Thèses sur le sujet « Industrial relations »

A common feeling among the Industrial Relations community is that the field faces a crisis that challenges both its ability to address the phenomena it studies and its institutional structures. However, the literature is not clear on the reasons for this development. Some argue, predominantly in Britain, that the cause of this crisis is the penetration of Human Resource Management (HRM) or, as this trend is also known, of the New Industrial Relations (NIR) theory, in the intellectual and institutional edifice of the field. Others, however, especially from the US, believe that the reason for the inability of the field to deal with the external environment is its adherence to an oldfashioned paradigm that does not take into consideration the changing nature of industrial relations realities. For them, the solution is to incorporate the teachings of the NIR theory in the intellectual corpus of Industrial Relations. Thus, one is faced with two contradictory positions that have the same bases, namely that the field is in a critical condition and that, somehow, a theory is involved (or should be involved) in the picture. However, the discrepancy between the two theses poses important conceptual problems for the future of the field for it is not as yet clear who is to blame (if anyone) for its current situation. It is, therefore, the aim of this Thesis to clarify the above picture. To achieve this, both the above theses will be evaluated. To do so, it is imperative to study the epistemological implications of the NIR theory for the field of Industrial Relations, and then to examine the place the NIR theory occupies in the intellectual structures of the field in Britain. Once this is achieved, the issue of crisis will be tackled in more detail to determine whether British Industrial Relations actually face the crisis that the various voices in the literature ascribe it with. In the Introduction the general problem and the Research Questions of the Thesis will be discussed. Then, the First Chapter will set the theoretical context upon which the analysis will be based. Chapter Two will present the intellectual and institutional development of the field of Industrial Relations, while Chapter Three will be devoted to an analysis of the NIR theory. Chapter Four will examine the epistemic value of the theory for the field of Industrial Relations and Chapter Five will investigate the position that the NIR theory occupies in the British Industrial Relations fora of knowledge development. Chapter Six will complement the above discussion by examining the evolutionary dynamics of the NIR theory. In Chapter Seven the intellectual status of Industrial Relations will be examined to see whether the field faces an intellectual crisis. Then, Chapter Eight will analyse the dynamics of the field in Britain to evaluate the condition of the field’s institutions. Finally, in Chapter Nine, the institutional status of the field, together with some ideas about the field’s future will be further discussed, and some promising avenues for future research will be presented.

This study is about the development of Japanese industrial relations, based on a quantitative analysis of industrial disputes. This study proposes a model of industrial relations, which incorporates interactions between principal actors, such as the state, capital, and labor and two major contingent factors, i.e., political and economic factors. Two levels at which these factors affect industrial relations are distinguished: one at the world-systemic level, another at a subsystemic (country) level. The model predicts that the triadic relation among the state, capital, and labor affects industrial relations, and they are in turn influenced by both political and economic processes at the world-systemic as well as at a subsystemic level. An application of the model to Japanese industrial relations, however, requires a close examination of the cultural interpretation of Japanese industrial relations. It is often asserted that Japanese industrial relations, characterized as unique as they are exemplified by lifetime employment, seniority-based wage system, and enterprise unionism, are rooted in the Japanese tradition and culture. This implies the contribution of unique and continuous industrial relations to economic success in Japan. Nonetheless, the findings of this study reject the culturalist explanation of Japanese industrial relations, clearly illustrating a significant structural change in industrial relations in Japan during the period from 1916- 1934. This significant structural change was also accompanied by social, political, and economic changes. Further, industrial relations in Japan for the period from 1897-1985 were tested by the model, using the method of linear structural equation models. Findings of the study are: The strength of capital was inversely related to the likelihood of industrial disputes, while the strength of labor increased disputes. The state's strength indirectly decreased industrial disputes. In addition, substantial differences in the triadic interactions regarding industrial disputes between pre and post World War II Japan also supported the structural change in Japanese industrial relations before World War II.

Recent debates in comparative industrial relations scholarship have raised significant questions about the impact of changes in the international economy on national patterns of industrial relations. Globalisation, it has been argued, creates pressures for convergence that will increasingly undermine national diversity in industrial relations institutions and outcomes. At its most extreme, the globalisation thesis predicts "a universal race to the bottom" of labour standards. This globalisation thesis has been broadly criticised in the comparative industrial relations literature. Rather, a growing body of comparative industrial relations literature has pointed to evidence of continued diversity, despite the common pressures associated with changes in the international economy. This literature has focussed on the importance national level institutional variables play in explaining diversity and suggested that differences in national level institutional variables are likely to produce cross-national divergence rather than convergence. While the institutionalist approach represents an important corrective to the globalisation thesis, it has difficulty explaining similarities in patterns of industrial relations changes, despite institutional differences across countries, and is largely unable to explain changes in the institutions themselves. This thesis argues that these limitations of the institutionalist approach reflect its intellectual origins in comparative politics. The major contribution of this thesis is the development of an interaction approach the relationship between international economic change and the domestic institutions of industrial relations. This alternative theoretical approach, which is drawn from concepts in the political economy tradition in industrial relations and the international political economy literature, identifies four key variables the shape the relationship between international economic change and the domestic institutions of industrial relations: namely, the international economic regime; the national production profile; the accumulation strategy of the state; and the role of institutional effects. The thesis tests the explanatory power of the interaction approach by focussing on the comparison between two closely matched countries- Australia and New Zealand- during three periods of significant economic change in the international economy: the end of the nineteenth century; the immediate post world war two period; and, in the late 1960s. It shows that each of these periods a focus on changes in the international economy and how they impact the interests of employers, workers and the state helps explain both similarities and differences in industrial relations developments in the two countries. In doing so it demonstrates the importance of what appear to be small differences between the cases. The ability of the interaction approach to account for similarities and differences across three time periods in two most similar countries suggests that it may have broader application in cross-national comparison and that may provide the basis for a more general reassessment of the relationship between the contemporary wave of globalisation and industrial relations institutions and outcomes.

Recent debates in comparative industrial relations scholarship have raised significant questions about the impact of changes in the international economy on national patterns of industrial relations. Globalisation, it has been argued, creates pressures for convergence that will increasingly undermine national diversity in industrial relations institutions and outcomes. At its most extreme, the globalisation thesis predicts �a universal race to the bottom� of labour standards. This globalisation thesis has been broadly criticised in the comparative industrial relations literature. Rather, a growing body of comparative industrial relations literature has pointed to evidence of continued diversity, despite the common pressures associated with changes in the international economy. This literature has focussed on the importance national level institutional variables play in explaining diversity and suggested that differences in national level institutional variables are likely to produce cross-national divergence rather than convergence. While the institutionalist approach represents an important corrective to the globalisation thesis, it has difficulty explaining similarities in patterns of industrial relations changes, despite institutional differences across countries, and is largely unable to explain changes in the institutions themselves. This thesis argues that these limitations of the institutionalist approach reflect its intellectual origins in comparative politics. The major contribution of this thesis is the development of an interaction approach the relationship between international economic change and the domestic institutions of industrial relations. This alternative theoretical approach, which is drawn from concepts in the political economy tradition in industrial relations and the international political economy literature, identifies four key variables the shape the relationship between international economic change and the domestic institutions of industrial relations: namely, the international economic regime; the national production profile; the accumulation strategy of the state; and the role of institutional effects. The thesis tests the explanatory power of the interaction approach by focussing on the comparison between two closely matched countries- Australia and New Zealand- during three periods of significant economic change in the international economy: the end of the nineteenth century; the immediate post world war two period; and, in the late 1960s. It shows that each of these periods a focus on changes in the international economy and how they impact the interests of employers, workers and the state helps explain both similarities and differences in industrial relations developments in the two countries. In doing so it demonstrates the importance of what appear to be small differences between the cases. The ability of the interaction approach to account for similarities and differences across three time periods in two most similar countries suggests that it may have broader application in cross-national comparison and that may provide the basis for a more general reassessment of the relationship between the contemporary wave of globalisation and industrial relations institutions and outcomes.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references.
This dissertation includes three essays. I argue in the first essay that given the weak union tradition there, alternative organizational bases for workers' mobilization and solidarity in local contexts have become an important factor for improving labor standards. Using a mixed method, including 54 in-depth interviews and a unique survey of 105 firms and 1,270 workers, this article specifies two findings: 1) despite the ever-increasing top-down regulatory efforts by the state and multinational corporations (MNCs), exploitative labor relations still exist as approximately ten percent of surveyed workers reported the experiences of labor abuses; and 2) native-place networks among migrant workers are a primary source of solidarity and have been crucial to preventing labor abuses; however, an overreliance on native-place networks reduces their salaries, suggesting an inverted U-shaped relationship between solidarity and economic opportunities. The second essay traces the origin of the flexible and densely connected production networks among Taiwanese manufacturers to the 1970s when they entered the global apparel and footwear production. This type of coordinated production network was transplanted to southern China around 1990 and has since been well maintained there. In contrast, the bottom-up mobilization of domestic entrepreneurs in the same city began to explore the domestic market by establishing multi-layered franchisee networks to distribute their own branded apparel. Whose presence as a reference group has provided Taiwanese entrepreneurs constraints, incentives, and mindsets to pursue emerging opportunities in the domestic market. In reaction, Taiwanese entrepreneurs began to utilize another configuration of inter-firm organizations-the Taiwanese Business Association-to share the risk and cost of exploring the domestic market and to increase their bargaining power vis-h-vis local Chinese governments. In the final essay, content analysis of 7,000 articles published in two top Chinese-language social science journals (1985-2011) suggests a lack of a large academic field of industrial relations (IR) in China, despite its rising labor problems. In general, there are two sub-spheres of a broad IR field (Kaufman 1993): human resource management scholars have focused on white-collar employees' psychological well-being, individual performance, and team efficiency; sociologists have contributed to our understanding of manufacturing workers' economic, social, and political disadvantages. An integration of both perspectives is important for the development of an IR field in China, especially given the recent state effort to establish stand-alone academic units devoted to IR research.
by Enying Zheng.
Ph.D.

