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A Community of Employees

Simon Learmount

in Corporate Governance: What Can Be Learned From Japan?

This chapter presents an analysis of the role of employees in the governance of their companies. There are two main perspectives on the relevance of employees for the system of corporate governance ... More

This chapter presents an analysis of the role of employees in the governance of their companies. There are two main perspectives on the relevance of employees for the system of corporate governance in Japan. The first is that the Japanese company is a corporate community rather than just a production mechanism. The second perspective is that Japanese companies have prioritized the interests of employees at the expense of shareholders, which is a sign of poor corporate governance. The arguments presented in this chapter strongly corroborate the former view. Lifetime employment and its associated practices continue to be highly valued in the Japanese companies studied. These practices are closely bound up with a strong commitment among employees to their colleagues and their company, which is in turn bound up with strong feelings of personal and collective responsibility among employees for the actions of the company as a whole. This is consistent with a participatory and inclusive form of corporate governance, where employees are committed to and closely involved in ensuring their companies are governed well.Less

Overview of the Host Business Systems

Tony Edwards, Paddy Gunnigle, Javier Quintanilla, and Hartmut Wächter

in American Multinationals in Europe: Managing Employment Relations Across National Borders

This chapter establishes the distinctive characteristics of the four host business systems: the UK, Germany, Ireland, and Spain. After providing an overview of the role of foreign, particularly US, ... More

This chapter establishes the distinctive characteristics of the four host business systems: the UK, Germany, Ireland, and Spain. After providing an overview of the role of foreign, particularly US, multinationals within each of the four economies, it establishes the key aspects of the industrial relations systems in each case, particularly those that contrast with the American system. Building on this, the chapter provides an analysis of the extent to which each of the countries are likely to be ‘receptive’ to the introduction of American-style employment practices.Less

Introduction

Huw Beynon, Damian Grimshaw, Jill Rubery, and Kevin Ward

in Managing Employment Change: The New Realities of Work

This chapter sets out the purpose of the book, which is to examine the process of change in seven large organizations operating in the North of England. These organizations were located in the ... More

This chapter sets out the purpose of the book, which is to examine the process of change in seven large organizations operating in the North of England. These organizations were located in the private and public sectors, and were spread across manufacturing and service industries. During fieldwork between the summers of 1997 and 1999, researchers sought to identify the pressures managers were under and to make sense of the kind of decisions they made as well as the impact of these decisions. Interviews with over 250 employees showed that these changes were quite profound, with deep and lasting effects upon the ways that people have come to reassess their notions of work, time, and ideas of fairness and justice.Less

Understanding Change at Work

Huw Beynon, Damian Grimshaw, Jill Rubery, and Kevin Ward

in Managing Employment Change: The New Realities of Work

This chapter begins with a discussion of the economic and political changes that have affected the system of employment in the UK. It then discusses the changing nature of work; the concept of ... More

This chapter begins with a discussion of the economic and political changes that have affected the system of employment in the UK. It then discusses the changing nature of work; the concept of embeddedness of market and production relations within local social, political, and cultural forms; and the need for an integrated and iterative analysis between the macro and micro, and the external and internal labour market systems.Less

Drawing Together the Threads: A Question of Labour Costs and Work Intensification

Huw Beynon, Damian Grimshaw, Jill Rubery, and Kevin Ward

in Managing Employment Change: The New Realities of Work

This chapter argues that the different employment practices and policies can be interpreted as a function of two interrelated factors: wage labour costs and work intensity. In this way, the separate ... More

This chapter argues that the different employment practices and policies can be interpreted as a function of two interrelated factors: wage labour costs and work intensity. In this way, the separate dynamics of change across dimensions of employment policy can be seen as a more interrelated set for transformations. These are linked, to a large extent, to the change in general power relations in the labour market, which have allowed a redefinition of the fundamental wage-effort relationship at the heart of the employment relationship.Less

Changes in Japanese and South Korean Employment Practices: Lessons on the Character of Institutional Change and of Business Systems

Arjan Keizer

in Changing Asian Business Systems: Globalization, Socio-Political Change, and Economic Organization

Both Japan and Korea had to whither important economic crises that inspired heated debate about the need for change in their economic institutions. This chapter discusses and compares the subsequent ... More

