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US Multi-Nationals and the German Industrial Relations System

Author

Listed:
  • Ingo Singe

    (Hamburg University)

  • Richard Croucher

    (Senior Research Fellow, Human Resource Research Centre, Cranfield School of Management)

Abstract

This paper critically reviews literature on the behaviour of US-based Multi National Companies (MNCs) in Germany in relation to the historic institutions of the German labour market: works councils and industry wide collective bargaining. The German system is becoming increasingly company-rather than sectorally centred, and US-based companies have reinforced a wing of German employer opinion seeking to further these developments. Surveys show US-based companies generally accepting works councils and sectoral bargains but case study evidence also shows them seeking to weaken links with parts of the system external to the company. A typology is proposed and it is argued that many US-based companies appear to follow a ?formal compliance/content avoidance dichotomy? tending to exacerbate the system?s existing tendencies towards disarticulation. They also tend to explore all options available to them within the existing system. A research agenda is suggested.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingo Singe & Richard Croucher, 2005. "US Multi-Nationals and the German Industrial Relations System," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 16(1), pages 123-137.
    • Handle: RePEc:nms:mamere:1861-9908_mrev_2005_01_singe
    as

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    File URL: https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/0935-9915-2005-1-123
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Streeck, Wolfgang & Rehder, Britta, 2003. "Der Flächentarifvertrag: Krise, Stabilität und Wandel," MPIfG Working Paper 03/6, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    2. Anne Tempel, 2002. "Multinational Companies, Institutional Environments and the Diffusion of Industrial Relations Practices," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Mike Geppert & Dirk Matten & Karen Williams (ed.), Challenges for European Management in a Global Context — Experiences from Britain and Germany, chapter 6, pages 143-164, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. William N. Cooke & Deborah S. Noble, 1998. "Industrial Relations Systems and US Foreign Direct Investment Abroad," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 36(4), pages 581-609, December.
    4. Anke Hassel, 1999. "The Erosion of the German System of Industrial Relations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 37(3), pages 483-505, September.
    5. Matthias Kipping, 1997. "Consultancies, Institutions and the Diffusion of Taylorism in Britain, Germany and France, 1920s to 1950s," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 67-83.
    6. Oecd, 2002. "Access for Business," OECD Digital Economy Papers 67, OECD Publishing.
    7. Anke Hassel, 2002. "The Erosion Continues: Reply," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 40(2), pages 309-317, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Sang-Woo Lee, 2010. "A Comparison of the British and the German Industrial Relations and its Implications," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 13(1), pages 167-182, March.
    2. Tüselmann, Heinz-Josef & Cao, Qi & Dörrenbächer, Christoph & Meißner, Heinz-Rudolf, 2020. "Mitbestimmungsverhalten und Arbeitsbeziehungen in ausländischen Unternehmen in Deutschland: Ergebnisse einer vergleichenden Management- und Betriebsräteumfrage," Study / edition der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf, volume 127, number 444.
    3. Johannes Meuer & Marlies Kluike & Uschi Backes-Gellner & Kerstin Pull, 2018. "Using expatriates for adapting subsidiaries' employment modes to different market economies: a comparative analysis of US subsidiaries in Germany, the UK and Switzerland," Working Papers 372, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    4. Anthony Ferner & Jacques Bélanger & Olga Tregaskis & Michael Morley & Javier Quintanilla, 2013. "U.S. Multinationals and the Control of Subsidiary Employment Policies," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(3), pages 645-669, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    US Multinationals; Germany; Industrial Relations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General

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