IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/intare/v13y2010i1p167-182.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Comparison of the British and the German Industrial Relations and its Implications

Author

Listed:
  • Sang-Woo Lee

Abstract

A close investigation of the industrial relations in Britain and Germany reveals that there has occurred a clear divergence. But at the same time, a converging trend is also noticed. Regarding the latter, decentralization is gaining in power. This allows companies under certain conditions and to specified extents to modify or diverge from the agreed standards. What this comparative study demonstrates is that structural determinism is overplayed. The policies that unions and management adopt in response to certain circumstances are not predetermined. Not only are they capable of acting in response to various external constraints, but the nature of their response to secure their long-term future is an outcome of internal relations between the two sides.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:intare:v:13:y:2010:i:1:p:167-182
    DOI: 10.1177/223386591001300109
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/223386591001300109
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/223386591001300109?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. 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.
    2. Ingo Singe & Richard Croucher, 2005. "US Multi-Nationals and the German Industrial Relations System," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 16(1), pages 123-137.
    3. Nicholas Bacon & John Storey, 2000. "New Employee Relations Strategies in Britain: Towards Individualism or Partnership?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 38(3), pages 407-427, September.
    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. David E. Guest & Riccardo Peccei, 2001. "Partnership at Work: Mutuality and the Balance of Advantage," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 39(2), pages 207-236, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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).
    2. Muhamamd Zia-ur Rehman & Riasat Ali Khan & Noor Hassan, 2016. "Investigating the Role of Beliefs and Professional Values in HR Management," Global Regional Review, Humanity Only, vol. 1(1), pages 150-166, June.
    3. 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.
    4. Peter Samuel & Nicolas Bacon, 2010. "The contents of partnership agreements in Britain 1990-2007," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 24(3), pages 430-448, September.
    5. Nicolas Bacon & Peter Samuel, 2009. "Partnership agreement adoption and survival in the British private and public sectors," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 23(2), pages 231-248, June.
    6. 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, June.
    7. Alex Bryson & Lucy Stokes & David Wilkinson, 2023. "Is pupil attainment higher in well-managed schools?," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 129-144, January.
    8. Dr Alex Bryson, 2011. "Change and Persistence in the German Model of Collective Bargaining and Worker Representation," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 382, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    9. Wiedner, Jonas & Giesecke, Johannes, 2022. "Immigrant Men’s Economic Adaptation in Changing Labor Markets: Why Gaps between Turkish and German Men Expanded, 1976–2015," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 56(1), pages 176-205.
    10. Nicolas Bacon & Paul Blyton, 2004. "Trade union responses to workplace restructuring: exploring union orientations and actions," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 18(4), pages 749-773, December.
    11. Oberfichtner Michael & Schnabel Claus, 2019. "The German Model of Industrial Relations: (Where) Does It Still Exist?," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(1), pages 5-37, January.
    12. Lazarova, Mila & Peretz, Hilla & Fried, Yitzhak, 2017. "Locals know best? Subsidiary HR autonomy and subsidiary performance," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 83-96.
    13. Simon Jäger & Shakked Noy & Benjamin Schoefer, 2022. "The German Model of Industrial Relations: Balancing Flexibility and Collective Action," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(4), pages 53-80, Fall.
    14. Heinze, Anja & Wolf, Elke, 2006. "Gender Earnings Gap in German Firms: The Impact of Firm Characteristics and Institutions," ZEW Discussion Papers 06-020, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    15. John S. Heywood & Uwe Jirjahn, 2014. "Variable Pay, Industrial Relations and Foreign Ownership: Evidence from Germany," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(3), pages 521-552, September.
    16. Gregor Murray & Christian Lévesque & Christian Dufour & Adelheid Hege, 2013. "Special Issue. Edited by: Gregor Murray, Christian Lévesque, Christian Dufour and Adelheid Hege," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 340-354, July.
    17. Martin Behrens & Markus Helfen, 2016. "The Foundations of Social Partnership," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(2), pages 334-357, June.
    18. John T. Addison & Claus Schnabel & Joachim Wagner, 2006. "The (Parlous) State of German Unions," Working Paper Series in Economics 23, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    19. John Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Katalin Evers & Lutz Bellmann, 2014. "Indicative and Updated Estimates of the Collective Bargaining Premium in Germany," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 125-156, January.
    20. Paul Ryan & Uschi Backes-Gellner & Silvia Teuber & Karin Wagner, 2012. "Apprentice pay in Britain, Germany and Switzerland: institutions, market forces, market power," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0075, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).

    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:sae:intare:v:13:y:2010:i:1:p:167-182. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.hufs.ac.kr/user/hufsenglish/re_1.jsp .

    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.