This article argues that in order to successfully explore any structural transformation of industrial relations, actors' attitudes need to be taken into account. In the case of Germany, then, significant transformation would be instantiated by change in works councils' traditional cooperative attitudes. Survey findings reveal that despite deteriorating bargaining conditions, cooperative attitudes prevail among works councils in the chemical and postal/telecom industries towards management and union. Contrary to popular scholars this suggests workplace stability rather than change. The article then explores determinants of cooperative attitudes and finds that balanced power relations between works council and management accompany cooperative attitudes. If works councils feel powerful they are more likely to express cooperative attitudes towards management. Thus, even in Germany's highly institutionalized context, workplace cooperation is dynamic and dependent on actors' day-to-day power relations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Almond, G. and S. Verba (1963) The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
2.
Angle, H.L. and J.L. Perry (1986) `Dual Commitment and Labour—Management Relationship Climates' , Academy of Management Journal29(1): 31-50 .
3.
Axelrod, R. (1984) The Evolution of Co-Operation. London: Penguin .
4.
Baethge, M. and H. Wolf (1995) `Continuity and Change in the “German Model” of Industrial Relations', pp. 231-262 in R. Lockeet al. (eds) Employment Relations in a Changing World Economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press .
5.
Bassett, P. (1986) Strike-Free: New Industrial Relations in Britain. London: Macmillan .
6.
Batstone, E. (1984) Working Order: Workplace Industrial Relations over Two Decades. Oxford: Blackwell .
7.
Behrens, M., M. Fichter and C.M. Frege (2001) `Gewerkschaftliche Handlungsoptionen: Uber die Notwendigkeit, die Initiative wiederzugewinnen' , Gewerkschaftliche Monatshefte3: 161-171 .
8.
Bispinck, R. (2001) `Tarifjahr 2000: Moderate Lohnabschlüsse plus “Beschäftigungsbrücke” ` , WSI Mitteilungen54(2): 133-143 .
9.
Blau, P. (1974) Exchange and Power in Social Life. New York: Wiley .
10.
Bosch, A. (1997). Vom Interessenkonflikt zur Kultur der Rationalität. Munich and Mering: Rainer Hampp Verlag .
Crouch, C. and F. Traxler (1995) Organized Industrial Relations in Europe: What Future? Aldershot: Avebury .
13.
Dastmalchian, A., P. Blyton and R. Adamson, eds (1991) The Climate of Workplace Relations. London: Routledge .
14.
Deregulierungskommission - Unabhängige Expertenkommission zum Abbau marktwidriger Regulierungen (1991) Marktöffnung und Wettbewerb - Zweiter. Bonn: Bericht .
15.
DiMaggio, P.J. and W.W. Powell (1983) `The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields' , American Sociological Review27: 147-160 .
16.
Dörre, K. (1995) `Nach dem Ende des Wachstumspaketes: Auf der Suche nach einer neuen Geschäftsgrundlage für Industrielle Beziehungen', in Soziologisches Forschungsinstitut Göttingen (SOFI) (ed.) Im Zeichen des Umbruchs, Beiträge zu einer anderen Standortdebatte. Opladen: Leske und Budrich .
17.
Etzel, J.M. and B.J. Walker (1974) `Effects of Alternative Follow-Up Procedures on Mail Survey Response Rates' , Journal of Applied Psychology59: 219-221 .
18.
Fichter, M. (1998) `Trade Union Members: A Vanishing Species in Post-Unification Germany?', GSR manuscript, Free University, Berlin .
19.
Fiorito, J., P. Jarley and T. Delaney (1993) `National Union Effectiveness' , Research in the Sociology of Organizations12: 111-137 .
20.
Fiorito, J., P. Jarley and T. Delaney (1995) `National Union Effectiveness in Organizing: Measures and Influences' , Industrial and Labour Relations Review48(4): 613-635 .
21.
Flecker, J. and T. Schulten (1999) `The End of Institutional Stability: What Future for the “German Model”?' , Economic and Industrial Democracy20: 81-115 .
22.
Frege, C.M. (1999) Social Partnershipat Work. London: Routledge .
23.
Frege, C.M. (2002) `A Critical Assessment of the Theoretical and Empirical Research on German Works Councils' , British Journal of Industrial Relations40(2): 221-248 .
24.
Fukami, C. and E. Larson (1984) `Commitment to Company and Union: Parallel Models' , Journal of Applied Psychology69(3): 367-371 .
25.
Fullagar, C. and J. Barling (1989) `A Longitudinal Test of the Antecedents and Consequences of Union Loyalty' , Journal of Applied Psychology74: 213-227 .
26.
Godard, J. (1989) `Beyond Empiricism: Alternative Philosophies of Science and the Study of Industrial Relations', Queen's Papers in Industrial Relations ( Queen's University at Kingston ), No. 3.
27.
Gold, C. (1986) `Labour—Management Committees: Confrontation, Cooptation, or Cooperation?', Key Issues, No. 29. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press .
28.
Hassel, A. (1999) `The Erosion of the German System of Industrial Relations' , British Journal of Industrial Relations37(3): 483-505 .
29.
Hollinghead, A.B. (1950) `Cultural Factors in the Selection of Marriage Mates' , American Sociological Review15: 135-175 .
