ILRReview

Labour in Global Production Networks in India. Edited by Anne Posthuma and Dev Nathan

Gay Seidman — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:12:21 PDT

Multinational Retailers and Consumers in China: Transferring Organizational Practices from the United Kingdom and Japan by Jos Gamble

Amy Hanser — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:12:20 PDT

Globalizing Employment Relations: Multinational Firms and Central and Eastern European Transitions. Edited by Sylvie Contrepois, Violaine Delteil, Patrick Dieuaide, and Steve Jefferys

Jan Drahokoupil — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:12:19 PDT

Politics and Power in the Multinational Corporation: The Role of Institutions, Interests and Identities. Edited by Christoph Dörrenbächer and Mike Geppert

Kieran M. Conroy — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:12:18 PDT

Shaping Global Industrial Relations: The Impact of International Framework Agreements. Edited by Konstantinos Papadakis

Christina Niforou — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:12:17 PDT

Labor Rights and Multinational Production by Layna Mosley

Diego Sánchez-Ancochea — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:12:16 PDT

Recent Books on Employment Relations in Multinational Corporations

Lydia M. Fraile — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:12:15 PDT

Union Status and Double-Breasting at Multinational Companies in Three Liberal Market Economies

J. Ryan Lamare et al. — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:12:14 PDT

The relationships among employee representation, formal union status, and employer strategies within and across institutional regimes offer a variegated landscape in the context of globalization. Key questions remain as to the relative weight of macro- and micro-level influences on union status at subsidiaries of multinational companies (MNCs). This study analyzes data gathered through coordinated surveys of MNC subsidiaries in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom and tests the extent to which union status and double-breasting depend on home-country variation, host-country influences, and particular organizational characteristics. The authors find support for a combination of effects on both union status and double-breasting. Further analyses test explicit variations on union status within each host context and support arguments that effects depend on the particularities of national industrial relations regimes.

Control over Employment Practice in Multinationals: Subsidiary Functions, Corporate Structures, and National Systems

Tony J. Edwards et al. — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:12:13 PDT

The authors use comparable data on employment practices in multinationals located in four countries—Canada, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom—to examine the question, How can we explain variation among national subsidiaries of MNCs in the extent and form of control on employment matters? In accounting for variation in both output and social control, the authors explore three potential influences: the functions of the national subsidiaries within the wider companies; the role of host country constraints; and the structures of the multinational, including the HR function. They examine the effect of each set of factors in the presence of the others, something that previous research has been unable to do, and show that each is a significant influence. Their study breaks new ground by investigating the functions of subsidiaries and the link with control.

U.S. Multinationals and the Control of Subsidiary Employment Policies

Anthony Ferner et al. — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:12:12 PDT

The authors examine whether U.S. multinational companies (MNCs) are distinctive in the degree to which they exert direct control over policy on human resources and employment relations (HR/ER) in their foreign subsidiaries. The results confirm the distinctiveness of U.S. MNCs in their greater degree of direct control of policy, compared not only with non-U.S. firms but with every other major nationality or national grouping of MNCs: France, Germany, the Nordic group, the rest of Europe, and Japan. U.S. control of HR/ER policy is greater not just in the aggregate, but for most individual items. Finally, while levels of control over subsidiaries vary among host countries studied (Canada, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom) the greater U.S. orientation to control relative to non-U.S. MNCs holds regardless of host.

Variation in Approaches to European Works Councils in Multinational Companies

Paul Marginson et al. — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:12:11 PDT

Drawing on a unique international data set of multinational companies’ employment practices, the authors use logistic regression analysis to address variation in the existence of and management practice toward transnational social dialogue through European Works Councils (EWCs). Adopting a contingency perspective, they find that the degree of internationalization of companies’ operations and management organization, international HR structure, and the presence of workforce organization exercise strong influence on whether multinationals covered by the relevant European Union legislation have established an EWC. So too do multinationals’ country of origin, sector, and size by employment. While concern has focused on the significant proportion of EWCs in which management’s information and consultation practice seems to be minimalist, the authors find that this is less likely to be the case where the HR function is internationalized.

Human Resource Management Practices in the Multinational Company: A Test of System, Societal, and Dominance Effects

Paul K. Edwards et al. — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:12:09 PDT

Does the use of HRM practices by multinational companies (MNCs) reflect their national origins or are practices similar regardless of context? To the extent that practices are similar, is there any evidence of global best standards? The authors use the system, societal, and dominance framework to address these questions through analysis of 1,100 MNC subsidiaries in Canada, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. They argue that this framework offers a richer account than alternatives such as varieties of capitalism. The study moves beyond previous research by differentiating between system effects at the global level and dominance effects arising from the diffusion of practices from a dominant economy. It shows that both effects are present, as are some differences at the societal level. Results suggest that MNCs configure their HRM practices in response to all three forces rather than to some uniform global best practices or to their national institutional contexts.

Multinational Companies in Cross-National Context: Integration, Differentiation and the Interactions between MNCs and Nation States

Tony J. Edwards et al. — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 06:12:08 PDT

In the introductory article to a special issue on multinational corporations (MNCs) and employment practices, the authors highlight the key features of an international survey research project. Research teams carried out parallel surveys in four countries: Canada, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. These surveys are the most comprehensive investigations of the employment practices in MNCs in their respective countries. In framing the comparative analysis of these data, the teams had four objectives: (1) to explore the processes of integration and differentiation in MNCs, including the interactions among MNCs and nation states and their impact on employment practices; (2) to chart the influence of foreign direct investment (FDI) and systems of industrial relations; (3) to outline the key elements of the research design and chart the process of collecting data; and (4) to provide a summary of the patterns of integration and differentiation found among MNCs.