The small business sector has become an increasingly important segment of the Australian economy since the 1970s. Industrial relations in the sector have been assumed to be harmonious. However, to a large extent this belief about industrial relations is based on conventional wisdom rather empirical evidence. Industrial relations research in Australia has concentrated on medium to large businesses because the centralised nature of the industrial relations system encouraged a collective emphasis. This collective emphasis ensured peak representative bodies and larger organisations had a tendency to dominate while small enterprises and their employees were, to a large extent, excluded. The perceived non-problematic nature of industrial relations in the small business sector was another reason for the lack of focus on the sector. The low incidence of strike activity and the low levels of trade union membership have meant research has been concentrated on the more "difficult" areas of industrial relations. The lack of empirical research into industrial relations in the sector is an important shortcoming. There are a number of commentators who suggest that it is too simplistic to assume harmonious relations. It is likely that there is a range of industrial relations in small business, depending on a number of variables including the personality of the owner/manager and employees, the type of business and the current economic climate. The legislative framework will also have an important affect on industrial relations. This study addresses the lack of empirical research in industrial relations in the small business sector by examining the differences between small and large registered clubs in NSW. Registered clubs have an unusual ownership structure and unusual business goals. They are also unusual since they are non-profit organisations formed by groups of people who share a common interest and who have come together to pursue or promote that interest. Registered clubs are governed by a board of directors who are responsible for the formulation of policy and for ensuring that management carries out these policies. This study found that there were significant differences in regards to some aspects of employment relations. For example, small clubs were more likely to have lower rates of unionisation than large clubs. They were also likely to have lower levels of informal bargaining than large clubs. The methods of communication within the workplace were likely to be more informal in small clubs and they were less likely to have communications with a trade union. Despite this greater degree of informality in employment relations, small clubs were more likely to use award provisions to determine wages for their managers and employees. Interestingly, despite the lower level of unionisation and the greater use of awards by smaller clubs there were no significant differences between small and large club managers' perception of the impact of awards and trade unions on club flexibility. The findings from this study suggest the deregulation of the Australian industrial relations system may not have any significant benefits for small business.

The small business sector has become an increasingly important segment of the Australian economy since the 1970s. Industrial relations in the sector have been assumed to be harmonious. However, to a large extent this belief about industrial relations is based on conventional wisdom rather empirical evidence. Industrial relations research in Australia has concentrated on medium to large businesses because the centralised nature of the industrial relations system encouraged a collective emphasis. This collective emphasis ensured peak representative bodies and larger organisations had a tendency to dominate while small enterprises and their employees were, to a large extent, excluded. The perceived non-problematic nature of industrial relations in the small business sector was another reason for the lack of focus on the sector. The low incidence of strike activity and the low levels of trade union membership have meant research has been concentrated on the more "difficult" areas of industrial relations. The lack of empirical research into industrial relations in the sector is an important shortcoming. There are a number of commentators who suggest that it is too simplistic to assume harmonious relations. It is likely that there is a range of industrial relations in small business, depending on a number of variables including the personality of the owner/manager and employees, the type of business and the current economic climate. The legislative framework will also have an important affect on industrial relations. This study addresses the lack of empirical research in industrial relations in the small business sector by examining the differences between small and large registered clubs in NSW. Registered clubs have an unusual ownership structure and unusual business goals. They are also unusual since they are non-profit organisations formed by groups of people who share a common interest and who have come together to pursue or promote that interest. Registered clubs are governed by a board of directors who are responsible for the formulation of policy and for ensuring that management carries out these policies. This study found that there were significant differences in regards to some aspects of employment relations. For example, small clubs were more likely to have lower rates of unionisation than large clubs. They were also likely to have lower levels of informal bargaining than large clubs. The methods of communication within the workplace were likely to be more informal in small clubs and they were less likely to have communications with a trade union. Despite this greater degree of informality in employment relations, small clubs were more likely to use award provisions to determine wages for their managers and employees. Interestingly, despite the lower level of unionisation and the greater use of awards by smaller clubs there were no significant differences between small and large club managers' perception of the impact of awards and trade unions on club flexibility. The findings from this study suggest the deregulation of the Australian industrial relations system may not have any significant benefits for small business.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Industrial Relations
Griffith Business School
Full Text

This thesis is fundamentally concerned with the reasons for vertical integration. It specifically addresses the questions of why vertical integration and close contractual equivalents have arisen in the petrol and brewing sectors of the U.K. and what influences the particular pattern of integration and contracts found. It further seeks to explain the major terms of the contracts used. The thesis is structured as a debate between explanations predicated on the assumption that market power drives vertical integration and those predicated on the assumption of efficiency. The thesis further considers the adequacy of the Neoclassical, New Institutional and Neoinstitutional paradigms for explaining the structure of industry. In concordance with a debate between paradigms, the thesis is rooted in the Lakatosian Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes. The thesis employs a case study methodology based principally on secondary sources and semi-structured interviews. Where possible, econometric techniques have also been employed. The principal case study period in 1965-1990, although the historical roots of vertical integration in both industries are explored. The principal conclusions of the thesis are as follows. The recent history of vertical integration is better accounted for by efficiency rationales in the case of petrol and by market power in the case of brewing, although the converse is true regarding the origins of vertical integration. Nevertheless, elements of both are present in each industry. Moreover, none of the paradigms emerges as being adequate on its own to account for the organisation of industry. Accordingly, the basis on which a synthesis would be possible is considered. This would require the rationality assumption to be relaxed by the Neoclassical and Neoinstitutional paradigms and the assumption of efficient outcomes of market processes to be relaxed in the New Institutional and Neoinstitutional. The recommendation for public competition policy is that both efficiency and power rationales should be considered and that a 'rule of reason' rather than a 'per se' approach is to be preferred.

