Changing workplace relations in foreign investment firms in Poland
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425451111142684 |
| Published date | 28 June 2011 |
| Date | 28 June 2011 |
| Pages | 375-394 |
| Author | Jane Hardy,Wleslawa Kozek |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Changing workplace relations in
foreign investment firms in
Poland
Jane Hardy
University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK, and
Wleslawa Kozek
Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland
Abstract
Purpose – The article aims to consider the relationship between foreign investors and trade unions
in forging new labour relations and workplace institutions in Polish firms. The research focuses on the
role of foreign investment and the agency of workers’ organisations in the transformation of workplace
relations
Design/methodology/approach – An institutionalist approach is adopted which focuses on
structural, institutional and political influences on workplace relations. The research is based on
interviews with senior managers and trade unions in 15 foreign investment firms in Poland.
Findings – There is a continued presence of trade unions in brownfield foreign investments and the
establishment of new trade union branches in greenfield foreign investments. Labour relations in the
majority of the case study companies were characterised by managers and workers as conflictual.
Efforts by foreign investors to introduce their home or global practices were contested by trade unions.
A continuation of previous legacies was evident in the importance placed by trade unions on
communication, negotiation and establishing agreements with management.
Research limitations/implications – The sample was comprised of transnational manufacturing
companies and the conclusion cannot automatically be applied to other sectors where foreign investors
have a strong presence.
Practical implications – Insights into workplace relations in Poland are provided which will be of
interest to foreign investors and European trade unions.
Originality/value – Trade unions have been neglected in analysing new corporate structures in
Poland and this article addresses their role in the workplace and their interrelationship with foreign
investors.
Keywords Poland, Centraland Eastern Europe, Labour relations,Trade unions,
Internationalinvestments
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The aim of this article is to consider the relationship between foreign investors and
trade unions in forging new labour relations in Polish workplaces based on the
findings of interviews conducted in 15 foreign investment case study firms. Accounts
based on neoclassical thinking argued that incoming foreign capital played a central
role in the transformation process (Dobosiewicz, 1992; Hunya, 1992; Dunning, 1993) as
the engine of growth (Lipton and Sachs, 1990) with transnational corporat ions (TNCs)
being agents of change. Advanced technology was assumed to be forthcoming with the
transfer of production and research and development activities, thereby diffusing
managerial and technical know-how and expertise throughout the wider economy.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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Changing
workplace
relations
375
Employee Relations
Vol. 33 No. 4, 2011
pp. 375-394
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/01425451111142684
From another perspective, the “methodological nationalism” of the varieties of
capitalism (VoC) approach has been criticised for underplaying the role of exogenous
influences in shaping institutions (Bohle et al., 2007; Bohle, 2006; Shields, 2004). Unlike
the experience of advanced economies, the transformation of Central and Eastern
European (CEE) economies has been heavily influenced by international forces;
materially in respect of trade and foreign investment, institutionally through the
conditionalities of global and European level institutions and ideologically through
new discourses. Incoming TNCs and their managers have been to the fore in instilling
new material and discursive practices through the deep restructuring of workplaces
and workplace behaviour (Hardy, 1998, 2006).
It has been suggested in the theoretical development of the VoC approach that the
emphasis on trade unions “underplays the role that firms and employer organizations
play in the co-ordination of the economy” (Hall and Soskice, 2001, p. 4). King (2007,
p. 313) claims that in CEE there has been a “complete demobilisation of the working
class” and that “labour as an organised force [has] almost ceased to exist” (King, 2007,
p. 308). In the case of Poland Mykhenko (2007a, b) argues that the wage-labour nexus is
characterised by weak trade unions, defensive union strategies and non-hostile
industrial relations. Other accounts, however, have focused on the way in which labour
organisations have been key to contesting or cooperating with transformation and
workplace restructuring (Clarke et al., 1993; Thirkell et al., 1994; Deppe and Tatur,
1997) in CEE. It is argued that in the case of Poland, trade unions have been pivotal in
the development of workplace relations since 1990 and that workplaces are contested
terrains as incoming foreign direct investors have tried to instil western management
methods in general, and more specifically their corporate cultures.
In summary it is posited that two factors are salient to the emerging and diverse
labour relations in foreign investment firms in Poland. First, it is argued that the role of
foreign investment in material terms has been fairly modest, and that its main impa ct
has been on “bending” the institutions of the workplace. Second, it is suggested that the
role of workers as agents of cooperation and contestation has been underplayed in
accounts of the impact of foreign investment on corporate governance and workplace
relations.
The conceptual framework draws on strands of literature which can broadly be
termed as institutionalist. The framework is underpinned by socioeconomic
approaches (Granovetter, 1985; Smelser and Swedberg, 1994) and institutionalist
thought on transformation (Nielsen et al., 1995; Chavance and Magnin, 1997; Grabher
and Stark, 1997) which emphasise the notion of path contingency. The main influence s
on workplace relations are identified as structural (the economic imperatives which
frame the context in which firms operate); institutional (the routines, norms and values
of the workplaces); and political (the cooperation and contestation of workplace
institutions).
The structure of the article is as follows; the second section discusses the
methodology used to gather the data; the third section elaborates an institutional
conceptual framework which focuses on the structural, institutional and political
influences on workplace relations; the fourth section discusses the research findings
and the final section discusses and summarises the main conclusions.
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