Research on employer coordination in the advanced capitalist countries has focused almost exclusively on the manufacturing sector, even though the service sector is responsible for most employment growth. This article considers organizational change in the service sector, comparing structurally similar networks of public savings banks in France and eastern Germany. It finds that the capacities of peak associations to circulate information widely among members, and to develop strategies that allow associational expertise to be combined with local knowledge, help overcome managerial uncertainty during organizational restructuring.
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