Social Dialogue for Decent Work

[Excerpt] This paper aims to develop usable indicators of the concept of social dialogue, as part of the ILO\u27s effort to develop operational measures of Decent Work. Section 1 examines the concept of social dialogue. Section 2 looks at past approaches to measuring social dialogue. Section 3 discusses what we have learned from past approaches and the implications for developing indicators and collecting data. Section 4 describes and justifies the proposed indicators. Section 5 concludes the paper with a discussion of the implications of this methodology for practice, and an examination of the costs

National Industrialization Strategies and Firm Level IR/HR Practices: Case Studies in Malaysia and Philippines

[Excerpt] Any economy is characterized by several different patterns of industrial relations (IR)and human resource (HR) practices at the level of the workplace. Often, the patterns of IR/HR practices of firms differ based on the nature of the industry, the nature of technology and production methods used, the specific economic circumstances facing firms, and in some cases the IR/HR philosophy of key individuals. Patterns of IR/HR practices also differ based on economic sectors, with IR/HR practices in the service sector showing differences with patterns in the manufacturing sector

Logics of Action, Globalization, and Employment Relations Change in China, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines

A logic of action framework is developed in order to conceptualize and understand the impact of globalization on employment relations, as well as to predict the future trajectory of employment relations. The argument is that the interplay between three different logics of action, i.e., the logic of competition, the logic of industrial peace, and the logic of employment-income protection determines the employment relations pattern in any given nation. The strengths of the logics themselves are determined by five often related factors, i.e., economic development strategy, the intensity of globalization, union strength, labor market features and government responsiveness to workers. Drawing on extensive field research on national policies and workplace practices in India, China, the Philippines and Malaysia, we show support for our framework. We find that ER patterns are reflect different combinations of logic strengths, that globalization\u27s impact on employment relations is not only complex, but contingent, and we suggest that long term convergence in employment relations is unlikely given variations in the combinations of logic strengths in different countries, and changes in logic strengths over time

Globalization

[Excerpt] While the chapters in the previous section examined employment relations in different national contexts, in this chapter we focus on employment relations in the international or global context. We begin by outlining different perspectives on globalization and examine how globalization has evolved over time. Based on this discussion, we provide a definition of globalization which best accounts for contemporary patterns of global interdependence. We then provide a brief overview of the arguments for and against globalization and discuss the implications that economic globalization presents for employment relations

Job Reservation in India

[Excerpt] The concept of job reservation relies upon government intervention into the labor relations area in order to promote the rights of some particular portion of the population. The reasons for this intervention may come from diverse rationales but usually can be reduced to a political one. For example, after the miners’ riots of 1922 in South Africa, the government reserved certain jobs in the mining industry for whites only. In the United States, as a result of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was established to assist blacks and other minorities from discrimination through affirmative action programs. Since independence, the government of India has also tried to promote interests of certain population groups in the employment area. This article will examine the historical background of the Indian situation, government actions in the employment area and reactions to the present situation

International HRM: National Business Systems, Organizational Politics and the International Division of Labour in MNCs

In this paper we address a key issue that dominates internal ional HRM research, namely the global-local question. The question concerns how multinationals can or should balance the pressures to develop globally standardized policies with the pressures to be responsive lo the peculiarities of the local context In our view, three important conceptual weaknesses have restricted research progress in this held; the inadequate conceptualization of national effects, which results in culture being used as an unsatisfactory \u27catch all\u27 for national differences; the lack of attention to the influence of internal organizational polities; and the absence of focus on the internal division of labour within MNCs. We discuss the ways in which these weaknesses can be addressed and the implications of these alternative concepts

Changes in Employment Security in Asia

Much attention has been focused on the decline of traditional employment structures in the advanced industrial countries. Lesser attention has focused on this issue in Asia. In this comparative essay, the authors examine the changes in employment security in China, India, Japan, and South Korea. They focus on the historical development of the employment security social contract in these countries, noting the institutional features that gave rise to it in each country. They then examine the resilience of employment security norms under recent economic pressures. They find there has been substantial erosion in employment security during the 1990s in all four countries due to both increased competition and economic liberalization, although there is some variation in both the rate of erosion as well as the prospects for revival of the social contract. They assess the possibilities of a revival in this particular social contract, and the impact of the erosion on unorganized workers

Globalisation and Outsourcing: Confronting New Human Resource Challenges in India’s Business Process Outsourcing Industry

In this article, we argue that the rapid growth of the outsourcing industry has resulted in both high turnover and labour shortages and at the same time provided employment opportunities to a new group of employees: young upwardly mobile college graduates. We argue that this particular demographic profile is prone to high turnover and presents new managerial challenges. We then examine the variety of recruitment and retention strategies that companies in the business process outsourcing industry are experimenting with and show that many novel HR strategies are being crafted to address the needs of this young middle-class workforce. We also examine macro efforts by state and central governments and the industry association to help resolve some of these problems

Union-Member Relations and Satisfaction with Unions in South Korea

This paper uses a large sample of South Korean union members working in different industries and occupations to test a model of union satisfaction. The results suggest that union-member relations- member representation and union leader effectiveness — are more important than the economic results that unions provide to members. These findings are in line with our general argument that, where unions rely on decentralized collective bargaining as the prime method of employment regulation, they depend heavily on internal union relations for their effectiveness. We contend that, if unions are to limit the decline in their influence, assessing and changing internal union relations should be a priority

Industrial Relations System Transformation

This paper analyzes the concept of “transformation” that many allege has occurred recently in a wide variety of national industrial relations systems. After a summary of the debate, with particular reference to the contentious case of Germany, the authors attempt to develop a definition of industrial relations system transformation on the basis of biological analogies and, in particular, the “punctuated equilibrium” theory. They examine the cases of the United States, Sweden, South Africa, and New Zealand, and conclude that the application of the biological frameworks raises a set of fundamental questions that must be addressed in order for the debate over the existence of industrial relations transformation to move forward