Richard Croucher

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.

National institutions and employers’ age management practices in Britain and Germany: ‘Path dependence’ and option exploration

We pursue a comparative analysis of employers’ age management practices in Britain and Germany, asking how valid ‘convergence’ and ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ theories are. After rejecting the convergence verdict, we proceed to ask how far ‘path dependence’ helps explain inter-country differences. Through 19 interviews with British and German experts, we find that firms have reacted in different ways to promptings from the EU and the two states. Change has been modest and a rhetoric-reality gap exists in firms as they seek to hedge. We point to continuities in German institutional methods of developing new initiatives, and the emerging role of British NGOs in helping firms and the state develop new options. We argue that ‘path dependence’ offers insight into the national comparison, but also advance the idea of national modes of firm option-exploration as an important way of conceptualizing the processes involved.

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.

Flexible working practices and the trade unions

This article examines the problems that the expansion and spread of flexible working patterns have created for the trade unions. Drawing evidence from across Europe, but focusing on the UK, it is argued that the decline in unionism has a number of antecedents, of which an important factor is the change in the way people are employed. A number of examples of flexible working are examined and the implications of each for union membership and influence are outlined. The paper ends by exploring what the UK unions are doing, and could be doing, to address these issues.

The Influences on Direct Communication in British and Danish Firms: Country,'Strategic HRM' or Unionization?

This article uses large-scale survey data to examine the influences on private-sector managers’ propensity to communicate directly to employees in Britain and Denmark. In both countries, this propensity is shaped by two factors: whether the senior HR manager is involved in strategy formation, and the degree of unionization. The findings are not consistent with Brewsters argument that European HR managers are constrained in applying American versions of HRM, or with ‘varieties of capitalism’ theories which imply that companies in the two countries would have different systemic drivers of their communications practices.

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.

The Impact of Trade Union Education: a Study in Three Countries in Eastern Europe:

Education is often viewed as a key instrument for effecting change in trade unions. This article examines the experience of a programme conducted by the International Union of Food, Agricultural and Allied Workers’ Associations within agricultural unions in Moldova, Ukraine, and Belarus. The analysis develops a typology of different educational approaches related to gender and to varying strategies in relation to union reform, which may have wider application. Results of the educational activities include the development of an international network of activists dedicated to union reform, reallocation of subscription income, and direct effects on industrial relations in a multinational company. The pace and direction of change in these former ‘official’ unions are sensitive issues because of increasingly hostile state regimes and dependence on external resources. These unions may be seen in future as less fruitful fields for global donor investment and may attract fewer resources than those in other regions of the world.

The management of trust‐based working time in Germany

New developments in trust‐based working time systems (i.e. systems whereby managers formally devolve their responsibilities for monitoring working time) in Germany are examined. A picture of these systems is presented and the main debates reviewed. It is argued that the successful introduction of such systems is contingent on a number of inter‐related factors. These are: company size and management style, external and internal pressures and effective employee representation. It is concluded that such systems are most likely to be successful in larger organisations and that effective employee representation is a key requirement. Current circumstances are not necessarily conducive to the rapid spread of trust‐based working time systems.