Cette thèse de doctorat est un recueil de trois essais en économie du travail. Ils analysent de manière comparative des institutions centrales des économies française et allemande. Les chapitres estiment successivement l'ampleur des discriminations à l'égard des représentants du personnel, l'effet de l'apprentissage sur l'insertion professionnelle et l'impact des subventions offertes pour développer ce type de formation. Les principaux résultats sont analysés à la fois du point de vue de la France et de l'Allemagne et offrent des conclusions sur les récentes évolutions institutionnelles des deux pays.Le premier chapitre de cette thèse analyse les trajectoires salariales des représentants du personnel allemands. Cette étude apporte un nouvel éclairage sur le fonctionnement de la négociation dans ce pays. Nous montrons qu'il existe en Allemagne une discrimination stratégique à l'égard des représentants du personnel. Dans le secteur manufacturier, les salariés élus au comité d’entreprise bénéficient d’un surplus de revenus du fait de leur statut. Inversement, dans le secteur des services, la prise de fonction a un effet négatif sur les salaires. Dans les deux secteurs, l'ampleur de ces impacts sur l’évolution annuelle des salaires est d’ 1 à 2 points de pourcentage. Nous montrons en outre que ce sont les représentants syndiqués et politiquement impliqués qui reçoivent la majeure partie de la prime (négative ou positive) dans les deux secteurs. Pour eux, l'ampleur de l'impact est proche de 3 pp. Ces résultats mettent en évidence une détérioration de la qualité de la coopération entre partenaires sociaux dans le pays.Le chapitre 2 compare l’effet des études en apprentissage sur l’insertion professionnelle, en France et en Allemagne, entre 1998 et 2013. Il montre que, dans les deux pays, les apprentis réussissent mieux en sortie d’études secondaires ou supérieures que les étudiants de la voie scolaire standard. Cela est vrai tant à court qu'à moyen terme. En termes de taux de chômage l’année suivant la sortie d’études, le bénéfice est environ 6.75 p.p. plus fort en France qu’en Allemagne. L’analyse causale fournit les résultats principaux. Nous montrons que l’apprentissage favorise les élèves en difficulté scolaire qui quittent l'école à la fin de leurs études secondaires en France. Ce n’est pas le cas en Allemagne. L'explication de ce résultat est double. Tout d'abord, les étudiants de la voie scolaire standard en Allemagne réussissent bien mieux que leurs homologues français. Ensuite, le départ de l’entreprise de formation suite à l’obtention d’un diplôme en apprentissage est près de deux fois plus fréquent en France. Les apprentis non conservés bénéficient cependant du bon signal de leur diplôme sur le marché externe, ce qui n'est pas le cas de leurs homologues allemands. Enfin, à la sortie du supérieur, dans les deux pays, l’apprentissage n’améliore pas l’insertion professionnelle.Le chapitre 3 évalue l'impact d'une importante subvention - l'Indemnité Compensatrice Forfaitaire - offerte aux employeurs d'apprentis en France et qui a été régionalisée entre 2005 et 2014. Au moment de sa régionalisation, elle représentait un quart des dépenses publiques consacrées à l'apprentissage. L'analyse montre que la subvention favorise les stratégies de rotation de la main d’œuvre. Ainsi, on mesure une élasticité limitée mais significativement négative du nombre d'apprentis embauchés aux coûts de formation. Sa valeur est de -0,22. Toutefois, l'impact se fait surtout sentir au niveau de la marge intensive (les entreprises formatrices accueillant davantage d'apprentis) plutôt qu'au niveau de la marge extensive (de nouvelles entreprises qui commenceraient à former). Cela suggère qu’en réponse à une hausse de la prime à l’embauche, les entreprises formeraient au-dessus de leurs besoins en compétences
This PhD thesis is a collection of three essays in labour economics. In a comparative fashion, they analyse key institutions of the French and German political economies. The chapters successively estimate the size of discrimination towards works councilors, the effect of apprenticeship training on labour integration and the impact of subsidies offered to develop this form of training. The main results are analysed from both the perspectives of France and Germany and present conclusions on the recent institutional trajectories of the two countries.The first chapter of this PhD thesis proposes an analysis of wage trajectories of German works councilors. This outcome, I claim, offers a good way to analyse the functioning of bargaining in the country. I find proofs that some strategic discrimination towards works councilors takes place in Germany. In the manufacturing sector, being elected to the works council causes a rise in labour income. Conversely, in the private service sectors, entering office negatively impacts wages. In both sectors, the size of these impacts on yearly pay rise is of about 1 to 2 pp. I further show that unionized and politically inclined councilors receive most of the (negative or positive) premium in both sectors. For them, the size of the impact is close to 3 pp. These results emphasize a decline in the quality of cooperation in the countryChapter 2 compares how well apprenticeship training helps open the door to the labour market in France and Germany between 1998 and 2013. It shows that, on average, apprentices do better in both countries than standard students upon completion of secondary or higher education. This is true both on the short- and medium-run. In terms of the unemployment rate in the year after education, the difference between the two countries is equivalent to about 6.75 pp more for France. Turning to causal claims, I find that apprenticeships advantage low school achievers leaving school upon completion of secondary education in France. The opposite applies in Germany. Explanation for this result is twofold. First, standard students (i.e. the control group) in Germany do much better than their counterparts in France. Second, mobility upon graduation is about double in France but non-retained graduates still benefit from the good signal of their diploma on the external market which is not the case of their German counterparts. I finally find no causal impact of the track on the integration of student’s exiting school after higher education. Chapter 3 evaluates the impact of a large hiring credit – the Indemnité Compensatrice Forfaitaire – offered to employers of apprentices in France and which got regionalized between 2005 and 2014. At the time of its regionalization, it accounted for about a quarter of all public money spent on apprenticeships. The analysis shows that the subsidy fosters turnover strategies. Thus, I find a limited but significantly negative elasticity of the number of apprentices hired to training costs. The point estimate is -0.22. The impact however mostly plays at the intensive margin (training firms taking on more apprentices) rather than at the extensive margin (new firms entering the system). This suggests that training firms may respond to subsidies by training over their needs in skills. Confirming this interpretation, I find that the elasticity of mobility upon graduation to training cost is negative and equal to -0.40

The aim of the thesis is to test the usefulness of the strategic choice model for explaining the transformations of industrial relations in a country other than the USA, in this case Singapore. Three historical transformations and a progression of the third are discernible from the changes that have taken place in Singapore's industrial relations since the Peoples Action Party (PAP) was elected into office in 1959. By analysing these transformations the thesis aims to test the explanatory usefulness of the strategic choice model and thereby make a contribution to other potential international applications. In analysing and interpreting the industrial relations of a single country at least four special considerations are taken into account: 'nation' as a distinguishing criterion; the determination of who initiates the transformation strategies; the necessity to analyse the quality and intensity of the relationships of the parties with each of the transformations; the scope for strategic choices. Addressing the primary research question of the usefulness of the strategic choice model raises secondary questions. The answers to the secondary questions help in answering the primary question. The thesis adopts what may be called an 'emergent' research design, which requires an historical case study and a process of analytical induction for its methodology. The organisation of the thesis closely reflects the stages of analytical induction. The Singapore industrial relations data were collected by interviews and from primary and secondary sources. The thesis is organised into nine chapters. Chapters 1 to 4 provide the academic framework. Chapters 5 to 8 recount and analyse the phenomena of each of Singapore's three industrial relations transformations and their development since the third. Chapter 9 reviews the data of Chapters 5 to 8 and concludes that the strategic choice model becomes increasingly useful with the passage of each of the transformations and their progression.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Business School
Full Text

Botswana is a formally liberal democratic country that is known for its impressive economic growth and political stability. The country has sometimes been referred to as Africa's economic miracle and a shining example of democracy in a continent notorious for economic mismanagement, military dictatorships and one-party government. However, this picture of Botswana is too superficial and generous. This study seeks to delve beneath the surface of this much acclaimed liberal democracy in order to explore the system of labour repression that is the dark side of Botswana's constitutional framework of individual rights and democratic freedoms. In Botswana, the collective rights and freedoms of trade unions, though formally recognized, are in fact severely restricted. The state prevents workers in the public sector from forming or belonging to trade unions at all. In the private sector there are manifold constraints on industrial bargaining, organisation and activity. These forms of control over the trade union movement derive from the Botswana state's position as a peripheral capitalist state. These structures of social domination, however, have not gone unchallenged by the labour movement. The growth and development of the trade union movement and the challenges posed by the labour movement to both the state and capital have shifted the state towards limited labour reforms. This shows that, while the Botswana state remains the guarantor of private capital accumulation, its form is nevertheless determined by the constellation of class forces in which it is located. If the state is to maintain legitimacy and hegemony in society, and not rely on coercion alone, it must accede to some of the demands of the working class. Botswan&s liberal democracy gives the working class space to fight for the reduction of exploitation and to push the state toward more social reforms. At the same time, however, there is occurring a marked change in how the state relates to labour - from what may be called a strategy of "national economic development" to one more influenced by neo-liberal economic and political approaches. The conclusion I have reached in this analysis is that workers and their unions need to develop a long term strategy to increase their social weight in relation to the state and capital. The strategic option recommended here is social movement unionism. It is argued that because of the liberal democratic form of Botswana capitalism, social movement unionism, rather than overt political unionism stands a better chance of success because this form of unionism will not split the ranks of the workers along party lines.

