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Geary, John
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Geary, John
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Geary, John
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- PublicationAn American Solution to an Irish Problem: A Consideration of the Material Conditions that Shape the Architecture of Union OrganizingNew models of union organizing have become an important instrument of union growth and renewal. We examine the transfer of US-developed organizing practices to Ireland. We enquire whether the practical experiences of SIPTU can be considered successful. In particular, we focus on the question: in what way is the architecture of union organizing shaped by the material conditions that affect workers' power? We look at three campaigns across three low-wage sectors (hotels, red meat processing and contract cleaning). The campaigns share a number of common properties, but differ in respect of the power resources available to employees and the shape of their outcomes. Using a most similar systems comparative research design, we identify a variety of causes which help explain the success and shape of the different organizing campaigns. Finally, we make a number of arguments in respect of how our findings link to debates about the future of trade unionism.
417Scopus© Citations 10 - PublicationAn "emerging challenge": The employment practices of a Brazilian multinational company in CanadaAlthough the literature in international human resource management has developed greatly over recent years, our understanding of the dynamics of the transfer of HR practices in multinational companies (MNCs) from emerging economies with subsidiaries in advanced economies is found wanting. This study addresses this gap in our knowledge by investigating the transfer of employment policies of a Brazilian MNC to its Canadian subsidiaries. It examines interrelated questions about the influence of an emerging-economy parent-business system and how this interacts with the well-developed institutional regulation of the host country in a context of complex relations of dependence and dominance. Our prior expectation that the MNC would have had to adapt its policies to the ‘Canadian way’ was not borne out by the evidence. Instead the Brazilian MNC was found to be adept at capturing significant components of the host country’s institutional setting in a manner that gave it the space to determine the ‘rules’ for its own advantage. That it was able to do so was, in large part, shaped by the market context of the firm and by Canada’s dependence on foreign investment and, in turn, by the political relations of dependence that such reliance engendered. Broader lessons from the case analysis are offered.
1225Scopus© Citations 36 - PublicationWorkplace partnership and the balance of advantage : a critical case analysisWhether all parties to the employment relationship benefit from workplace partnership and with what consequences is one of the most persistent research questions in industrial relations scholarship. Three dominant theoretical frameworks are identified. They are the mutual gains, pessimistic and constrained mutuality perspectives. Using both quantitative and qualitative case study data, the paper queries the prevailing view that it is possible to categorise partnership outcomes as fitting neatly into one of these three theoretical perspectives. The paper investigates the critical role of employees’ perception of the distribution of partnership gains for their orientation to their employer and union, and in regard to their support for a continuation of a partnership approach.
987Scopus© Citations 37