THE CROSS-NATIONAL DIFFUSION OF EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES IN MULTINATIONAL WORKER COOPERATIVES

Ignacio Bretos; Carmen Marcuello; Anjel Errasti

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Submission

Paper Title

THE CROSS-NATIONAL DIFFUSION OF EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES IN MULTINATIONAL WORKER COOPERATIVES

Authors

Ignacio Bretos
Carmen Marcuello
Anjel Errasti

Modality

WORKING GROUPS - Articles

Subject area

GT-E. Os Impactos da Economia Social e Solidária na Economia e Sociedade

Publishing Date

27/02/2018

Country of Publishing

Brasil

Language of Publishing

Português

Paper Page

https://www.even3.com.br/anais/ciriec/43944-the-cross-national-diffusion-of-employment-practices-in-multinational-worker-cooperatives

ISBN

978-85-5722-074-4

Keywords

IHRM; HRM diffusion; MNCs; Employee participation; Cooperatives; Mondragon

Summary

Since the mid-1990s many worker cooperatives (WCs) have been forced to grow internationally due to the pressures of globalisation, and some of them have done so through the setting-up of capitalist subsidiaries abroad (Bretos and Marcuello, 2017). In this context, an important question for research and practice is to investigate the tensions and opportunities surrounding the transformation of such subsidiaries into WCs and the cross-national diffusion of the idiosyncratic worker-centric policies and employment practices associated with the cooperative model (Cheney et al., 2014). To address these issues, we provide a qualitative study of Fagor Ederlan, one of the largest multinational WCs of the Mondragon Group, based on longitudinal data and 23 in-depth interviews. Our findings illustrate how institutional factors, power relations between the headquarters and the subsidiaries, and self-interests within the former support the cross-national diffusion of certain HRM practices (such as job security, internal promotion, extended training, information sharing, and teamwork) on grounds of economic efficiency and subsidiaries’ enhanced performance, but prevent the conversion of foreign subsidiaries into WCs and the implementation of the key cooperative practices overseas (that is to say, employee participation in ownership, profit-sharing, and management). This article contributes to the field of international human resource management (IHRM) by analyzing how the interplay of institutions, power, and interests shapes the cross-national transfer of HRM policies and practices within MNCs, as recently claimed by some authors (e.g. Ferner et al., 2012).

Title of the Event: VI Conferência Internacional de Pesquisas e Estudos sobre Economia Social e Solidária
City of the Event: Manaus
Title of the Proceedings of the event: Anais da VI Conferência Internacional de Pesquisa sobre Economia Social e Solidária - CIRIEC "Economia Social e Solidária, Sustentabilidade e Inovação: enfrentando os velhos e os novos problemas sociais."
Name of the Publisher: Even3
Means of Dissemination: Meio Digital

How to cite

BRETOS, Ignacio; MARCUELLO, Carmen; ERRASTI, Anjel. THE CROSS-NATIONAL DIFFUSION OF EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES IN MULTINATIONAL WORKER COOPERATIVES.. In: Anais da VI Conferência Internacional de Pesquisa sobre Economia Social e Solidária - CIRIEC "Economia Social e Solidária, Sustentabilidade e Inovação: enfrentando os velhos e os novos problemas sociais.". Anais...Manaus(AM) UFAM, 2018. Available in: https//www.even3.com.br/anais/CIRIEC/43944-THE-CROSS-NATIONAL-DIFFUSION-OF-EMPLOYMENT-PRACTICES-IN-MULTINATIONAL-WORKER-COOPERATIVES. Access in: 25/11/2024