Performing has been a formally unsegregated occupation for almost 350 years and the achievement of status by its women workers is accepted and expected. However, existing quantitative data indicate that systemic gendered disparities exist in relation to access to work, pay and career longevity. As this is an under-researched occupation the aims of the thesis are first, to map central aspects of the working realities of women performers working in subsidised theatre and terrestrial television in the UK and second, to explore perceptions of women performers’ gendered disadvantage in relation to these aspects. These aims are pursued principally through analysis of semi-structured interview data. As part of the primary aims, the purchase of strategies of legal, social and individual regulation is examined in relation to gendered disadvantage. Consideration of data is structured by work on ideas of gender and the labour process; this work is itself addressed through examination of the woman performer’s working experiences and the ways in which these are perceived by the main participants in these experiences. The study finds effective gender segregation, even more finely segregated by overt classifications of age, appearance, race/ethnicity and status. These classifications, allocated by individual perception, are found to frame the working realities of women performers and result in both systemic advantage and, more commonly, disadvantage. The effects of these perceptions are enhanced by the distinctive characteristics of this occupational sector, its labour markets and labour processes. Analysis of these issues leads to discussion of two key suppositions: that women performers inevitably collude in the perpetuation of their own constraints and that the central work experiences of women performers are manifestations of their position as formal and informal proxies for women’s experiences in wider society.

This thesis concerns the implications of the clash between formal Western management theories and practices and 'informal' Mrican values, norms and interests, for the employment relationship. The study was carried out within a broad qualitative ethnographic paradigm that focused on the actors' perspectives and the 'social meanings' they attach to them. In that respect, it is about the sociological nature of Industrial relations (IR) and Personnel management (PM) problems in Sub-Saharan Mrica (SSA). An in-depth empirical study of IR and PM at an Mrican port revealed that these problems manifest themselves in consistent patterns of tensions and contradictions between Western management objectives and practices, and Mrican moral values and material interests. The conclusions challenge the unitarist neoliberal perspective as well as the radical, yet materialist analysis of Marxism and postcolonial critiques. It concludes that in the SSA context, broader social and moral issues of the wider community have a decisive influence on the employment relationship. As a result, established Western employment frames of reference are also not entirely suitable for analysing all the relevant social factors. The thesis contributes to existing academic knowledge about IR and PM in three key ways. Methodologically, it points to the need for qualitative ethnographic research in native languages to capture actors' social meaning and probe the informal organisation in SSA. Theoretically, it indicates the need to understand the SSA organisation as part of its wider and specific societal and historical context. Finally, it shows that it is possible to develop pluralist and stakeholder theory to link work, family, and society in an institutional model of IR and PM for SSA.

This thesis evaluates the making of the Health and Fimess Centres and Indoor Sports Award - South East Queensland (the Award) with strategic choice, public interest and equity as its central tenets. Prior to May 1994 award coverage of key occupational groups in the mainstream Queensland commercial gym industry was unclear and employer compliance with award conditions problematic. It was one of the last "award free" industries in Queensland. For the key occupational groups (aerobics instructors, fitness counsellors, gym supervisors and exercise physiologists) conditions of employment were the outcome of enterprise specific negotiations between individual employers negotiating directly with individual employees without the participation of trade unions or the imposition of award-based terms and conditions. Assessment of preaward conditions in the weakly regulated industry provides the context for analysis of the making of the first industry specific award. The focus of this research is evaluation of the Award and identification of the factors which triggered the employers' association to instigate the first industry specific award, moving the industry from a state of weak industrial regulation to participation in mainstream regulation by industrial relations institutions. This unusual move by the employers' association Quality Health and Fitness Centres (QHFC) to regulate the industry is considered in the context of strategic choice. Analysis of the making of the first award also provides insights into both arbitral processes and outcomes. The Award went before the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) in 1993 as a consent award between an employers' association which this research estimates at best represented 17% of industry employers, and a trade union which this research suggests had no members in the industry. The role of the QIRC and its scrutiny of the consent award application is reviewed. So too are the outcomes of the arbitral process. The QIRC's "public interest" function is examined. A comparison is made between pre-award and post-award conditions of employment in the industry, and with other awards with potential coverage of workers. The findings of this research support the need to move beyond Dunlop's Systems Theory (1958) in both theory and practice in order to explain the efficacy of rule making and rules. This research supports the need to view procedural rules and substantive outcomes of an industrial relations system as the consequences of vested interests and strategic choice (Kochan 1986). It concludes that in the pre-award structure, without award regulation and active enforcement of statute law by either trade unions or government agencies, the industry structure and "web of rules" were constructed by employers to meet their needs and their needs alone. The direct bargaining process in a weakly regulated industry was a direct reflection of the relative industrial strength of the parties, to the disadvantage of industry employees. The substantive outcomes of that direct bargaining process did not accord with benchmarks set under Queensland statute law and state or federal awards. While it is clear that the substantive outcomes of the direct bargaining process in a weakly regulated environment disadvantaged employees, it is a finding of this research that collective bargaining under the regulated award system cannot guarantee equity either. On review of the making of the first award, this research questions the stability and efficacy of the tribunal system and its procedural rules, which were so readily manipulated by the actors. The award ma.king process potentially disadvantaged employees whom it purports to protect through stable, orderly, procedural rules leading to what are expected to be equitable oucomes consistent with the public interest. The paradox in this case is that employees in South-East Queensland may have done well in some of the substantive outcomes of the award, but they were not a party to the process given that the trade union representing them had no employee respondent members in the industry. There are several implications of this research for the reform of the Australian industrial relations system. First, there is a need to recognise that unions and the established system of central regulation and enforcement appear to offer better protection to workers than a weakly regulated environment, involving direct employer/individual employee bargaining without the participation of either trade unions or external regulators. Secondly, the findings of this research strongly indicate that in deliberation of IR reform in a labour market which is becoming more casualized, there is a need to highlight equity considerations.

Over recent years, the study of industrial districts, and inter-organizational relations has become a major theme of interest in network research. Theories characterized by an increased inter-relatedness between heterogeneous actors and knowledge fields point to a new form of inter-organizational relationship development. This is basicly based on the idea of creating trust between firms to increase their chances of success and to keep pace with the development of all relevant technologies. In this thesis, we present some data from a research project we have conducted in OSTIM industrial district, Ankara, Turkey. First, we present the theoretical perspectives which appear relevant to such investigation, and which aims at developing a better a network model of the inter-organizational relations of district firms, as well as trust, informal contracts and centrality issues, particularly as regards technological innovation and technology transfer of firms, respectively. Moreover, the evidence presented in this thesis is unequivocal in noting that long term inter-organizational relations and trust may be a necessary and a sufficent condition for a small and medium sized enterprise (SME) to take its place in the center of a complex web of inter-organizational relations as seen in an industrial district.

