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Can Strategic Participation Be Institutionalized? Union Representation on American Corporate Boards

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  • Larry W. Hunter

Abstract

This paper, drawing on interviews conducted in 1989 and 1990 with directors nominated by unions to American corporate boards of directors, shows that union choices in the establishment of board representation in the 1980s reflected union strategy and structure. Those choices, in turn, established conditions that affected the ways in which representation influenced governance. The institutional environment strongly militated against the emergence of interest representation in the boardroom; only an unusual constellation of choices was likely to lead to such pluralist deliberation. The strategic choices of unions were more likely to leave undisturbed the board's traditional function as a vehicle for overseeing shareholders' investment. The effectiveness of the oversight depended further on unions' choices in the establishment of board representation plans, selection of directors, and level of support for directors.

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  • Larry W. Hunter, 1998. "Can Strategic Participation Be Institutionalized? Union Representation on American Corporate Boards," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 51(4), pages 557-578, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:51:y:1998:i:4:p:557-578
    DOI: 10.1177/001979399805100401
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tove H. Hammer & Robert N. Stern, 1986. "A Yo-Yo Model of Cooperation: Union Participation in Management at the Rath Packing Company," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 39(3), pages 337-349, April.
    2. Kirsten R. Wever, 1989. "Toward a Structural Account of Union Participation in Management: The Case of Western Airlines," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 42(4), pages 600-609, July.
    3. Tove H. Hammer & Steven C. Currall & Robert N. Stern, 1991. "Worker Representation on Boards of Directors: A Study of Competing Roles," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 44(4), pages 661-680, July.
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    1. Sadowski, Dieter & Junkes, Joachim & Lindenthal, Sabine, 1999. "Labour co-determination and corporate governance in Germany: The economic impact of marginal and symbolic rights," Quint-Essenzen 60, University of Trier, Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Community (IAAEG).
    2. Thomas A. Kochan, 2000. "On the Paradigm Guiding Industrial Relations Theory and Research Comment on John Godard and John T. Delaney, “Reflections on the ‘High Performance’ Paradigm's Implications for Industrial Relatio," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(4), pages 704-711, July.

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