Both Japan and Korea had to whither important economic crises that inspired heated debate about the need for change in their economic institutions. This chapter discusses and compares the subsequent adjustments in their employment practices. It confirms important similarities in pre-crisis practices such as employment stability and seniority wages, and post-crisis adjustments such as the introduction of performance-related pay, and a rise in labour market dualism and non-regular employment. At the same time, it also shows important differences before and after the crises between Japanese and South-Korean employment practices. To discuss these developments, the analysis draws on recent insights in institutional theory and shows that the changes in employment practices have been highly endogenous in character as they have been shaped by existing employment practices through bricolage.Less

Jim Crow, GM Crow

Andrew R. Highsmith

in Demolition Means Progress: Flint, Michigan, and the Fate of the American Metropolis

During and after World War II, officials from General Motors often boasted that Flint was a model city of industrial opportunity where all workers could obtain economic security and consumer ... More

During and after World War II, officials from General Motors often boasted that Flint was a model city of industrial opportunity where all workers could obtain economic security and consumer abundance. Likewise, leaders from the United Auto Workers union and members of the city’s liberal establishment routinely claimed that labor activism had helped to make Flint one of the most progressive cities in the nation. Yet for many African Americans, women, and others, the postwar decades were marked by widespread employment discrimination and workplace segregation. At mid-century, employers in the Vehicle City maintained a rigidly demarcated opportunity structure that severely limited the employment options for all but white men. In response, African Americans worked for a municipal fair employment practices law and waged a vigorous “Double V” campaign against job discrimination. As part of this direct action movement, local residents organized numerous boycotts of local businesses that practiced discrimination. During this period, black workers fought not only for access to better paying jobs, but also for the right to live in high-growth areas of suburban Genesee County. They faced strong opposition, however, from local employers, white union members, and ideologues of anti-communism.Less

Comparing Labor Market Structures and Workplace Dynamics

in Gendered Trajectories: Women, Work, and Social Change in Japan and Taiwan

This chapter considers the explanations for the differences in women's employment trajectories in Japan and Taiwan. It shows how specific differences between the two national labor markets contribute ... More

This chapter considers the explanations for the differences in women's employment trajectories in Japan and Taiwan. It shows how specific differences between the two national labor markets contribute to the different work environments women face in the two countries. The macrolevel differences center on the two countries' industrial strategies, predominant employment practices, and structures of business organizations. The discussion examines how preexisting structural conditions contributed to the different strategies that employers adopted in response to market shifts during the two economies' development. it argues that women's working conditions and workplace atmosphere affect their perceptions of the feasibility of combining their job and family responsibilities. The perceived level of compatibility between work and family directly affects women's decisions about employment at key moments of their lives.Less

Conclusion: Tatsuro, “Standing Man”

Matthew M. Briones

in Jim and Jap Crow: A Cultural History of 1940s Interracial America

This concluding chapter discusses how the postwar period had remained charged with democratic possibility, though ideological retrenchment lingered both domestically and internationally. In an ... More

This concluding chapter discusses how the postwar period had remained charged with democratic possibility, though ideological retrenchment lingered both domestically and internationally. In an attempt to build on the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) initiated by FDR and A. Philip Randolph in 1941, which made it a crime for any company with a government contract to discriminate based on race or religion, President Harry Truman commissioned a Committee on Civil Rights in 1946 to study the problem of race relations and civil rights. Truman demonstrated how seriously he took the issue of civil rights by ordering the end of segregation in the federal workforce and the armed forces, two incredibly significant steps toward measurable progress and reform.Less

The Recent Transformation of Participatory Employment Practices in Japan

Takao Kato

in Labor Markets and Firm Benefit Policies in Japan and the United States

This chapter presents findings from the most recent research on the transformation of participatory employment practices of Japanese firms in the 1990s, during which the Japanese economy slowed down ... More

This chapter presents findings from the most recent research on the transformation of participatory employment practices of Japanese firms in the 1990s, during which the Japanese economy slowed down considerably. It shows that participatory employment practices appear to be generally surviving the economic slowdown of the 1990s, whereas subtle yet potentially important changes in their attributes are taking place. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 2.2 provides an overview of the scope, nature, and effects of participatory employment practices in postwar Japan (including quantitative evidence on evolving practices in the 1990s). Section 2.3 presents findings from field research on the responses of Japanese firms in their use of participatory employment practices to the economic slowdown in the 1990s, and Section 2.4 concludes.Less