The initiation of more cooperative relations between the companies and the union (IWA-Canada) in the B.C. solid wood products sector, on the one hand, and between these two and the federal government, on the other hand, appears to signal an end to the "exceptionalism" which precluded the establishment of "corporatism" in Canadian industry. As the sector has been under tremendous pressure from various structural and technological changes, as well as interest groups both inside the forest industry and outside of it, does this change in industrial relations provide a model for the future forest industry or is it an impediment to change, as many critics contend. This thesis will explore the formation of "Fordist" industrial relations in the sector and the present "crisis" in Fordism as it relates to the sector, in order to understand the factors impelling cooperative industrial relations, and how these factors will affect these relations in the future. As these factors are undermining Fordism, they might also undermine the tentative, defensive cooperation between the three parties. In place of this exclusive policy-making regime a new, broad-based, decentralized, and more democratically controlled forest sector might emerge which will encourage cooperative industrial relations, but without the dominance of the old Fordist structures. The ensuing changes will widely affect economic, political and social relations throughout the province.
Arts, Faculty of
Political Science, Department of
Graduate

This thesis sets out to examine the capacity of new governments to influence partisan-based policy and legislation. It examines two newly elected Queensland governments - the Nicklin Country-Liberal government in 1957- 1961 and the Goss Labor government in 1989- 1990 and analyses the introduction by those governments of major industrial relations legislative reform. The Nicklin Coalition government was elected to the Queensland parliament in 1957 after the collapse of the Gair Labor government. The Coalition was committed to extensive industrial relations legislative reform but had not prepared for, or anticipated the constitutional, administrative and legal problems associated with such reform. Nor had it taken into account the concessions that would need to be made to the state's trade unions in order to effect its reforms. Consequently it was not until 1961 that it found the time was propitious for the introduction of its major legislative reforms and the restructuring of the state's principal industrial relations legislation. By contrast, in 1989 the Goss government elected as a consequence of the National Party's collapse in the face of the Fitzgerald Inquiry of 1987 had prepared itself for government. As a result it was able to take advantage of its newly elected status and the existence of the Hanger Report (1988) to introduce its legislative intentions quickly, in such a way that it did not alienate the business community. Preparation and circumstances therefore allowed Labor to repeal earlier legislation supported by business and introduce its own changes with little or no opposition. The thesis concludes that their political and economic inheritance and the existing policy environment will in varying degrees limit new governments. But their ability to introduce partisan-based legislative change quickly is also determined by the degree of preparation for the process of government, undertaken prior to their election. This thesis demonstrates that new governments can make a difference and effect changes to the industrial relations environment. However if this potential is to be realised and new governments are to take advantage of their newly elected status it will require a significant degree of administrative preparation or a considerable period of acclimatisation to the rigours of office.

Over the last two decades the UK public sector has seen the introduction of 'new managerialism' - the devolvement to the local level of management initiatives and techniques more traditionally associated with the private sector; this has arguably increased industrial relations tensions in the workplace as both line managers and workers have become involved in actions and negotiations new to them. This thesis provides a unique, in-depth, consideration of the impact on industrial relations of new managerialism in a 'failing' secondary comprehensive school; it identifies how devolved management and public accountability has inflamed the workplace industrial relations of that school. By taking a qualitative, multi-method, case study approach to the research, the thesis investigates at first hand how management and teachers respond to centralised government initiatives at the school level. It considers, and contributes to, the debate surrounding the extent of managerial autonomy that public sector managers have and how managers may take differing approaches - and achieve different results - when implementing new managerialist initiatives at the local level. As a study of workplace industrial relations, the thesis, engages with and significantly contributes to, the academic literature stressing the importance of local trade union leadership to trade union activity; indeed, the work furthers the debate concerning the inter-relationship between political and trade union activism and the importance of political factions within trade unions, areas which are under-researched. By exploring the tensions between trade union members and their official union representatives, the thesis examines the complex inter-relationship between union democracy and union bureaucracy. Finally, the case study identifies policy implications for both the government and the trade union, particularly with respect to the closing and re-opening of 'failing' schools.

This thesis investigates the British state’s approach to industrial relations reform which culminated in the Industrial Relations Act 1971. It highlights the intention of state managers to reconfigure the relationship between the state, capital and labour. The Act represents an attempt to discipline the latter through a reliance on the ostensibly independent nature of the law, thus curtailing the militant tendencies associated with trade unions. While there is a large secondary literature on the Act, there is as yet no analysis based on the study of primary documents (Cabinet, Department of Employment, Prime Minister’s Office and Treasury). The central argument of the thesis is that, contrary to orthodoxy, the Act was adopted as a way of ‘depoliticising’ the management of industrial relations in an effort to shield government from the unpopular electoral consequences of reform. Drawing on an Open Marxist perspective that sees the state as a social form, the thesis uses the framework offered by the depoliticisation literature to consider not only why the Act failed, but also what inferences can be drawn regarding the fragility of this approach to governing. In this way, the thesis contributes to debates surrounding the limitations of depoliticised governing in capitalist society.

Individual Performance Related Pay (IPRP) has become increasingly popular in the public as well as private sector. There have been moves to extend their coverage to the lower reaches of the organisational hierarchy-clerical and administrative staff, skilled and semi skilled manual workers from the narrow to higher managerial bands. IPRP is being prescribed as a strategic tool used as a way of simulating or reinforcing broader organisation transformation. For example IPRP has been mobilised to simulate greater employee commitment, individualise the employment relationship, revitalise the role and authority of the line manager, enhance staff management communications, and weaken the influence of trade union's. The aim of this study is to evaluate employee attitude towards their line /appraising manager, Also managers prescribe towards trade union operating in partnership with their organisation. The focus of this work is on examining the influence of IPRP on industrial relations. Resultsw ill be derivedf rom quantitativea ndq ualitativea nalysiso f datao btained from employeea ttitudes urveya nd industrialr elationss urveysT. he informationh as been used to gauge whether there is an impact of IPRP on industrial relations and if so to what extent. Information gathering took place as follows: several semi - structured and informal interviews, with managers who introduced or are operating such schemes were conducted. Further to initial knowledge gained from literature review and subsequent information gained from interviews helped a great deal to identify and structure a list of topic for further review to identify and structure a list of topic for further review and to the development of questionnaire for surveys.

Some historians have depicted industrial welfare as of small significance in the development of British industrial relations. This thesis contains case-studies of many firms and industries which illustrate the prevalence of company welfare provision between 1846-1939 and its usefulness to employers as a labour strategy. While there have been works on specific welfare schemes, this is a monographic study of industrial welfare enabling comparisons to be made between very different industries. The thesis also identifies the formative influences upon the organisation of company provision over a broad time span. Highly capitalised industries needed to invest more in the stability and reliability of their workforces than other trades. Moreover, market control enabled companies to exercise a greater degree of forward planning in the management of production, capital and men. As natural monopolies and the first large-scale enterprises, railways were innovators in industrial management and in the provision of industrial welfare. In more competitive trades, the passing of small firm and ex gratia paternalism and its replacement by more systematic welfare schemes usually followed the formation of large, corporate firms from the 1890s onwards. Changes in the organisation of industrial welfare tended to follow the establishment of the managerial bureaucracies and structures suited to the large company. The thesis argues that profit sharing can only be understood as an element of industrial welfare provision. It shows that, rather than welfare being mainly concerned with factory conditions, employers were more interested in the questions of income maintenance, sick pay and old age pensions. Consequently, employers lobbied Parliament to prevent their industrial welfare schemes from being made redundant by social legislation. By influencing the final form of government proposals, they ensured until the Second World War that company provision was able to continue as part of state welfare schemes.

