionization need nor always be unfavourable.Management operating in unionized contexts could rethink their industrial relations strategies in light of the findings here –that it is quite possible to work with trade unions to enhance corporate productivity.

Most significantly, such findings could foster a greater determination by both the management and unions in engendering a co-operative industrial relations climate.This is particularly relevant for corporations operating in countries such as Britain, where industrial relations are traditionally less harmonious.To survive in the increasingly global competition of the 1990s and beyond, Western businesses will need co-operative industrial relations that help to foster productivity improvement efforts. This theme isfurther explored in the last section of the paper.     

GAME THEORY AND PORT ECONOMICS: A SURVEY OF RECENT RESEARCH

The last decade has seen a significant upsurge of studies seeking to examine the impacts of port agents’ strategic decisions. The outcome has been a wide range of results and conclusions. The aim of this work is to provide a review of this recent research in the port industry that uses strategic interaction approaches from industrial organization and game theory. The paper concentrates on five topics: ownership, relationship between ports and their hinterlands, port authorities and port operators’ relations, capacity investment decisions, and port specialization. We present the objectives, methodologies and results of the papers reviewed, with special emphasis on how models are developed. The results are not always consistent between the works analyzed. On the one hand, this could be due to the complexity of the port industry and the high number of agents that intervene. Researchers need to simplify reality to build their models by imposing restrictive assumptions. On the other hand, results could be very sensitive to the techniques used or to the differences on the port environment of the countries of study. However, some conclusions can be extracted and they present a good starting point to develop more sophisticated models. Finally, we also propose avenues for future research.     

Collective and individual benefits of trade unions: a multi‐level analysis of 21 European countries

In light of internationally declining union density, this article examines to what extent employees derive advantage from trade unions. Data collected in 21 countries through the European Social Survey 2010 are being used. Multilevel analyses show that it is not so much individual membership but unions' collective power that matters. Perceived union influence and a union‐friendly industrial relations regime (mainly the organized corporatism in the Nordic countries) are positively linked to the occurrence of regular workplace meetings and to the impact of these meetings on organizational decisions. Employees also appear to benefit from unions' collective power in terms of appropriate pay and job security, although the regime pattern is then less clear.     

Industrial relations law,employment security and collective bargaining in India: myths,realities and hopes

This article examines the debate on reforms in industrial relations law in India, needed to support its economic liberalisation programme. Analysing a distinctively Indian experience of state intervention in industrial relations, it concludes that the thrust of the reform should be towards entrusting union recognition and promotion of dispute settlement to an authority that is independent of the state executive.     

Human resource management,trade unions and empowerment: two cases from India

This paper discusses the introduction of schemes aimed at employee empowerment within a context of strong industrial relations in India. The pressure put on profit margins by a competitive business environment is forcing an increasing number of Indian enterprises to view employee empowerment as a serious strategic option. Getting workers to take responsibility for shop-floor decisions over quality, safety, productivity and material use appears, at first sight, an alluring prospect. It would seem that men and women at the bottom of the pyramid cannot but be warmly appreciative of power-sharing arrangements from which they have something to gain, but there are forces at work which can actively obstruct or quietly subvert attempts at redistributing power. In this paper the focus is on some of the motives a trade union might have to do so.     

Collectivism and the Management of Industrial Relations In Greenfield Sites

Patrick Gunnigle examines management approaches to industrial relations in newly established (‘greenfield’) companies in the Republic of Ireland. He focuses particularly on recent empirical findings on trade union density and recognition and on the role of employer organisations. the evidence presented points to newly emergent patterns of industrial relations management which diverge from the pluralist model. However, in only a minority of cases could these be classified as ‘soft’ human resource management. Indeed a number of organisations studied adopted industrial relations styles which more closely approximated to ‘hard’ HRM. It would appear that the emerging pattern is one of higher individualism and constrained collectivism. the findings also point to the emergence of a vibrant non-union sector among greenfield companies. It is argued that this trend is likely to be accentuated by the increasing number of companies successfully pursuing the non-union route. Equally, the current national industrial policy focus on high technology industries and internationally traded services is also likely to reinforce growth in the non-union sector. A number of factors which may help to arrest this trend are identified, particularly the corporatist structures characteristic of Irish industrial relations and the traditional acceptance of trade unions as legitimate bargaining partners.     

Do Managers with Limited Liability Take More Risky Decisions? An Information Acquisition Model

Risk‐neutral individuals take more risky decisions when they have limited liability. Risk‐neutral managers may not when acting as agents under contract and taking costly actions to acquire information before taking decisions. Limited liability makes it optimal to increase the reward for outcomes relatively more likely to arise from desirable than from undesirable actions. The resulting decisions may be less, rather than more, risky. Making a decision after acquiring information provides an additional reason to those in the classic principal‐agent literature for using contracts with pay increasing in the return. Further results on the form of contracts are also derived.     

