The performance effects of attitudes of management vis-à-vis employee representatives in Belgium
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-02-2016-0042 |
| Published date | 05 February 2018 |
| Pages | 133-149 |
| Date | 05 February 2018 |
| Author | Annette van den Berg,Arjen van Witteloostuijn,Christophe Boone,Olivier Van der Brempt |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM |
The performance effects of
attitudes of management vis-à-vis
employee representatives
in Belgium
Annette van den Berg
Utrecht School of Economics, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Arjen van Witteloostuijn
Tilburg School of Economics and Management, Tilburg University,
Tilburg, The Netherlands;
Faculty of Applied Economics, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium;
Antwerp Management School, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium and
Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Christophe Boone
Antwerp Centre of Evolutionary Demography, Antwerp University,
Antwerp, Belgium, and
Olivier Van der Brempt
Antwerp Centre of Evolutionary Demography, Antwerp University,
Antwerp, Belgium and
GUBERNA (Belgian Institute of Directors), Brussels, Belgium
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is t o move beyond the usual ana lysis of the effects of work er
representation. Ins tead of estimating the im pact of the mere presence o f works councils on busine ss
achievements, the focu s is on the performance eff ects of managerial atti tudes vis-à-vis worker
representation. More pr ecisely, the authors study whe ther managerial willingn ess to cooperate with
employee representa tives and giving them a (tim ely) say in company polic ies translates into be tter
company performance.
Design/methodology/approach –After an introduction of the typical Belgian workplace representation,
the authors briefly discuss the relevant literature and the sample, leading to several hypotheses. The data are
from a survey in Belgium complemented with annual report information. Hypotheses are tested with
hierarchical OLS regression. Special attention is given to moderating and mediating effects.
Findings –The authors find that especially the timing of involving worker representatives in company
decision making has a significant impact on labor productivity. More broadly, the authors reveal that these
managerial attitudes matter more in larger establishments.
Research limitations/implications –Althoughnationwide, representative,and statistically valid, thedata
set is quite small (142usable observations), which obstructs the application ofrefined estimation techniques.
Practical implications –Practical advice shoul d be conditional on coun try context and size clas s.
In Belgium, smaller ent erprises can boost the ir performance by involv ing the works council ra ther
late in the process. Probably, this has to do with the powerfulposition of Belgian unions in works councils.
The managerial implica tions for larger Belgia n establishments are very different, howe ver. In these
cases, earlier involv ement of the works coun cil is advised, as this wi ll enhance the establi shment’s
performance.
Originality/value –Belgian works councils reflect a specific employee representation system that is rarely
studied. More broadly, attitudinal effects are under-researched. The data set is unique, combining subjective
with objective data, so reducing the risk of respondents’bias.
Keywords Quantitative, Productivity, Profitability, Belgium, Managerial attitudes,
Worker representatives
Paper type Research paper
Personnel Review
Vol. 47 No. 1, 2018
pp. 133-149
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-02-2016-0042
Received 25 February 2016
Revised 13 December 2016
Accepted 7 May 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
133
Performance
effects of
attitudes of
management
1. Introduction
In the industrial relations (IR) literature, considerable attention has been paid to the
economic effects on firm performance of having a works council. Especially in the case of
Germany, which has a long tradition of codetermination, the impact of worker involvement
through works councils has been studied a great deal ( for an overview, see Addison, 2009;
Jirjahn, 2010a). Other European countries with works councils have, however, been
examined much less frequently. In recent years, the estimated effects of (German) works
council presence on several firm performance indicators have often been found to be
positive. This holds unambiguously for productivity (Mueller, 2012), and to a lesser degree
for profitability (Mueller, 2011) and employment growth (Jirjahn, 2010b).
One element in this quantitative stream of empirical literature remains rather
underdeveloped: the analysis of behavioral aspects that may really drive what happens
inside theorganization, in the interactionbetween managementand employee representatives.
The favorable impact of works council presence might only come about if there is a
fundamentally positive attitude among the people involved, with both management and
employee representatives being welldisposed toward mutual cooperation. Therefore, another
line of research does focus on this behavioral perspective, mostly by applying qualitative
research methods(e.g. Kotthoff, 1994; Dilger,2002; Frege, 2003; Nienhüser,2009; Pfeifer, 2011;
Van der Brempt et al., 2017; Sapulete and van den Berg, 2017).
The purpose of this paper is to test to what degree managerial willingness to cooperate
with employee representatives and giving them a say in company policies translate into
better company performance. We contribute to the IR literature by focusing on the effect of
behavior on economic outcomes, instead of the impact of the mere presence of a works
council. Specifically, we add to the behavioral strand in this IR by applying a quantitative
research method. Our paper concerns the understudied case of Belgium, which has had
mandatory works councils already for many decades. Still, the Belgian employee
representation system is largely ignored in the English language IR literature. As we
argue below, the Belgian system differs from its German and Dutch counterparts along
a few fundamental dimensions, making Belgium an interesting case to examine from a
comparative angle.
We make use of a self-constructed survey administered among Belgian CEOs to
investigate the perceived role of works councils, their interaction with management, and the
impact of this interaction on firm performance. With our unique data set, we are able to look
more closely into the way works councils are treated and viewed upon by management, and
estimate the effects of these attitudes on establishment-level productivity and profitability.
We only find significant direct effects on productivity, in particular of management’s
inclination to involve the worker representation at a later stage. Another finding concerns
the moderating role of firm size, revealing that managerial attitudes regarding worker
representatives generate more positive effects in larger vis-à-vis smaller establishments.
Moreover, we test for mediation, finding a significant indirect effect on profitability.
Section 2 provides a description of the typical Belgian IR system, notably workplace
representation. Next, Section 3 gives a brief overview of the existing literature regarding
attitudinal aspects of management-works council relations. We then continue in Section 4
with a description of the sample, after which we formulate our hypotheses that are
specifically geared to the Belgian setting. The estimation results are presented in Section 5.
We summarize and interpret the main findings, and offer suggestions for further research in
the concluding Section 6.
2. IR in Belgium at the workplace level
For all Belgian companies with at least 50 employees, health and safety committees
(hereafter referred to as H&S committees) are mandatory, while companies employing over
134
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