Michael Brookes

Collective and individual voice: convergence in Europe?

This paper uses longitudinal survey data from Britain, Germany and Sweden to examine whether, as some researchers have suggested, there has been a convergence internationally towards individual forms of employee voice mechanism and, if so, to measure the extent and trajectory of change. The paper begins by examining the importance of the employee voice issue. It then reviews competing accounts of the utility of different forms of employee voice and their manifestations within different varieties of capitalism. It is hypothesized that there has been a general trend away from collective and towards individual voice mechanisms; this reflects the predominant trajectory of managerial practices towards convergence with the liberal market model. This hypothesis is largely rejected. The data showed only very limited evidence of directional convergence towards individual voice models in the three countries. Collective voice remains significant in larger organizations, and although it takes a wide range of forms that include but go beyond unions and works councils, this is a positive finding for proponents of those institutions.

Are Works Councils and Joint Consultative Committees a Threat to Trade Unions? A Comparative Analysis

This article assesses whether the operation of works councils or joint consultative committees (JCCs) is inimical to unionization in different business systems. An extensive transnational survey reveals that both works councils and JCCs are positively associated with a union presence; there is no evidence from this sample that either is used to any significant extent as a substitute for unions. The finding holds true irrespective of business system. Its implications for industrial relations actors are examined.

The Rise of Post-Bureaucracy Theorists' Fancy or Organizational Praxis?

Theories of post-bureaucracy point to a breakdown of traditional modes of managerial authority in the face of a range of pressures commonly associated with globalization and technological advance. This may make for a proliferation of alternative practices and/or allow for a genuine sharing of power in the workplace, associated with higher levels of responsible autonomy. Based on the findings of a series of transnational surveys, this article confirms a tendency, over time, for organizations to make greater use of mechanisms to promote responsible autonomy, in a wide range of national contexts. This would seemingly support a central proposition of theories of post-bureaucracy: a tendency for organizations to delegate more power to employees over time, reflecting the breakdown of traditional bureaucratically ordered power relations. At the same time, however, the research highlighted an uneven and contested process of change, reflecting both the persistent effects of national, regional and sectoral modes of regulation, and the non-linear and episodic nature of organizational change.

Social Relations, Firms and Societies A Study of Institutional Embeddedness

Business systems theory holds that specific nations are locked onto a particular developmental trajectory reflecting differences in both institutional configuration and corresponding social agency; these variations are reflected in the role and structuring of firms and employment practices. This article uses an international survey of firms to test the extent to which specific national business systems are distinguished by the nature and extent of employer-employee interdependence and the degree of delegation to employees. The evidence provides empirical support for the theory, though with some need for subtle modification, showing continuing difference between the employment practices of nations and business systems.

Varieties of firm: complementarity and bounded diversity

This is a study of the nature of internal diversity within liberal and collaborative market economies. Based on large scale comparative survey data, we assess the extent to which specific clusters of practices are associated with specific varieties of capitalism. Given that recent literature has pointed to internal diversity within specific national contexts, we explore the nature of internal diversity within both liberal and collaborative market economies, and what makes each variety of capitalism distinct. We find that more than one cluster of practices is indeed likely to be encountered in a particular national context, but that this diversity was bounded: only a limited number of alternative paradigms are likely to emerge and persist. The survey findings not only shed light on the nature of this internal diversity, but also reveal the fact that liberal and collaborative markets remain distinct, with the rights accruing to employees being more deeply embedded in a wide cross section of firms within the latter.

Employee turnover, HRM and institutional contexts

Literature on comparative capitalism remains divided between approaches founded on stylized case study evidence and descriptions of broad trends, and those that focus on macro data. In contrast, this study explores the relevance of Amable’s approach to understanding differences in employment relations practice, based on firm-level micro data. The article examines employee–employer interdependence (including turnover rates) in different categories of economy as classified by Amable. The findings confirm that exit – whether forced or voluntary – remains more common in market-based economies than in their continental counterparts and that institutionalized employee voice is an important variable in reducing turnover. However, there is as much diversity within the different country categories as between them, and across continental Europe. In Denmark’s case, high turnover is combined with high unionization, showing the effects of a ‘flexicurity’ strategy. While employee voice may be stronger in Scandinavia, interdependence is weaker than in continental Europe.

Context, strategy and financial participation: A comparative analysis:

This article investigates where financial participation is most likely to be encountered, and explores its compatibility with collective forms of employee voice. It is based on the findings of a major international survey of human resource management (HRM) practices. We found that financial participation was not affected by collective employee voice, but that national context and associated HRM strategies had significant effects on its nature and extent. As financial participation is likely to make for greater variation in wage rates, it tends to weaken industry-level bargaining. By re-casting the fundamental determinants of wages, it is also likely to facilitate greater wage dispersion within the firm. Hence, it was found that financial participation is more commonly encountered in liberal market contexts, and in firms practising calculative HRM, where countervailing employee power is weak, whether or not collective bargaining is formally present.

Direct involvement, partnership and setting: a study in bounded diversity

This paper brings a comparative aspect to the analysis of direct involvement as the foundation for partnership. It considers how various forms of direct involvement can represent components of a broader partnership paradigm of people management, or a limited shallow partnership concession to facilitate the diffusion of top-down human resource management policies. Through the use of survey evidence, we explore the settings in which involvement is more likely to be encountered. Contrary to predictions in much of the literature as to their universal applicability, we found that they tended to be concentrated in specific locales, organisational types and sectors, as part and parcel of wider cooperative production paradigms; in practical terms, if involvement is a prerequisite for meaningful partnership, then the latter is more likely to be encountered in more coordinated varieties of capitalism. This does not suggest, however, that ‘shallow’ or instrumentalist partnerships do not occur, or that in infertile ground genuine partnerships are not possible. On one hand, national variations encountered were broadly on the lines of the literature on comparative capitalism. On the other hand, there was much diversity within national settings; we identify the contexts in which such engagement is more or less likely and consider the implications.

Non-standard working time: an international and comparative analysis

This paper uses the large-scale Cranet data to explore the extent of non-standard working time (NSWT) across Europe and to highlight the contrasts and similarities between two different varieties of capitalism (coordinated market economies and liberal market economies). We explore variations in the extent of different forms of NSWT (overtime, shift working and weekend working) within these two different forms of capitalism, controlling for firm size, sector and the extent of employee voice. Overall, there was no strong link between the variety of capitalism and the use of overtime and weekend working though shift working showed a clear distinction between the two varieties of capitalism. Usage of NSWT in some service sectors was particularly high under both forms of capitalism and service sector activities had a particularly marked influence on the use of overtime in liberal market economies. Surprisingly, strong employee voice was associated with greater use of NSWT.

Trade Unions and Democracy in South Africa: Union Organizational Challenges and Solidarities in a Time of Transformation

Based on a nationwide survey, this article focuses on the perceptions of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) members on two of the central issues that have dominated debates on the South African labour movement: the advisability of COSATUs Alliance with the African National Congress (ANC) and the extent of internal union democracy. The survey revealed that the ANC-Alliance continues to enjoy mass support, while internal democracy remains robust. At the same time, the federation faces the challenges of coping with — and contesting — neoliberal reforms, retaining and re-energizing rank and file in the post-apartheid era, and in reaching out to potential members in the informal sector and other areas of insecure work.