A service union’s innovation dilemma: limitations on creative action in German industrial relations

Holtgrewe, Ursula; Doellgast, Virginia

doi:10.1177/0950017011432913

Cited by 19 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…In contrast to 'insider-outsider' arguments claiming that unions encourage the use of temporary labour to defend the interests of the permanent workforce (i.e. their members), research has widely documented union involvement in national campaigns to organize temporary workers with a view to improving their working conditions, whether in different sectors (Benassi and Dorigatti 2014;Holtgrewe and Doellgast 2012;MacKenzie 2009;Turner 2009) or in different national settings (Greer and Hauptmeier 2008). Finally, alongside their main aim of improving pay and working conditions for flexible workers, trade unions can, through facilitating and extending the representation of temporary workers, attempt to directly influence management decisions on the use of temporary labour through collective agreements limiting the use of outsourcing and externalization (Bain and Taylor 2008).…”

Section: Institutions Management and Strategic Union Approaches To Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Union Strategies, National Institutions and the Use of Temporary Labour in Italian and US Plants

Pulignano

Signoretti²

2015

Brit J Industrial Rel

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This article analyses variation in the use of temporary labour based on a comparison of two plants of the same US automotive multinational corporation, one in Italy and the other in the United States. We argue that differences in the use of temporary labour are explained by union capacities to make trade‐offs between alternative forms of flexibility as well as trade‐offs in the protection of internal and external groups of workers. Union capacity is dependent on the availability of power resources within different national institutional environments. These resources are shown to influence not only the ways in which temporary workers are used but also bargaining outcomes — including employment conditions — benefiting them.

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Section: Institutions Management and Strategic Union Approaches To Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Union Strategies, National Institutions and the Use of Temporary Labour in Italian and US Plants

Pulignano

Signoretti²

2015

Brit J Industrial Rel

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“…This can be observed with respect to the outsourcing of call centres, for example, where industrial relations are less developed and non‐standard employment is more prominent than with in‐house call centres in forms that are governed by strong collective bargaining institutions (Doellgast et al . 2009a,b; Holtgrewe and Doellgast ; Shire et al . ).…”

Section: Two Decades Of Restructuringmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite this, the expansion of the service sector drove the overall increase in the share of low pay (Kalina and Weinkopf 2012) and non-standard forms of employment in Germany -as a deregulated margin of the labour market in terms of employment protection and wage flexibility allowed for this reaction. This can be observed with respect to the outsourcing of call centres, for example, where industrial relations are less developed and non-standard employment is more prominent than with in-house call centres in forms that are governed by strong collective bargaining institutions (Doellgast et al 2009a,b;Holtgrewe and Doellgast 2012;Shire et al 2009).…”

Section: Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Unexpected Appearance of a New German Model

Eichhörst

2014

Brit J Industrial Rel

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. www.econstor.eu Terms of use: Documents in D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E S ABSTRACT The Unexpected Appearance of a New German ModelMost Continental European labour markets and welfare states underwent a substantial transformation over the last two decades moving from a situation of low employment and limited labour market inequality to higher employment, but also more inequality. Germany is a case in point as it exhibits growing employment figures and growing shares of low pay and non-standard work. Furthermore, the German labour market has been remarkably resilient during the recent crisis. How can this be explained? The paper claims that changes in labour market institutions such as unemployment benefits, active labour market policies and employment protection play a major role, but changes in industrial relations at the sectoral level and individual firms' staffing practices are equally important in explaining actual labour market outcomes. Regarding labour market institutions, the pattern found in Germany shows sequences of de-and re-regulatory reforms of employment protection and increasing or decreasing unemployment benefit generosity, both mostly addressing the margins of the labour market, i.e. 'outsiders', and contributing to a growing dualisation of the employment system. The institutional status of 'insiders' was hardly affected by legislative changes. This dualisation trend was reinforced by micro-level dynamics in industrial relations and company employment practices where we can observe growing reliance on mechanisms of internal flexibility for the skilled core work force and increasing use of non-standard types of employment in less specifically skilled occupations.JEL Classification: J21, J31, J52, J68

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“…Different unions may be responsible for inhouse and outsourced firms whose workers carry out similar functions, or, as discussed above, were formerly employed in the same organisation. Improving bargaining coordination between these unions and works councils at different organisations can be quite difficult due to conflicting interests and increased variation in pay and working conditions across in-house and outsourced firms (Doellgast and Greer 2007;Holtgrewe and Doellgast 2012). These coordination issues usually have an important international dimension.…”

Section: Challenges Of Hrm Coordinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outsourcing and Human Resource Management

Doellgast¹,

Gospel²

2012

Managing Human Resources

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Abstract[Excerpt] Historically, outsourcing has always existed, as firms put out work to suppliers, contractors, and intermediaries to organize the production of goods and services (Doellgast and Gospel 2011). In recent years, however, outsourcing has increased in both scale (the volume of outsourcing) and scope (the number of activities outsourced). This has several related causes. First, the advent of new transportation systems, such as the growth of maritime, rail, and road logistics and the advent of new information and communications technologies (ICTs) have facilitated ordering, monitoring, and delivery of products and services. Second, as markets have extended and become more competitive, firms increasingly seek to save costs through focusing on their core value-maximizing activities, handing other activities over to suppliers. Third, the relaxation of trade barriers, emergence of new markets, and expansion of a more highly skilled labor force in Asia have increased the ease and cost savings of outsourcing to these regions. Fourth, in the public sector, organizations have been prompted by politicians to look to outsourcing as a way of cutting costs and introducing greater flexibilities. Finally, management fashion has played an important role in popularizing production and service models, as firms watch and imitate their competitors (IMF 2007; OECD 2007ab).These trends have a number of implications for the management of human resources across firms' increasingly diverse (and often international) procurement and supply chains. Managers face choices concerning how to help employees adjust during worker transfer or downsizing following the decision to outsource work. Networked relationships across core firms and their subcontractors introduce new demands, in terms of resources and monitoring, as firms seek to coordinate practices and incentives across organizations. In addition, the human resource management (HRM) function itself is increasingly being outsourced to specialist organizations, often involving substantial restructuring and rationalization.We first provide background on outsourcing trends and then discuss the HRM issues and choices associated with outsourcing. Throughout, we examine the ways in which national institutions affect the costs and benefits of different strategic choices by firms, as well as the particular challenges multinationals face as they seek to manage outsourcing contracts across national borders. We show that outsourcing is both driven by and used to facilitate globalization. However, outsourcing strategies and their impact on different stakeholder groups continue to be embedded in distinct national settings.

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A service union’s innovation dilemma: limitations on creative action in German industrial relations

Cited by 19 publications

References 40 publications

Union Strategies, National Institutions and the Use of Temporary Labour in Italian and US Plants

Union Strategies, National Institutions and the Use of Temporary Labour in Italian and US Plants

The Unexpected Appearance of a New German Model

Outsourcing and Human Resource Management

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