The Law of Disparate Treatment and Impact

Ann C. McGinley

in Masculinity at Work: Employment Discrimination through a Different Lens

This chapter explains the different types of allegations of illegal discrimination available under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and examines the proof constructs that the Supreme Court has ... More

This chapter explains the different types of allegations of illegal discrimination available under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and examines the proof constructs that the Supreme Court has applied to these types of discrimination, and the statutory changes of the 1991 Civil Rights Act. First, it deals with direct and indirect proof methods, single and mixed motives disparate treatment cases, proof by inference, and proof using the “motivating factor” test set forth in the 1991 Amendments to the statute as well as proof required in pattern and practice cases. Next, it explains the disparate impact cause of action, historically, and as amended by the 1991 Act, the business necessity defense, and the alternative employment practices surrebuttal.Less

The Politics of the FEPC

James Wolfinger

in Philadelphia Divided: Race and Politics in the City of Brotherly Love

This chapter examines the issue of race and politics surrounding the creation of the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) in Philadelphia in 1948, paying particular attention to the involvement ... More

This chapter examines the issue of race and politics surrounding the creation of the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) in Philadelphia in 1948, paying particular attention to the involvement of whites and African Americans in the debate. After providing an overview of the federal FEPC, the chapter considers its relevance to black Philadelphians and the response of the Democratic Party toward the creation of a local FEPC. It also discusses the arguments of advocates, led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and opponents, led by the Republican Party, of the proposed FEPC.Less

Corporate Management of Science & Scientific Management of Corporations

Catherine L. Fisk

in Working Knowledge: Employee Innovation and the Rise of Corporate Intellectual Property, 1800-1930

This chapter shows how the spread of bureaucratic employment practices and the growth of firms eventually narrowed differences in legal status that previously had separated creative employees from ... More

This chapter shows how the spread of bureaucratic employment practices and the growth of firms eventually narrowed differences in legal status that previously had separated creative employees from machine operators and office clerks. After 1900, just as the social-class line was becoming increasingly clear between the middle class and the working class and between office and manual workers, the legal class line between working- and middle-class employees was becoming increasingly faint. All were employees of large firms, not servants, but not masters. White male office workers still expected to rise in the business world and saw themselves as superior to factory workers, but in law the distinction between the legal rights of a middle-class employee and a working-class employee had largely disappeared.Less

Cross-border hybridization: The internationalization of a Korea-based manufacturer in China

Hyunji Kwon and Seong-Jae Cho

in After-Development Dynamics: South Korea's Contemporary Engagement with Asia

This chapter explores the strategic internationalization process through the transfer of production and employment practices abroad by examining Hyundai’s operations in Beijing. It explores the ... More

This chapter explores the strategic internationalization process through the transfer of production and employment practices abroad by examining Hyundai’s operations in Beijing. It explores the distinctive characteristics of transferring employment practices in latecomer MNCs from established ones and whether these practices are different from the home country. Since latecomer firms adapt international best practices, the question is whether these firms are better placed to adapt their practices when they face different local conditions. This chapter offers an opportunity to observe how adaptable Hyundai is in foreign operations by using Hyundai’s experience of successful growth with a unique hybrid mode of flexible production. This case study of Beijing, Hyundai shows how the firm’s experience at home has affected their choices of employment relations and production strategies in China and thus Korea’s increasing engagement with Asia.Less

“Riveting the Sinews of Democracy”: Defense Workers and Double V

Keona K. Ervin

in Gateway to Equality: Black Women and the Struggle for Economic Justice in St. Louis

Black women’s failed attempts to abandon domestic employment for jobs in the lucrative local defense industry became a central mobilizing agenda around which organizers of the March on Washington ... More

Black women’s failed attempts to abandon domestic employment for jobs in the lucrative local defense industry became a central mobilizing agenda around which organizers of the March on Washington movement waged their wartime black freedom struggle. Women aired personal stories of employment discrimination before committees, filed affidavits against large industrial plants, joined picket lines, shared their grievances through letter writing, gave public addresses at large mass meetings, and formed their own civil rights organizations. The narrative that black working-class women activists astutely and persuasively articulated—namely, that of the beleaguered black woman worker excluded from participation in patriotic service—provided a most effective assault on discrimination, exposing the jagged lines of the wartime American democratic practice. Women’s labor activism proved indispensable to the formation of one of the largest and most active March on Washington movement chapters in the country.Less