IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/indrel/v50y2019i4p379-398.html

Union suppression and union substitution strategies of multinational enterprises in Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Desmond Tutu Ayentimi
  • John Burgess
  • Kantha Dayaram

Abstract

This article complements the literature by furthering the understanding of an ‘African dimension’ of multinational enterprise (MNE) union avoidance. The evidence suggests that MNEs engaged in both union suppression and union substitution strategies by (i) exploiting young employees' apathy to promote opposition and indifference for union organisation (evil stuff), (ii) implementing union member‐centred employee retrenchment (fear stuff), (iii) using enterprise‐level collective bargaining arrangement to suppress union bargaining power (fear and fatal stuff), (iv) exploiting the fragmented labour union environment to suppress union organisation (fatal and evil stuff) and (v) promoting individual employee voice and involvement mechanisms (sweet stuff). Although MNEs in Ghana engaged in both union suppression and union substitution strategies, they appear to particularly favour the adoption of ‘union suppression’ strategies and what might be termed as ‘corridor tactics’. Our article highlights four transitional issues underpinning the emerging success of ‘corridor tactics’ in union suppression in a less developed host country.

Suggested Citation

  • Desmond Tutu Ayentimi & John Burgess & Kantha Dayaram, 2019. "Union suppression and union substitution strategies of multinational enterprises in Ghana," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(4), pages 379-398, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:50:y:2019:i:4:p:379-398
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12264
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12264
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/irj.12264?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yitchak Haberfeld, 1995. "Why Do Workers Join Unions? The Case of Israel," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 48(4), pages 656-670, July.
    2. Jack Fiorito & Cheryl L. Maranto, 1987. "The Contemporary Decline Of Union Strength," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 5(4), pages 12-27, October.
    3. Stephen Machin & Stephen Wood, 2005. "Human Resource Management as a Substitute for Trade Unions in British Workplaces," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 58(2), pages 201-218, January.
    4. Marc Goergen & Chris Brewster & Geoffrey Wood & Adrian Wilkinson, 2012. "Varieties of Capitalism and Investments in Human Capital," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51, pages 501-527, April.
    5. James T. Walker & Christopher Brewster & Geoff Wood, 2014. "Diversity between and within varieties of capitalism: transnational survey evidence," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 23(2), pages 493-533.
    6. Patrick C. Flood & Bill Toner, 1997. "Large Non-Union Companies: How Do They Avoid a Catch 22?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 257-277, June.
    7. Ferner, Anthony & Quintanilla, Javier & Varul, Matthias Z., 2001. "Country-of-origin effects, host-country effects, and the management of HR in multinationals: German companies in Britain and Spain," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 107-127, July.
    8. Mads Peter Klindt, 2017. "Trade union renewal through local partnerships for skill formation," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 23(4), pages 441-455, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nathaniel Tetteh & Stephen Mustchin, 2023. "Contrasting union orientations and engagement with international private regulation: The agency and role of labour in MNC subsidiaries in Ghana," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(3), pages 506-525, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fátima Suleman & Henrique Duarte & Chris Brewster & Abdul Suleman, 2022. "Compensation policies and comparative capitalisms," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 28(4), pages 405-425, December.
    2. Goergen, Marc & Chahine, Salim & Wood, Geoffrey & Brewster, Chris, 2019. "The relationship between public listing, context, multi-nationality and internal CSR," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 122-141.
    3. Walker, James & Wood, Geoff & Brewster, Chris & Beleska-Spasova, Elena, 2018. "Context, market economies and MNEs: The example of financial incentivization," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 21-33.
    4. Leone Leonida & Marianna Marra & Sergio Scicchitano & Antonio Giangreco & Marco Biagetti, 2020. "Estimating the Wage Premium to Supervision for Middle Managers in Different Contexts: Evidence from Germany and the UK," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(6), pages 1004-1026, December.
    5. Zhang, Jianhong & Zhou, Chaohong & van Gorp, Désirée M. & van Witteloostuijn, Arjen, 2020. "Willingness to work for multinational enterprises from emerging countries: The case of Chinese multinational enterprises in the Netherlands," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5).
    6. Loris Guery & Anne Stevenot & Geoffrey T. Wood & Chris Brewster, 2017. "The Impact of Private Equity on Employment: The Consequences of Fund Country of Origin—New Evidence from France," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 723-750, October.
    7. Anne Stevenot & Loris Guery & Geoffrey Wood & Chris Brewster, 2018. "Country of Origin Effects and New Financial Actors: Private Equity Investment and Work and Employment Practices of French Firms," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(4), pages 859-881, December.
    8. Hari Bapuji & Snehanjali Chrispal & Balagopal Vissa & Gokhan Ertug, 2023. "Local, yet global: Implications of caste for MNEs and international business," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(2), pages 201-234, June.
    9. Meyer, Klaus E. & Thein, Htwe Htwe, 2014. "Business under adverse home country institutions: The case of international sanctions against Myanmar," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 156-171.
    10. Guy Mundlak, 2009. "Addressing the Legitimacy Gap in the Israeli Corporatist Revival," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(4), pages 765-787, December.
    11. Jimmy Donaghey & Niall Cullinane & Tony Dundon & Adrian Wilkinson, 2011. "Reconceptualising employee silence," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 25(1), pages 51-67, March.
    12. Donna Sockell & John Thomas Delany, 1987. "Union Organizing And The Reagan Nlrb," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 5(4), pages 28-45, October.
    13. Patel, Parth & Bhanugopan, Ramudu & Sinha, Paresha & Prikshat, Verma & Boyle, Brendan, 2024. "Home country and firm-specific advantage influences on HRM replication versus adaptation in EMNEs operating in advanced economies: A qualitative comparative analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    14. Giulio Pedrini, 2020. "Off‐the‐job training and the shifting role of part‐time and temporary employment across institutional models. Comparing Italian and British firms," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 427-453, September.
    15. Newenham-Kahindi, Aloysius, 2011. "Human resource strategies for managing back-office employees in subsidiary operations: The case of two investment multinational banks in Tanzania," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 13-21, January.
    16. Masayuki MORIKAWA, 2008. "What Do Japanese Unions Do for Productivity?: An Empirical Analysis Using Firm-Level Data," Discussion papers 08027, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    17. Adam Seth Litwin, 2013. "Not Featherbedding, but Feathering the Nest: Human Resource Management and Investments in Information Technology," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 22-52, January.
    18. Malik, Tariq H., 2017. "Varieties of capitalism, innovation performance and the transformation of science into exported products: A panel analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 324-333.
    19. Annalisa Cristini & Tor Eriksson & Dario Pozzoli, 2013. "High-Performance Management Practices and Employee Outcomes in Denmark," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(3), pages 232-266, July.
    20. Morley K. Gunderson & Byron Y. Lee & Hui Wang, 2024. "Worker Congresses in China: Do they matter?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 43-58, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:50:y:2019:i:4:p:379-398. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0019-8692 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.