The Politics of Flexibility: Employment Practices in Automotive Multinationals in Central and Eastern Europe

Forthcoming, European Journal of Industrial Relations, December 2015, Published online before print 26 August 2014, doi: 10.1177/0959680114546437.

21 Pages Posted: 18 Jun 2014 Last revised: 27 Aug 2014

See all articles by Jan Drahokoupil

Jan Drahokoupil

University of Mannheim - Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES); European Trade Union Institute (ETUI)

Martin Myant

University of the West of Scotland

Stefan Domonkos

University of Mannheim - Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES)

Date Written: June 4, 2014

Abstract

This paper investigates flexibility strategies of automobile producers in nine assembly subsidiaries in three Central and Eastern Europe Countries (CEECs). The organization of employment flexibility is an important concern for car makers, as well as for their employees. In CEECs, employment flexibility has become the major employment relations question, and is an area of conflict with unions. Analyzing the processes through which incoming MNCs established their labour flexibility strategies also demonstrates how they coped with the established legal and employment relations environments in the region. This analysis draws on a comparative case study approach, based on information obtained from published sources and semi-structured interviews with management and trade unions, to analyse these processes in nine automobile assembly subsidiaries in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. The argument here is that the flexibility strategies were shaped by parent-company flexibility practices, the flexibility needs of individual affiliates, and the relative strength of labour in negotiating the implementation of these practices in the affiliates. Given the relatively weak industrial relations institutions in the region, the relative strength of labour is conditioned primarily by market factors and parent-company contexts. The findings thus highlight the importance of political resources and agency of actors in the MNCs in shaping the employment policies.

Keywords: multinational companies, employment relations, flexibility, Central and Eastern Europe, automotive sector

JEL Classification: J04, J05, J51, J52, J53,J61, J64

Suggested Citation

Drahokoupil, Jan and Myant, Martin and Domonkos, Stefan, The Politics of Flexibility: Employment Practices in Automotive Multinationals in Central and Eastern Europe (June 4, 2014). Forthcoming, European Journal of Industrial Relations, December 2015, Published online before print 26 August 2014, doi: 10.1177/0959680114546437., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2454669

Jan Drahokoupil (Contact Author)

University of Mannheim - Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) ( email )

D-68131 Mannheim
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://drahokoupil.blogspot.com

European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) ( email )

B-1210 Brussels
Belgium

Martin Myant

University of the West of Scotland ( email )

Paisley High Street
PA1 2BE
Paisley, Scotland PA1 2BE
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.paisley.ac.uk/schoolsdepts/business/cces/researchers/martin-myant.asp

Stefan Domonkos

University of Mannheim - Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) ( email )

D-68131 Mannheim
Germany

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
103
Abstract Views
1,044
Rank
467,508
PlumX Metrics