This thesis examines the current practice of industrial relations, in relation to workers' welfare, with particular reference to three kecamatan (sub-district) of Tangerang, West Java. This study begins by looking at Dunlop's systems theory of industrial relations, which defines industrial relations as a sub-system of the socio-political system in a specific environment. In Indonesia, this sub-system is called the Pancasila industrial relations (PIR). After presenting an overview of industrial relations and practices in economically advanced countries and those prevailing in the developing world, especially in the ASEAN, the thesis goes on to examine the current industrial relations system in Indonesia, drawing attention to internal and external criticisms led by the ILO and European based sectoral trade union organisations. This study confirms the allegations, the most significant of which is the right to organise in Indonesia is limited. It is, however, suggested that the Western nlodel of unionism is not appropriate for adoption, given the fact that workers tend to organise within their own traditional institutions and they can effectively utilise the existing mechanisms to achieve bipartite communications. The specific roles of the tripartite constituents, in terms of providing welfare services in Indonesia are then discussed, in relation to the existing laws and regulations, which suggest that the existing regulations could be strengthened, if integral welfare services are to become more applicable in the Indonesian environment. The study suggests that, there is a solid basis, on which a more relevant indigenous industrial relations structure could be built. While the PIR concept encompasses and enshrines the cultural concepts of the people of Indonesia, the traditional institutions of Paguyuban and/or Arisan can be utilised to create an appropriate means of communication between workers and management. Paguyuban can become a facilitating role for building strong, independent, factory-based trade unions (SPTPs). Together, Paguyuban and the PIR framework can provide a relevant industrial relations system for the renaissance of industrial relations in Indonesia. Chapters six to nine analyse findings based on survey responses from 600 workers, and ten personnel managers, together with interviews with a further twenty personnel managers and factory owners. These analyses suggest that both workers and managers appreciate the importance of welfare programmes in improving workers' welfare. A lack of commitment from factory owners may, however, hinder the implementation of such programmes, although, in principle, they also appreciate the concept.

Vietnam has been in transition from a command economy to a market economy since the late 1980s but the socialist industrial relations institutions remained largely unchanged until 2005 when workers in the most internationally exposed provinces began to agitate for improved wages and conditions, without the support of the formal trade unions. Labour activism resulted from substantial changes in labour relations at firm level and, at the same time, created pressures on the existing national IR settings for reform. Seeking to understand these momentous events in Vietnam has required a multi-dimensional approach to examining not only the roles of industrial relations actors in this process of change but also how they reacted to each other at different levels in shaping their strategies and influencing the process of transformation of industrial relations in Vietnam. In order to understand the relationship between the changes in labour-management relations at firm level and the IR institutional reform at the national level, a multi-dimensional approach has required analysis at three levels: firm, regional and national. The research utilised a multi-case method including a foreign-owned electronics firm and a state-owned garment firm in Hanoi. These two firms were selected because they revealed similarities in industrial relations changes, but there were also crucial differences which could be understood when located within wider analysis of the two globalising provinces, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. This process enabled the thesis to compare the provincial governments’ responses to firm-level labour relations changes and their various levels of influence on the national institutional reform. At the national level, the revisions of the Labour Code and related industrial relations institutions in 2006 and 2009 were examined within the overall political economy context of Vietnam. Hence, the research analysed the forces underlying the recent industrial relations reforms. The thesis concluded that the adaptation of industrial relations approaches by management and labour at the micro-level was not dependent on institutional changes. Rather, the on-going process of gradual IR transformation has been the outcome of interactions and negotiations between the micro-level and the macro-agencies with the meso-actor. In the case of Vietnam, although labour activism at the firm level has become the most important driving force for reforming national institutional settings, the provincial governments have also played a crucial role in mediating the changes in employment relations at workplace and have influenced the national policy-making process.

This thesis sets out to examine the capacity of new governments to influence partisan-based policy and legislation. It examines two newly elected Queensland governments - the Nicklin Country-Liberal government in 1957- 1961 and the Goss Labor government in 1989- 1990 and analyses the introduction by those governments of major industrial relations legislative reform. The Nicklin Coalition government was elected to the Queensland parliament in 1957 after the collapse of the Gair Labor government. The Coalition was committed to extensive industrial relations legislative reform but had not prepared for, or anticipated the constitutional, administrative and legal problems associated with such reform. Nor had it taken into account the concessions that would need to be made to the state's trade unions in order to effect its reforms. Consequently it was not until 1961 that it found the time was propitious for the introduction of its major legislative reforms and the restructuring of the state's principal industrial relations legislation. By contrast, in 1989 the Goss government elected as a consequence of the National Party's collapse in the face of the Fitzgerald Inquiry of 1987 had prepared itself for government. As a result it was able to take advantage of its newly elected status and the existence of the Hanger Report (1988) to introduce its legislative intentions quickly, in such a way that it did not alienate the business community. Preparation and circumstances therefore allowed Labor to repeal earlier legislation supported by business and introduce its own changes with little or no opposition. The thesis concludes that their political and economic inheritance and the existing policy environment will in varying degrees limit new governments. But their ability to introduce partisan-based legislative change quickly is also determined by the degree of preparation for the process of government, undertaken prior to their election. This thesis demonstrates that new governments can make a difference and effect changes to the industrial relations environment. However if this potential is to be realised and new governments are to take advantage of their newly elected status it will require a significant degree of administrative preparation or a considerable period of acclimatisation to the rigours of office.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Humanities
Arts, Education and Law
Full Text

This thesis develops an alternative to the neo-classical approach to redundancies. The study assumes that the employment relation is not reducible to the labour contract and, therefore, cannot be subjected exclusively to the monetary exchange. It focuses on the intermediate formal and informal institutions that, by entering the process of wage determination and regulating the relationship between capital and labour, constitute a critical factor in explaining industrial and employment change. In doing so, it suggests a complementarity between macro-economic perspectives (e.g. the Keynesian approach, the Schumpeterian theory and Marxist perspective), preference models on industrial unemployment and the insights of the old institutionalist tradition. Industrial restructuring and redundancies are conceptualised as institutionally constructed processes and geographically situated. Rather than envisaging the convergence of firms towards a single, uniform form of restructuring synonymous with redundancies, the thesis holds that corporate adjustments are neither uniform, nor the result of profit maximising behaviours. Redundancies are subject to the actions and strategies of individuals and groups that influence the process of wage determination and, through it, the definition and the pursuit of profitability and efficiency. By considering institutional relations, shaped by external factors, cultural conditions and sedimented practices, the thesis highlights the spatial specificity of restructuring processes and redundancies. The thesis explores processes of corporate restructuring and redundancies in two industrial areas, Teesside (UK) and Brindisi (I), by drawing upon the evidence from two industries: the chemicals and the clothing sectors. Contrary to market-centred analyses, the evidence shows that similar economic pressures have generated different responses in the two sectors and among companies of the same sector. In addition, by focusing on the local environment in which companies are embedded, the thesis reveals how place-specific social and historical practices represent important variables to explain redundancy processes in the two areas.

The Donovan Report (1965-1968) is often seen as one of the great failures in the overall attempt to deal with the thorny problem of the contentious nature of industrial relations in post-war Britain. This thesis re-examines that report and subsequent governmental responses, using numerous sources, many of which have barely been used by previous authors, in order to establish where it all went wrong. Such an examination is important to inform future governments on some of the problems of trying to legislate on industrial relations matters. This thesis addresses the central question addressed by the Report – the validity of employing legislation to deal with the problems within industrial relations, asking what contribution had legislation made to the ordering of industrial relations in the past, and what lessons future governments could take from that? Why did both the Labour Governments under Harold Wilson and the Conservative Government under Edward Heath choose to go beyond Donovan in their attempts to alter the role of the state in industrial relations Finally, could the Industrial Relations Act 1971, had it survived, have been to the benefit of trade unions in time? This thesis suggests that legislation had an important role to play in the ordering of industrial relations, and that collective bargaining alone, although effective in many areas, was unable to address issues which had wider implications, such as those relating to health and safety or the reconciliation of differences due to the laws’ interference with trade unions’ rights to defend their members and their own collective rights. Both the Labour and Conservative Governments chose to go beyond the measures proposed by Donovan because economic and political necessity demanded a greater measure of control over strike action. However, the inquiry had undoubtedly focused the debate on whether or not legislation could ever be the most appropriate tool for controlling industrial relations, and therefore acted as a catalyst for the reforms that followed. The Industrial Relations Act 1971 failed to bring about the hoped-for industrial peace. Its repeal in 1974, however, did nothing to prevent further rises in strikes after 1974. Piecemeal legislation in the 1980s and 1990s did bring about a greater level of industrial peace, but this suggests that it was not legislation per se that was the wrong strategy for controlling industrial relations, but rather the method and pace of implementation. Other means of maintaining industrial peace were experimented with and could have been successful if the political will had been there and the unions and employers had engaged more fully,but the seeds had been sown for legislative control and it was impossible to hold back the tide of restrictive legislation which followed these early forays into the concept of law as a means of controlling industrial relations. The Donovan Report did indeed represent the thin end of the legal wedge and opened the floodgates to the many enactments designed to control and emasculate the trade union movement which the Conservative governments of the 1980s and early 1990s were able to introduce. The collective failures of the Donovan Report, In Place of Strife and the Industrial Relations Act to bring about industrial peace were, however, only indicative that legislation was not the most appropriate means of achieving this goal at this particular point in time. Alternative attempts to reduce strikes and engage trade unions in closer working relationships with employers and their associations, and with the government, did meet with some success in the 1970s and may be usefully attempted again in the future. This will, however, depend on whether government is able to keep an open mind on the utility, or perhaps futility, of legislative controls such as those attempted in the years between 1965 and 1975.