30.
Verlag Keller, B. (forthcoming) `Employment Relations in Germany: The Progressing Erosion of Focal Institutions', in G. Bamber and R. Lansbury (eds) International and Comparative Employment Relations, 4th edn. London and Sydney: Allen and Unwin .
31.
Kelly, C. (1993) `Group Identification, Intergroup Perceptions and Collective Action' , European Review of Social Psychology4: 59-83 .
32.
Kelly, C. and J. Kelly (1994) `Who Gets Involved in Collective Action? Social Psychological Determinants of Individual Participation in Trade Unions' , Human Relations47(1): 63-88 .
33.
Kelly, J. (1998) Rethinking Industrial Relations. London: Routledge .
34.
Kelly, J. and E. Heery (1996) Working for the Union. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
35.
Kotthoff, H. (1981) Betriebsräte und betriebliche Herrschaft: eine Typologie von Partizipationsmustern im Industriebetrieb. Frankfurt: Campus .
36.
Kotthoff, H. (1994) Betriebsräte und Bürgerstatus: Wandel und Kontinuität betrieblicher Codetermination. Munich and Mering: Rainer Hampp Verlag .
37.
Kotthoff, H. (1998) `Mitbestimmung in Zeiten interessenpolitischer Rückschritte' , Industrielle Beziehungen5(1): 76-100 .
38.
Kuruvilla, S.et al. (1990) `Union Participation in Japan: Do Western Theories Apply?' , Industrial and Labor Relations Review43(4): 374-389 .
39.
Lindecke, C. and S. Lehndorff (1997) `Aktuelle Tendenzen flexibler Arbeitszeit-organisation' , WSI Mitteilungen50(7): 471-479 .
40.
Locke, R. (1995) `The Transformation of Industrial Relations? A Cross-National Review', in K.S. Wever and L. Turner (eds) The Comparative Political Economy. Madison, WI: IRRA .
Mitbestimmungskommission (1998) Mitbestimmung und neue Unternehmenskulturen.
43.
Bilanz und Perspektiven. Gütersloh: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung.
44.
Monopolkommission (1994) Mehr Wettbewerb auf allen Märkten. Hauptgutachten 1992/93. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag .
45.
Müller-Jentsch, W. (1994) `Germany: From Collective Voice to Co-Management', in J. Rogers and W. Streeck (eds) Works Councils: Consultation, Representation and Cooperation in Industrial Relations. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press .
46.
Müller-Jentsch, W. and P. Ittermann (2000) Industrielle Beziehungen. Daten, Zeitreihen, Trends 1950-1999. Frankfurt: Campus .
47.
Müller-Jentsch, W. and B. Seitz (1998) `Betriebsräte gewinnen Konturen. Ergebnisse einer Betriebsrätebefragung im Maschinenbau' , Industrielle Beziehungen5: 361-387 .
48.
Müller-Jentsch, W.et al. (1998) `Betriebsrätebefragung und Analyse der Industriepolitik im Maschinen- und Anlagenbau', Project Report, Lehrstuhl Mitbestimmung und Organisation. Bochum: Ruhr-Universität Bochum .
49.
Parsons, T. (1937) The Structure of Social Action. New York: McGraw-Hill .
50.
Pfeffer, J. and G. Salancik (1978) The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective. New York: Harper and Row .
51.
Rogers, J. and W. Streeck (1994) Works Councils. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
52.
Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung (1996) Zum wirtschaftspolitischen Handlungsbedarf im Frühjahr 1996. Sondergutachten 27/4/1996, Wiesbaden .
53.
Schäfer, C. (2001) `Die WSI Befragung von Betriebs- und Personalräten 1999/2000 im Uberblick' , WSI Mitteilungen54(2): 65-75 .
54.
Schroeder, W. and B. Ruppert (1996) Austritte aus den Arbeitgeberverbänden: Eine Gefahr für das deutsche Modell? Marburg: Schünen Verlag .
55.
Silvia, S. (1997) `German Unification and Emerging Divisions within German Employers' Associations: Cause or Catalyst' , Comparative Politics29(2): 187-208 .
56.
Smith, K.G., S.J. Carroll and S.J. Ashford (1995) `Intra- and Interorganizational Cooperation: Toward a Research Agenda' , Academy of Management Journal38(1): 7-23 .
57.
Spieß, E. and F.W. Nerdinger (1998) Kooperation in Unternehmen. Mering: Rainer Hampp Verlag .
58.
Streeck, W. (1997) `German Capitalism: Does it Exist? Can it Survive?' , New Political Economy2: 237-256 .
59.
Thelen, K. and I. Kume (1999) `The Effects of Globalization on Labour Revisited: Lessons from Germany and Japan' , Politics and Society27(4): 477-505 .
60.
Walton, R.E. and R.B. McKersie (1991) A Behavioural Theory of Labour Relations. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press .
61.
Wendeling-Schröder, U. (1997) `Die Zukunftsfähigkeit des Tarifvorranges' , WSI Mitteilungen50(2): 90-98 .
62.
WSI Projektgruppe (1998) `Ausgewählte Ergebnisse der WSI-Befragung von Betriebsund Personalräten 1997/8' , WSI Mitteilungen51: 653-667 .