Workplace industrial relations in British Rail: change and continuity in the 1980s

This article compares the findings of a recent survey of workplace industrial relations in British Rail with those from one conducted in 1980. It is suggested that the changes observed may be unintended consequences of management policies rather than the planned outcome of explicit industrial relations strategies.     

The ‘old’ and ‘new’ competition and Malaysian manufacturing firms: a case study

The majority of empirical studies dealing with production processes, work organization and industrial relations practices have been conducted in advanced industrial nations. This article reports on a study of the changing nature of work organization and industrial relations policies in the developing economy of Malaysia. It explores the broad patterns of change in human resource management, technology and work organization among Malaysian manufacturing firms in the context of Best's ‘old’ and ‘new’ competition. The question that arises is: does the evidence reveal that Malaysia is embracing elements of the ‘new competition’, or is it still locked into a regime of mass production, or both? The article argues that the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ competition should not be treated as a simple, straightforward duality model of development. The distinction between the two approaches is sometimes blurred and not so clear-cut. The case study observes that both systems could be operating side by side at the same time within an organization. Since the Malaysian manufacturing sector is expected to shift from simple assembly and process-type operations using labour-intensive techniques to the more advanced and higher value-added industries, greater investment in HRD to upgrade the skills of the work-force and the adoption of appropriate industrial relations policies that emphasize decentralization, greater employee involvement and continuous innovation will become crucial. To be able to compete successfully in the global economy would require a change in focus in the adoption of industrial relations and human resource development policies. For Malaysia to realize its aspiration to become an industrialized and developed nation by the year 2020 would require radical changes in those policies within the context of an integrated approach to economic and industrial planning.     

The take-up of human resource management by mainstream companies: key lessons from research

Drawing upon a major British study involving over 300 interviews in fifteen case organizations from the private and public sectors, this paper draws out the essential elements of recent changes in industrial relations. In particular, it examines the significance of human resource management initiatives for the practice of industrial relations. The main thrust of the paper examines the ways, and the extent to which, mainstream organizations have transposed and absorbed concepts and practices from the highly publicized ‘lead cases’ into their own routines.

The central argument has three component elements: a whole array of managerial initiatives was launched in the period covered by the research; many of the more far-reaching of these were devised and driven from outside personnel or industrial relations management; cumulatively, these initiatives have impacted on the conduct of industrial relations.

A key concept which is identified and explored is that of HRM/IR ‘dualism’. This is the attempted bolting-on of HRM techniques and language alongside prevailing, albeit to some extent diluted, IR proceduralism. Many of the significant changes in labour management practices stemmed from initiatives taken by general managers, manufacturing directors and line managers. Transformative initiatives in the guise of culture change and structural change often carried profound implications for industrial relations even though these initiatives would not traditionally be regarded as part of industrial relations proper.     

Gender: the missing link in industrial relations research

This article extends the critique of how industrial relations research continues to be gender‐blind and argues that it is in part a result of early definitions which relegated ‘personal’ relations as outside the boundaries of the field and in part a result of a simultaneous strategy of acknowledgement and abdication, acknowledging that gender is important while at the same time arguing that gender does not need to be addressed. In order to demonstrate how gender is central to industrial relations, the article uses Antonio Gramsci’s concepts of ‘hegemony’, ‘ideology’, ‘good sense’ and ‘common sense’ to illustrate how patriarchal common sense is drawn on by both managers and trade unionists in negotiations over hours of work in a manufacturing firm in the North ‐west of England. It is argued that in order to include gender as a central feature of industrial relations research, it is necessary to analyse how the interests of capital, labour and patriarchy are embedded in negotiations on the shopfloor.     

The importance of small differences: the effects of research design on the comparative study of industrial relations reform in Australia and New Zealand

The aim of this paper is to explore the limitations associated with a most similar case research design. It argues that by adopting a most similar case research design, comparative work on industrial relations reform in Australia and New Zealand during the 1980s and 1990s has systematically ignored important historical differences between the two countries, underestimated the similarities in recent reforms and privileged organizational and institutional explanations for changes in industrial relations systems, at the expense of those which are based on systemic factors and material interests. More generally, this paper argues that methodological choices have significant consequences for the types of explanations generated by comparative research and that more serious attention needs be given to the epistemological assumptions embedded in research designs that are taken up by industrial relations researchers.     

Participatory management and industrial relations climate: a study of Chinese,Japanese and US firms in Taiwan

This study examines the relationship between industrial relations climate and the employee attitudes towards participatory management in Chinese-, Japanese- and US-invested electronics firms in Taiwan. Among the findings, Chinese firms tended to have a higher level of participatory management and more effective participatory management than US-invested firms in Taiwan. It was also confirmed that the harmony and openness aspects of industrial relations climate had a positive and significant correlation with the effectiveness of participatory management, including the personnel, operational and social matters. It was concluded that multinational corporations (MNCs) which need centralized control of their overseas operations will be less willing to encourage participatory management in their local operations. Finally, it was revealed that the effectiveness rather than the level of participatory management could better predict industrial relations climate.