This thesis examines employment relations in Indonesia’s retail sector. Drawing on the disciplines of Political Economy, Economic Geography and Industrial Relations, it investigates the relationship between global retail and home and host country institutions in order to identify the factors responsible for the converging and diverging patterns in employment outcomes. The thesis develops an actor-centred institutionalist approach, which extends the utility of embeddedness theory by taking into account the impact of contestation between trade unions and corporate actors in multiple institutional arenas on firm-level industrial relations and employment outcomes. Using in-depth comparative case study methods, this approach is applied to a European retailer, an Asian transnational retailer and a prominent domestic retailer in the food industry. The thesis demonstrates that country-of-origin effect has little influence on firm-level employment relations in the Indonesian retail sector. Rather, similarities in the organization of work, skill formation and baseline remuneration in the three retailers are a consequence of product market pressure and regulatory and institutional constraints, while differences in job security and the distribution of wages and benefits stem from organized labour’s differential capacity to challenge the prerogative of management in each firm. As these findings suggest, while embeddedness theory provides useful insights into the behaviour and strategy of transnational retailers, its utility is greatly enhanced when it is combined with an actor-centred institutionalist approach that acknowledges the power relations between industrial relations actors in different institutional domains and the potential impact of contestation across those domains on firm-level employment outcomes.

This thesis examines the influence of compulsory state arbitration and wages board systems on workplace industrial relations. Using an historical and comparative case study approach, the thesis researches workplace industrial relations at three firms operating in the metal industry between 1900 and 1929. A political economy perspective is employed to examine the interaction of institutional stnictures and economic and political processes in the regulation of the wage-effort bargain at the workplace. Key concepts are drawn from both mainstream industrial relations theory, in particular the Oxford School approach, and labour process theory. Drawing on the work of flanders, a distinction is made between the economic and political aspects of the wage-effort bargain through the differentiation of market relations and managerial relations. This thesis argues that arbitral and wages board systems interacted with a range of factors to shape and influence workplace industrial relations. In keeping with the political economy perspective, the thesis examines the economic, industry, technological, political, and institutional environment within which the three cases operated, identifying changes and trends in these factors during the period under review and their implications for workplace industrial relations. The three cases allowed a closer examination of the influence of these general trends on the development of workplace industrial relations. The cases demonstrate the diversity of the metals sector, each representing a different industry in that sector. Further, the cases differed in their geographic and jurisdictional location, allowing comparisons between Victoria and New South Wales to be made. An examination of the role of arbitral tribunals and wages boards argues that the tribunals used their ability to regulate and stabilise market relations to offset their intervention in managerial relations. In this respect the tribunals sought to engineer changes in managerial relations favourable to industry development and yet simultaneously obtain support from the unions through improvements in market relations. As a consequence of these conflicting objectives the tribunals often behaved in a contradictory manner. In addition, unintended consequences often flowed from tribunal regulation and were important in shaping events at the workplace. Thus while industrial tribunals sought to improve market relations, they inadvertently assisted workers to gain more influence over managerial relations. In each case the workplace was the site of much regulatory activity, whether initiated by management, unions or workers. However, the three cases each present a different pattern of workplace industrial relations in terms: of scope of regulation at the workplace; the role of unions; the nature of managerial strategy; the role of unions; and the implementation and enforcement of tribunals decisions. Moreover, the effect of arbitration and wages board systems at each workplace varied, with the influence of a particular matrix of industry, economic, technological and institutional conditions shaped at the workplace.

This thesis examines the influence of compulsory state arbitration and wages board systems on workplace industrial relations. Using an historical and comparative case study approach, the thesis researches workplace industrial relations at three firms operating in the metal industry between 1900 and 1929. A political economy perspective is employed to examine the interaction of institutional stnictures and economic and political processes in the regulation of the wage-effort bargain at the workplace. Key concepts are drawn from both mainstream industrial relations theory, in particular the Oxford School approach, and labour process theory. Drawing on the work of flanders, a distinction is made between the economic and political aspects of the wage-effort bargain through the differentiation of market relations and managerial relations. This thesis argues that arbitral and wages board systems interacted with a range of factors to shape and influence workplace industrial relations. In keeping with the political economy perspective, the thesis examines the economic, industry, technological, political, and institutional environment within which the three cases operated, identifying changes and trends in these factors during the period under review and their implications for workplace industrial relations. The three cases allowed a closer examination of the influence of these general trends on the development of workplace industrial relations. The cases demonstrate the diversity of the metals sector, each representing a different industry in that sector. Further, the cases differed in their geographic and jurisdictional location, allowing comparisons between Victoria and New South Wales to be made. An examination of the role of arbitral tribunals and wages boards argues that the tribunals used their ability to regulate and stabilise market relations to offset their intervention in managerial relations. In this respect the tribunals sought to engineer changes in managerial relations favourable to industry development and yet simultaneously obtain support from the unions through improvements in market relations. As a consequence of these conflicting objectives the tribunals often behaved in a contradictory manner. In addition, unintended consequences often flowed from tribunal regulation and were important in shaping events at the workplace. Thus while industrial tribunals sought to improve market relations, they inadvertently assisted workers to gain more influence over managerial relations. In each case the workplace was the site of much regulatory activity, whether initiated by management, unions or workers. However, the three cases each present a different pattern of workplace industrial relations in terms: of scope of regulation at the workplace; the role of unions; the nature of managerial strategy; the role of unions; and the implementation and enforcement of tribunals decisions. Moreover, the effect of arbitration and wages board systems at each workplace varied, with the influence of a particular matrix of industry, economic, technological and institutional conditions shaped at the workplace.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Griffith Business School
Full Text

