The question is: International Framework Agreements (IFAs) and European Works Councils (EWCs) are both ways of contributing to the international regulation of employment relations. Which in your view is more effective? Give detailed examples of at least one EWC and one IFA in your answer.

The requirements: This question relates primarily to the following topics: International – level governance (lecture 2); international participation and employee representation, lecture 8) and HRM/ER in MNC’s (lecture 6).

To answer this question, it will also be beneficial to carry out some independent research into individual MNCs and their framework agreements and EWCs. Please consult websites by or about individual MNCs as well as websites from international trade unions and intergovernmental organisations (the ILO, EU, European Foundation, ITUC, ETUC, etc.).

Suggested readings:

Commission of the European Communities, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, data base on Transnational Company Agreements, http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=978&langId=en.
Croucher, R and Cotton, E (2009) Global Unions, Global Business Middlesex University Press: London.
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (2007) New structures, forms and processes of governance in European industrial relations, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, available from: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef0694.htm.
European Union, ‘Worker-Particiipation EU’, http://www.worker-participation.eu/European-Works-Councils
Fitzgerald, I. and Stirling, J. (eds) (2004) European Works Councils: Pessimism of the Intellect, Optimism of the Will?, London: Routledge.
Hall, M J, Hoffmann, A, Marginson, P & Müller, T ‘National influences on European Works Councils in UK- and US-based Companies Human Resource Management Journal 13 (2003): 75-92
Fichter, M et al (2012) ’Globalising labour relations: on track with framework agreements?’, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Department for Global Policy and Development: Berlin, http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/09422.pdf.
Global Unions: http://www.global-unions.org/framework-agreements.html. This is a regularly updated list of IFAs. Other information is also available on this site.
Gumbrell-McCormick, R (2008) ‘International Actors and International Regulation,’ in Paul Blyton, Nick Bacon, Jack Fiorito and Ed Heery (eds) Handbook of Industrial Relations, London: Sage, 2008, 325-45.
Hammer, N. (2005) ‘International Framework Agreements: global industrial relations between rights and bargaining’, Transfer, 11:4, winter 2005, 511 – 530..
Keune, M and Marginson, P (2013) ‘Transnational Industrial Relations as Multi-Level Governance: Interdependencies in European Social Dialogue’ British Journal of Industrial Relations 09/2013; 51(3).
Kotthoff, H (2007) ‘The European Works Council and the Feeling of Interdependence’. In Whittall, M, Knudsen, H and Huijgen, F (eds), Towards a European Labour Identity: The Case of the European Work Council, Abingdon: Routledge, chapter 10.
Marginson, P, Hall, M, Hoffmann, A and Müller, T (2004) ‘The Impact of European Works Councils on Management Decision-making in UK and US-based Multinationals’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 42(2): 209-33.
Martinez Lucio, M. (2014) (ed.) International Human Resource Management: An Employment Relations Perspective, London: Sage, chapter 13, ‘Globalization, Multinational Corporations and Trade Unions’ (Martinez Lucio and Waddington).
Miller, D (20004) ‘Preparing for the Long Haul: Negotiating International Framework Agreements in the global textile, garment and footwear sector’, Global Social Policy, 4(2): 215-239.
Papadakis, K (2011) Shaping Global Industrial Relations: The Impact of International Framework Agreements, ILO, in association with Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
Schömann, I, Sobczak, Voss, E and Wilke, P (2008) ‘Codes of conduct and international framework agreements: New forms of governance at company level’, European Foundation: Dublin, http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/htmlfiles/ef0792.htm.
Stevis, D. (2011): The Impacts of International Framework Agreements: Lessons from the Daimler Case, in K. Papadakis (ed.), Shaping Global Industrial Relations. The Impact of International Framework Agreements. Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 116 – 142.
Stevis, D. (2010), ‘International Framework Agreements and Global Social Dialogue’, Employment Sector, Employment Working papers no. 47, ILO, Geneva: http://www.oit.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_122176.pdf.
Telljohan, V et al (2009) European and International Framework Agreements: Practical Experiences and Strategic Approaches, European Foundation: Dublin, http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2008/102/en/2/EF08102EN.pdf.

2. International assignments, including expatriation, are an essential aspect of MNC operations. What are the main reasons MNCs send managers or other staff on international assignments? What are the best criteria for evaluating the success of these assignments?
This question relates primarily to the following topics: cultural differences between countries (lecture 3), international assignments and migration (lecture 5) and international HRM practices (lecture 6).
Suggested readings:
Black, J.S., Gregersen, H. & Mendenhall, M. (1992), Global Assignments, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bonache, J (2006) ‘The compensation of expatriates: A review and a future research agenda’, in Stahl, G K and Björkman, I (eds.) Handbook of Research in International Human Resource Management, Cheltenham: E Elgar, 158 – 75.
Brewster, C (1991) The management of expatriates, London: Kogan Page.
Caligiuri, P and Stroh, L (1995) ‘Multinational Corporation Management Strategies and International Human Resources practices: Bringing IHRM to the Bottom Line’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 6(3): 494 – 507.
Caligiuri, P, Joshi, A and Lazarova, M (1999) ‘Factors influencing the adjustment of women on global assignments’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 10(2), 163-179.
Collings, D G, Scullio, H and Morley, M J (2007) ‘Changing patterns of global staffing in the multinational enterprise: Challenging the conventional expatriate assignment and emerging alternatives’, Journal of World Business, 42 (2): 198 – 213.
Harris, H (2002) ‘Think international manager, think male: why are women not selected for international management assignments? ‘ Thunderbird International Review, 44 (2) 175-203.
Harris, H and Brewster, C (1999) ‘The coffee machine system: how international selection really works’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 10 [3]. June 1999. 488 – 500.
Lucas, R, Lupton, B, Mathieson, H (2006) Human Resource Management in an International Context, London : CIPD.
Martinez Lucio, M. (2013) (ed.) International Human Resource Management: An Employment Relations Perspective, London: Sage, chapter 11 ‘Migration and Human Resource Mangement’ (Lillie, Caro, Berntsen and Wagner).
Punnett, BJ, Crocker, O and Stevens, M (1992) ‘The challenge for women expatriates and spouses: Some empirical evidence’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 13(3), 585-592.
Stroh, L and Caligiuri, P (1998) “Strategic human resources: a new source for competitive advantage in the global arena”, in International Journal of Human Resource Management, 9 [1]: 1 – 17.
van Woerkom, M and de Reuver, R (2009) ‘Predicting excellent management performance in an international context: a study of the influence of multicultural personality on transformational leadership and performance’, in International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20 [10], October 2009, 2013 – 2029.
Westwood, RI and Leung, SM (1994) ‘The female expatriate manager experience: Coping with gender and culture’, International Studies of Management and Organization, 24, 64-85.