IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/brjirl/v54y2016i1p160-191.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Employer Association Responses to the Effects of Bargaining Decentralization in Australia and Italy: Seeking Explanations from Organizational Theory

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Sheldon
  • Raoul Nacamulli
  • Francesco Paoletti
  • David E. Morgan

Abstract

The literature has neglected to analyse employer associations as organizations facing potential environmental threats to their financial sustainability. We examine associations' responses to collective bargaining decentralization, a major, contemporary threat. Using a qualitative, comparative case approach, we examine eight associations — four each in Australia and Italy — to develop a model of response types. Stronger decentralization effects increase associations' exposure to new and heightened competition, which in turn produces stronger association responses. These include prioritizing commercial over associational objectives. We analyse responses using strategic choice and resource dependence theories, finding that associations use both. However, the decision how to combine them reflects environmental conditions as well as choices linking organizational purpose and financial sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Sheldon & Raoul Nacamulli & Francesco Paoletti & David E. Morgan, 2016. "Employer Association Responses to the Effects of Bargaining Decentralization in Australia and Italy: Seeking Explanations from Organizational Theory," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(1), pages 160-191, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:54:y:2016:i:1:p:160-191
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/bjir.12061
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hinings, C. R., 1997. "Reflections on processual research," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 493-503, December.
    2. Gary Chaison, 2004. "Union Mergers in the U.S. and Abroad," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 25(1), pages 97-116, January.
    3. John T. Campling & Grant Michelson, 1998. "A Strategic Choice–resource Dependence Analysis of Union Mergers in the British and Australian Broadcasting and Film Industries," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(5), pages 579-600, September.
    4. Schmitter, Philippe C. & Streeck, Wolfgang, 1999. "The organization of business interests: Studying the associative action of business in advanced industrial societies," MPIfG Discussion Paper 99/1, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    5. John Child & Terence Tsai, 2005. "The Dynamic Between Firms’ Environmental Strategies and Institutional Constraints in Emerging Economies: Evidence from China and Taiwan," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 95-125, January.
    6. Peter Sheldon & Louise Thornthwaite, 2004. "Business or Association? The Strategic Responses of Employer Associations to the Decentralisation of Bargaining in Australia," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 15(1), pages 128-158, June.
    7. Michael Barry & Adrian Wilkinson, 2011. "Reconceptualising employer associations under evolving employment relations," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 25(1), pages 149-162, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Leon Gooberman & Marco Hauptmeier & Edmund Heery, 2018. "Contemporary Employer Interest Representation in the United Kingdom," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 32(1), pages 114-132, February.
    2. Bernardo Fanfani & Claudio Lucifora & Daria Vigani, 2024. "Employer associations in Italy: Trends and economic outcomes," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(2), pages 206-232, June.
    3. Thomas Breda, 2024. "Empirical challenges in the study of employer associations and their representativeness," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(2), pages 483-510, June.
    4. Christian Lyhne Ibsen & Lisa Sezer & Virginia Doellgast, 2023. "Coordination versus organization: Diverging logics of firm cooperation in Denmark and Sweden," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(3), pages 526-549, September.
    5. Horen Voskeritsian & Andreas Kornelakis & Panos Kapotas & Michail Veliziotis, 2022. "United we stand? Marketization, institutional change and employers’ associations in crisis," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(2), pages 685-704, May.
    6. Judith Shuqin Zhu & Chris Nyland, 2017. "Chinese employer associations, institutional complementarity and countervailing power," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(2), pages 284-301, April.
    7. Mark Bray & Johanna Macneil, 2023. "Still central: Change and continuity in Australia's major industrial tribunal," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4-5), pages 359-376, July.
    8. Caleb Goods & Bradon Ellem, 2023. "Employer associations: Climate change, power and politics," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(2), pages 481-503, May.
