F. Huijgen

Employee Participation in Europe: In Search of the Participative Workplace

This article presents an overview of participation schemes in European companies. It is based on a secondary analysis of data from the 1996 EPOC mail survey among managers of profit sector establishments in 10 EU countries. The article describes the diverse extent and nature of participative workplaces in European countries. It analyses the inter relationships between several forms of participation schemes and indicators for the participative nature of the workplace: schemes for direct participation (DP) of employees, i.e. group consultation and individual and group delegation; schemes for financial participation (FP), i.e. employee ownership and profit sharing; and the arrangements for indirect, employee representative participation (ER). Based on a multivariate analysis of the intensity of the participation schemes, a profile of participative workplaces is presented. To categorize these workplaces, we focused on country factors, management practices and workplace characteristics.

European Works Councils: Identity and the Role of Information and Communication Technology

This article discusses the conditions for the development of a common identity among employee representatives within European Works Councils and addresses the importance of information and communication technology in this respect. Drawing on case studies conducted at General Motors and Deutsche Post, it is concluded that systematic use of such technology is a necessary condition if employee representatives are to be able to act jointly and in a timely manner across borders when challenged by management.

Towards a European Labour Identity: The Case of the European Works Council.

Introduction: process and structure of the book 1 European Works Councils and the problem of identity HERMAN KNUDSEN, MICHAELWHITTALL AND FRED HUIJGEN 2 The European Works Councils Directive: changing rationales for EU regulation of employee participation MICHAEL GOLD 3 Living apart together? A Chorus of multiple identities ANDREW R. TIMMING AND ULKE VEERSMA 4 Beyond European Works Council networks: the break-up of the Rover group MICHAELWHITTALL 5 Co-ordinating across borders: the role of European industry federations within European Works Councils VALERIA PULIGNANO 6 Regional clusters of communication: between national and European identities MONICA ANDERSSON AND CHRISTER THORNQVIST 7 Ethno-, poly- and Eurocentric European Works Councils: how does German involvement influence their identity? HELEN BICKNELL 8 Still learning from Europe: Spanish participation in European Works Councils HOLM-DETLEV KOHLER AND SERGIO GONZALEZ BEGEGA 9 Interest representation and European identity: a twofold challenge for European Works Councils VOLKER TELLJOHANN 10 The European Works Council and the feeling of interdependence HERMANN KOTTHOFF 11 Preparing the ground for a social Europe? European Works Councils and European regulatory identity MIGUEL MARTINEZ LUCIO AND SYD WESTON 12 Coming of age: the development of a collective identity in European Works Councils TORSTEN MULLER AND STEFAN RUB 13 Tackling the identity dilemma FRED HUIJGEN, MICHAEL WHITTALL AND HERMAN KNUDSEN

Measuring Group Work; Findings and Lessons from a European Survey

Data from the EPOC-mail survey among managers in 10 European countries are used to fill the gap in our knowledge about the incidence of group work. Two variables were used to demarcate ‘group-based’ establishments. An attempt is made to compare the European data with American findings.

What do we know about the incidence of group work (if anything

Whereas group work has been much discussed throughout the 1980s and 1990s, there are few statistical studies about its incidence. The available surveys have adopted a variety of methodological approaches. This paper discusses these studies to investigate two questions: Are there differences in the incidence of group work in different countries? Is its popularity indeed increasing?

European Diversity in the Use of Participation Schemes

This article presents an overview of participation schemes in companies in different European countries. It analyses the interrelationships between two forms of participation schemes: first, schemes for direct participation of employees, namely consultation and delegation both on individual and group level; and second, schemes for financial participation, namely employee ownership and profit sharing. We discuss the background to the diversity in practices by analysing survey data of establishments in ten European countries.