The Views of Managers Towards EWCS

Extant research on EWCs has primarily focused on issues of concern to worker representatives and the role of EWCs as a platform for social dialogue within transnational firms (see Lecher et al. 2002; Martinez Lucio and Weston 2004; Waddington 2013). As a consequence, the views of managers towards information, consultation and other forms of participation, together with their opinions and expectations of engagement in EWCs have been downplayed. The limited number of existing studies that have addressed the concerns of management on EWCs are either limited in scope or out of date and make no claims to be representative (Lamers 1998; Stoop 1994). Country-specific studies have analysed the relationship between different management styles and EWCs (Marginson et al. 2004). However they rely on a small number of detailed case studies thereby it is empirically difficult to draw general conclusions from them and study the sectoral and country of origin effects.

This paper reports the findings of a recent project funded by the European Commission. Qualitative research methods were employed during 2014-2015 in fifty-six interviews conducted with senior human resource managers and labour directors from private and manufacturing sector companies who were engaged in EWCs on behalf of senior management. The findings demonstrate marked variation in the strategies deployed by managers towards EWCs. In particular, there is variation in approaches to information and consultation, the objectives of value added strategies, mechanisms to promote commitment to managerial objectives, the engagement of the EWC in restructuring and articulation between the EWC and local institutions of within the company. While these findings confirm those of the earlier studies, it is apparent that managerial strategies have evolved and become more sophisticated over time. There is thus a ‘learning curve’ among managers responsible for EWCs, which is clearly illustrated by the finding that very few managers reported implementing significant changes to the EWC in order for it to be compliant with the demands of the Recast Directive (2009/38/EC). To examine the variation in the pattern of this learning curve the sample was structured by economic sector, country of origin of the MNC and the legislative underpinning of the EWC.

The research also explores the criteria that management indicate as constituting ‘added value’ for the firm from the EWC and identifies the constraints that managers think impede the delivery of this ‘added value’. This aspect of the paper illustrates a uniform pattern of communication used by managers to legitimate their engagement with EWCs. In the context of the research, the term ‘added value’ incorporates several different features including the functioning of the EWC, the importance and usefulness of EWCs for managers, and the impact of the EWC on the implementation of transnational and national regulations on inter alia informing and consulting (timing and quality) employees, health and safety and company restructuring.