This study uses survey data from 857 employees of three unionized and three non-union establishments in Korea to compare employees' perspectives on non-union works councils and unions with regard to perceptual, attitudinal and behavioural dimensions. A majority of the hypotheses received fairly strong empirical support. Compared with unions, works councils were found to be lower in terms of perceived performance and employees' commitment, and depended more on employers. Union commitment and union participation were positively related with existence needs, but works council commitment and works council participation were positively related with relatedness needs. The results were interpreted to support the separate domain perspective (i.e. unions and non-union employee representation [NER] serve different purposes) and the complementarity view (i.e. union and NER develop interdependencies and NER cannot substitute unions).
Alderfer, C.P. (1972) Existence, Relatedness, and Growth: Human Needs in Organizational Settings. New York: Free Press.
2.
Allen, N.J. and J.P. Meyer (1990) `The Measurement and Antecedents of Affective, Continuance and Normative Commitment to the Organization', Journal of Occupational Psychology63: 1-18.
3.
Angle, H.L. and J.L. Perry (1986) `Dual Commitment and Labor-Management Relationship Climates', Academy of Management Journal29(1): 31-50.
4.
Baron, R.M. and D.A. Kenny (1986) `The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological Research: Conceptual Strategic and Statistical Considerations' , Journal of Personality and Social Psychology51(6): 1173-82.
5.
Basken, R. (2000) `My Experience with Unionization of Nonunion Employee Representation Plans in Canada', pp. 487-97 in B.E. Kaufman and D.G. Taras (eds) Nonunion Employee Representation: History, Contemporary Practice, and Policy. New York: M.E. Sharpe .
6.
Beach, D.S. (1970) Personnel: The Management of People at Work. London: Macmillan.
7.
Becker, T.E. (1992) `Foci and Bases of Employee Commitment: Are They Distinctions Worth Making?', Academy of Management Journal35(1): 232-44.
8.
Benson, J. (2000) `Employee Voice in Union and Non-Union Australian Workplaces', British Journal of Industrial Relations38(3): 453-9.
9.
Bray, M., P. Waring, D. Macdonald and S. Le Queux (2001) `The "Representation Gap" in Australia', Labour and Industry12(2): 1-32.
10.
Bryson, A. (2004) `Managerial Responsiveness to Union and Non-Union Worker Voice in Britain', Industrial Relations43(1): 213-41.
11.
Chaykowski, R.P. (2000) `Advancing Public-Sector Labor-Management Relations through Consultation: The Role of the National Joint Council of the Public Service of Canada', pp. 328-47 in B.E. Kaufman and D.G. Taras (eds) Nonunion Employee Representation: History, Contemporary Practice, and Policy. New York: M.E. Sharpe.
12.
Deery, S., J. Walsh and A. Knox (2001) `The Non-Union Workplace in Australia: Bleak House or Human Resource Innovator?', International Journal of Human Resource Management12(4): 669-83.
13.
Flood, P.C. and B. Toner (1997) `Large Non-Union Companies: How Do They Avoid a Catch 22?', British Journal of Industrial Relations35(2): 257-77.
14.
Foulkes, F.K. (1980) Personnel Policies in Large Nonunion Companies . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall .
15.
Freeman, R.B. and J.L. Medoff (1984) What Do Unions Do?New York : Basic Books.
16.
Freeman, R.B. and J. Rogers (1999) What Workers Want. Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press.
17.
Gollan, P.J. (2002) `So What's the News? Management Strategies towards Non-Union Employee Representation at News International', Industrial Relations Journal33(4): 316-31.
18.
Gordon, M.E. and R.T. Ladd (1990) `Dual Allegiance: Renewal, Reconsideration, and Recantation', Personnel Psychology43: 37-69.
19.
Gordon, M.E., J.W. Philpot, R.E. Burt, C.A. Thompson and W.E. Spiler (1980) `Commitment to the Union: Development of a Measure and an Examination of its Correlates', Journal of Applied Psychology Monograph65(4): 479-99.
20.
Guest, D. and N. Conway (1999) `Peering into the Black Hole: The Downside of the New Employment Relations in the UK', British Journal of Industrial Relations37(3): 367-89.
21.
Hackman, R.J. and G.R. Oldham (1974) `The Job Diagnostic Survey: An Instrument for the Diagnosis of Jobs and the Evaluation of Job Redesign Projects', JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology4: 148.
22.
Hankyoreh Daily (2000) `Samsung SDI Blocked Unionization Drive', 23 January (in Korean).
23.