It is not unknown that the evolution of firm theories has been developed along a path paved by an increasing awareness of the organizational structure importance. From the early “neoclassical” conceptualizations that intended the firm as a rational actor whose aim is to produce that amount of output, given the inputs at its disposal and in accordance to technological or environmental constraints, which maximizes the revenue (see Boulding, 1942 for a past mid century state of the art discussion) to the knowledge based theory of the firm (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995; Nonaka & Toyama, 2005), which recognizes in the firm a knnowledge creating entity, with specific organizational capabilities (Teece, 1996; Teece & Pisano, 1998) that allow to sustaine competitive advantages. Tracing back a map of the theory of the firm evolution, taking into account the several perspectives adopted in the history of thought, would take the length of many books. Because of that a more fruitful strategy is circumscribing the focus of the description of the literature evolution to one flow connected to a crucial question about the nature of firm’s behaviour and about the determinants of competitive advantages. In so doing I adopt a perspective that allows me to consider the organizational structure of the firm as an element according to which the different theories can be discriminated. The approach adopted starts by considering the drawbacks of the standard neoclassical theory of the firm. Discussing the most influential theoretical approaches I end up with a close examination of the knowledge based perspective of the firm. Within this perspective the firm is considered as a knowledge creating entity that produce and mange knowledge (Nonaka, Toyama, & Nagata, 2000; Nonaka & Toyama, 2005). In a knowledge intensive organization, knowledge is clearly embedded for the most part in the human capital of the individuals that compose such an organization. In a knowledge based organization, the management, in order to cope with knowledge intensive productions, ought to develop and accumulate capabilities that shape the organizational forms in a way that relies on “cross-functional processes, extensive delayering and empowerment” (Foss 2005, p.12). This mechanism contributes to determine the absorptive capacity of the firm towards specific technologies and, in so doing, it also shape the technological trajectories along which the firm moves. After having recognized the growing importance of the firm’s organizational structure in the theoretical literature concerning the firm theory, the subsequent point of the analysis is that of providing an overview of the changes that have been occurred at micro level to the firm’s organization of production. The economic actors have to deal with challenges posed by processes of internationalisation and globalization, increased and increasing competitive pressure of less developed countries on low value added production activities, changes in technologies and increased environmental turbulence and volatility. As a consequence, it has been widely recognized that the main organizational models of production that fitted well in the 20th century are now partially inadequate and processes aiming to reorganize production activities have been widespread across several economies in recent years. Recently, the emergence of a “new” form of production organization has been proposed both by scholars, practitioners and institutions: the most prominent characteristic of such a model is its recognition of the importance of employees commitment and involvement. As a consequence it is characterized by a strong accent on the human resource management and on those practices that aim to widen the autonomy and responsibility of the workers as well as increasing their commitment to the organization (Osterman, 1994; 2000; Lynch, 2007). This “model” of production organization is by many defined as High Performance Work System (HPWS). Despite the increasing diffusion of workplace practices that may be inscribed within the concept of HPWS in western countries’ companies, it is an hazard, to some extent, to speak about the emergence of a “new organizational paradigm”. The discussion about organizational changes and the diffusion of HPWP the focus cannot abstract from a discussion about the industrial relations systems, with a particular accent on the employment relationships, because of their relevance, in the same way as production organization, in determining two major outcomes of the firm: innovation and economic performances. The argument is treated starting from the issue of the Social Dialogue at macro level, both in an European perspective and Italian perspective. The model of interaction between the social parties has repercussions, at micro level, on the employment relationships, that is to say on the relations between union delegates and management or workers and management. Finding economic and social policies capable of sustaining growth and employment within a knowledge based scenario is likely to constitute the major challenge for the next generation of social pacts, which are the main social dialogue outcomes. As Acocella and Leoni (2007) put forward the social pacts may constitute an instrument to trade wage moderation for high intensity in ICT, organizational and human capital investments. Empirical evidence, especially focused on the micro level, about the positive relation between economic growth and new organizational designs coupled with ICT adoption and non adversarial industrial relations is growing. Partnership among social parties may become an instrument to enhance firm competitiveness. The outcome of the discussion is the integration of organizational changes and industrial relations elements within a unified framework: the HPWS. Such a choice may help in disentangling the potential existence of complementarities between these two aspects of the firm internal structure on economic and innovative performance. With the third chapter starts the more original part of the thesis. The data utilized in order to disentangle the relations between HPWS practices, innovation and economic performance refer to the manufacturing firms of the Reggio Emilia province with more than 50 employees. The data have been collected through face to face interviews both to management (199 respondents) and to union representatives (181 respondents). Coupled with the cross section datasets a further data source is constituted by longitudinal balance sheets (1994-2004). Collecting reliable data that in turn provide reliable results needs always a great effort to which are connected uncertain results. Data at micro level are often subjected to a trade off: the wider is the geographical context to which the population surveyed belong the lesser is the amount of information usually collected (low level of resolution); the narrower is the focus on specific geographical context, the higher is the amount of information usually collected (high level of resolution). For the Italian case the evidence about the diffusion of HPWP and their effects on firm performances is still scanty and usually limited to local level studies (Cristini, et al., 2003). The thesis is also devoted to the deepening of an argument of particular interest: the existence of complementarities between the HPWS practices. It has been widely shown by empirical evidence that when HPWP are adopted in bundles they are more likely to impact on firm’s performances than when adopted in isolation (Ichniowski, Prennushi, Shaw, 1997). Is it true also for the local production system of Reggio Emilia? The empirical analysis has the precise aim of providing evidence on the relations between the HPWS dimensions and the innovative and economic performances of the firm. As far as the first line of analysis is concerned it must to be stressed the fundamental role that innovation plays in the economy (Geroski & Machin, 1993; Stoneman & Kwoon 1994, 1996; OECD, 2005; EC, 2002). On this point the evidence goes from the traditional innovations, usually approximated by R&D investment expenditure or number of patents, to the introduction and adoption of ICT, in the recent years (Brynjolfsson & Hitt, 2000). If innovation is important then it is critical to analyse its determinants. In this work it is hypothesised that organizational changes and firm level industrial relations/employment relations aspects that can be put under the heading of HPWS, influence the propensity to innovate in product, process and quality of the firm. The general argument may goes as follow: changes in production management and work organization reconfigure the absorptive capacity of the firm towards specific technologies and, in so doing, they shape the technological trajectories along which the firm moves; cooperative industrial relations may lead to smother adoption of innovations, because not contrasted by unions. From the first empirical chapter emerges that the different types of innovations seem to respond in different ways to the HPWS variables. The underlying processes of product, process and quality innovations are likely to answer to different firm’s strategies and needs. Nevertheless, it is possible to extract some general results in terms of the most influencing HPWS factors on innovative performance. The main three aspects are training coverage, employees involvement and the diffusion of bonuses. These variables show persistent and significant relations with all the three innovation types. The same do the components having such variables at their inside. In sum the aspects of the HPWS influence the propensity to innovate of the firm. At the same time, emerges a quite neat (although not always strong) evidence of complementarities presence between HPWS practices. In terns of the complementarity issue it can be said that some specific complementarities exist. Training activities, when adopted and managed in bundles, are related to the propensity to innovate. Having a sound skill base may be an element that enhances the firm’s capacity to innovate. It may enhance both the capacity to absorbe exogenous innovation and the capacity to endogenously develop innovations. The presence and diffusion of bonuses and the employees involvement also spur innovative propensity. The former because of their incentive nature and the latter because direct workers participation may increase workers commitment to the organizationa and thus their willingness to support and suggest inovations. The other line of analysis provides results on the relation between HPWS and economic performances of the firm. There have been a bulk of international empirical studies on the relation between organizational changes and economic performance (Black & Lynch 2001; Zwick 2004; Janod & Saint-Martin 2004; Huselid 1995; Huselid & Becker 1996; Cappelli & Neumark 2001), while the works aiming to capture the relations between economic performance and unions or industrial relations aspects are quite scant (Addison & Belfield, 2001; Pencavel, 2003; Machin & Stewart, 1990; Addison, 2005). In the empirical analysis the integration of the two main areas of the HPWS represent a scarcely exploited approach in the panorama of both national and international empirical studies. As remarked by Addison “although most analysis of workers representation and employee involvement/high performance work practices have been conducted in isolation – while sometimes including the other as controls – research is beginning to consider their interactions” (Addison, 2005, p.407). The analysis conducted exploiting temporal lags between dependent and covariates, possibility given by the merger of cross section and panel data, provides evidence in favour of the existence of HPWS practices impact on firm’s economic performance, differently measured. Although it does not seem to emerge robust evidence on the existence of complementarities among HPWS aspects on performances there is evidence of a general positive influence of the single practices. The results are quite sensible to the time lags, inducing to hypothesize that time varying heterogeneity is an important factor in determining the impact of organizational changes on economic performance. The implications of the analysis can be of help both to management and local level policy makers. Although the results are not simply extendible to other local production systems it may be argued that for contexts similar to the Reggio Emilia province, characterized by the presence of small and medium enterprises organized in districts and by a deep rooted unionism, with strong supporting institutions, the results and the implications here obtained can also fit well. However, a hope for future researches on the subject treated in the present work is that of collecting good quality information over wider geographical areas, possibly at national level, and repeated in time. Only in this way it is possible to solve the Gordian knot about the linkages between innovation, performance, high performance work practices and industrial relations.