    9. Thais González-Torres & José-Luis Rodríguez-Sánchez & Eva Pelechano-Barahona & Fernando E. García-Muiña, 2020. "A Systematic Review of Research on Sustainability in Mergers and Acquisitions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. In Jun & Peter Sheldon, 2006. "Looking beyond the West? The Korea Employers' Federation and the Challenges of Membership Adhesion and Cohesion," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 17(1), pages 203-225, September.
    2. Christian Lyhne Ibsen & Lisa Sezer & Virginia Doellgast, 2023. "Coordination versus organization: Diverging logics of firm cooperation in Denmark and Sweden," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(3), pages 526-549, September.
    3. Muhammad Khalid Anser & Zahid Yousaf & Abdul Majid & Muhammad Yasir, 2020. "Does corporate social responsibility commitment and participation predict environmental and social performance?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2578-2587, November.
    4. Kenworthy, Lane, 2000. "Quantitative indicators of corporatism: A survey and assessment," MPIfG Discussion Paper 00/4, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    5. Sophie Jacquot & Cornelia Woll, 2003. "Usage of European Integration - Europeanisation from a Sociological Perspective," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01019642, HAL.
    6. Tan, Justin & Yang, Jun & Veliyath, Rajaram, 2009. "Particularistic and system trust among small and medium enterprises: A comparative study in China's transition economy," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 544-557, November.
    7. Plehwe, Dieter & Schlögl, Matthias, 2014. "Europäische und zivilgesellschaftliche Hintergründe der euro(pa)skeptischen Partei Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)," Discussion Papers, Project Group Modes of Economic Governance SP III 2014-501, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    8. Sally Maitlis & Thomas B. Lawrence, 2003. "Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Understanding Failure in Organizational Strategizing," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 109-139, January.
    9. H. L. Zou & R. C. Zeng & S. X. Zeng & Jonathan J. Shi, 2015. "How Do Environmental Violation Events Harm Corporate Reputation?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 836-854, December.
    10. Gérald Naro & Denis Travaillé, 2010. "Construire les stratégies avec le Balanced Scorecard:vers une approche interactive du modèle de Kaplan et Norton," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 13(2), pages 33-66., June.
    11. Kotapati Srinivasa Reddy, 2015. "Beating the Odds! Build theory from emerging markets phenomenon and the emergence of case study research—A “Test-Tube” typology," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 1037225-103, December.
    12. Vikrant Shirodkar & Palitha Konara, 2017. "Institutional Distance and Foreign Subsidiary Performance in Emerging Markets: Moderating Effects of Ownership Strategy and Host-Country Experience," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 179-207, April.
    13. Larimo, Jorma & Arslan, Ahmad, 2013. "Determinants of foreign direct investment ownership mode choice: Evidence from Nordic investments in Central and Eastern Europe," Journal of East European Management Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 18(2), pages 232-263.
    14. Yingqi Wei & Sasa Ding & Ziko Konwar, 2022. "The two faces of FDI in environmental performance: a meta-analysis of empirical evidence in China," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 65-94, January.
    15. Pei Sun & Jonathan P. Doh & Tazeeb Rajwani & Donald Siegel, 2021. "Navigating cross-border institutional complexity: A review and assessment of multinational nonmarket strategy research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(9), pages 1818-1853, December.
    16. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/8523 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. He, Xinming & Zhang, Jianhong, 2018. "Emerging market MNCs' cross-border acquisition completion: Institutional image and strategies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 139-150.
    18. Reddy, Kotapati Srinivasa, 2015. "Why do Cross-border Merger/Acquisition Deals become Delayed, or Unsuccessful? – A Cross-Case Analysis in the Dynamic Industries," MPRA Paper 63940, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2015.
    19. Jing Ma & Young-Gyun Ahn & Min-Kyu Lee, 2022. "The Interactive Influence of Institutional Quality and Resource Dependence on Regional Economic Growth: Evidence from China’s Resource-Based Provinces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-15, May.
    20. Dickson, Geoff & Arnold, Trevor & Chalip, Laurence, 2005. "League Expansion and Interorganisational Power," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 145-165, September.
    21. Yapici, Nilufer & Hudson, Bryant Ashley, 2020. "Generating a Scandal: Non-market Activity to Stop a Cross-Border Merger and Acquisition," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(3).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:54:y:2016:i:1:p:160-191. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.