Hiatt, J.P. and L.E. Gold (2000) `Employer-Employee Committees: A Union Perspective' , pp. 498-512 in B.E. Kaufman and D.G. Taras (eds) Nonunion Employee Representation: History, Contemporary Practice, and Policy. New York: M.E. Sharpe.
24.
Iverson, R.D. and S. Kuruvilla (1995) `Antecedents of Union Loyalty: The Influence of Individual Dispositions and Organizational Context', Journal of Organizational Behavior16: 557-82.
25.
Katz, H.C., T.A. Kochan and K.R. Gobeille (1983) `Industrial Relations Performance, Economic Performance, and QWL Programs: An Interplant Analysis', Industrial and Labor Relations Review37(1): 3-17.
26.
Kaufman, B.E. (2000) `Accomplishments and Shortcomings of Nonunion Employee Representation in the Pre-Wagner Act Years: A Reassessment', pp. 21-60 in B.E. Kaufman and D.G. Taras (eds) Nonunion Employee Representation: History, Contemporary Practice, and Policy. New York: M.E. Sharpe .
27.
Kaufman, B.E. and D.G. Taras (2000) `Nonunion Employee Representation: Findings and Conclusions', pp. 527-58 in B.E. Kaufman and D.G. Taras (eds) Nonunion Employee Representation: History, Contemporary Practice, and Policy. New York: M.E. Sharpe.
28.
Kim, D.-O. and H.-K. Kim (2004) `A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Unions and Nonunion Works Councils in Korea: Can Nonunion Employee Representation Substitute for Trade Unionism?', International Journal of Human Resource Management15: 1069-94.
29.
Kim, D.-O. and J. Bae (2004) Employment Relations and HRM in Korea. London: Ashgate.
30.
Lee, Y.H. (1988) White-Collar Unionism in Korea. Seoul: Nok Jin (in Korean).
31.
Liden, R.C., S.J. Wayne, M.L. Kraimer and R.T. Sparrowe (2003) `The Dual Commitments of Contingent Workers: An Examination of Contingents' Commitment to the Agency and the Organization' , Journal of Organizational Behavior24: 609-25.
32.
Lloyd, C. (2001) `What Do Employee Councils Do? The Impact of Non-Union Forms of Representation on Trade Union Organisation', Industrial Relations Journal32(4): 313-27.
33.
Meyer, J.P., N.J. Allen and C.A. Smith (1993) `Commitment to Organizations and Occupations: Extension and Test of a Three-Component Conceptualization', Journal of Applied Psychology78: 538-51.
34.
Morishima, M. and T. Tsuru (2000) `Nonunion Employee Representation in Japan', pp. 386-409 in B.E. Kaufman and D.G. Taras (eds) Nonunion Employee Representation: History, Contemporary Practice, and Policy. New York: M.E. Sharpe.
35.
Morrow, P.C. (1993) The Theory and Measurement of Work Commitment. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
36.
Newton, L.A. and L.M. Shore (1992) `A Model of Union Membership: Instrumentality, Commitment, and Opposition', Academy of Management Journal17: 275-298.
37.
Podsakoff, P.M., S.B. MacKenzie, J.-Y. Lee and N.P. Podsakoff (2003) `Common Method Biases in Behavior Research: A Critical Review of the Literature and Recommended Remedies', Journal of Applied Psychology88(5): 879-903.
38.
Reed, C.S., W.R. Young and P.P. McHugh (1994) `A Comparative Look at Dual Commitment: An International Study', Human Relations47(10): 1269-93.
39.
Reichers, A.E. (1986) `Conflict and Organizational Commitment', Journal of Applied Psychology71: 508-14.
40.
Rogers, J. and W. Streeck (1995) `The Study of Works Councils: Concepts and Problems' , pp. 3-26 in J. Rogers and W. Streeck (eds) Works Councils: Consultation, Representation, and Cooperation in Industrial Relations. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
41.
Sverke, M. and S. Kuruvilla (1995) `A New Conceptualization of Union Commitment: Development and Test of an Integrated Theory', Journal of Organizational Behavior16: 505-32.
42.
Taras, D.G. and B.E. Kaufman (2006) `Non-Union Employee Representation in North America: Diversity, Controversy and Uncertain Future', Industrial Relations Journal37(5): 513-42.
43.
Terry, M. (1999) `Systems of Collective Employee Representation in Non-Union Firms in the UK', Industrial Relations Journal30(1): 16-30.
44.
Towers, B. (1997) The Representation Gap: Change and Reform in the British and American Workplace. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
