Challenging collectivist traditions: individualism and the management of industrial relations in greenfield sites

T h i s paper explores developments in industrial relations and H u m a n Resource Management (HRM) in newly established ("greenfield") companies in the Republic of Ireland as a means of informing the debate on changing patterns of industrial relations. In particular, the paper focuses on the issue of individualism as a key dimension of management approaches to industrial relations. It is based on an empirical study of management approaches to industrial relations using a data set of new firms established in Ireland in the period 1987-1992. I I N T R O D U C T I O N T his paper examines the development of so called "individualist" manage­ ment approaches to indust r ia l relations using a database of firms which established at greenfield sites i n the Republic of I re land i n the period 19871992. A n impor tan t theme i n the extant l i te ra ture is the contention tha t f i rms locating at greenfield sites are l ike ly to adopt an increasingly ind iv idua l i s t focus i n i n d u s t r i a l re lat ions and pursue some key features of H u m a n *Currently Visit ing Fulbright Scholar in the Department of Management, S a n Diego State University. Resource Management ( H R M ) such as flexible work ing , enhanced qual i ty in i t ia t ives and employee involvement (Beaumont, 1985, 1986; Beaumont and Townley, 1985; Kochan et al. 1986; Guest, 1989). Indeed some commentators have identified a greenfield site as a requisite condition for the adoption of an i n d i v i d u a l i s t H R M focus i n i ndus t r i a l relations management (Beaumont 1985; Bly ton and T u r n b u l l 1992, 1994). Individual ism is therefore important , bo th as an indicator of change i n management approaches to i n d u s t r i a l relat ions and as a measure of the extent of adoption of so called " H R M styles". I n terms of the specific implicat ions for indus t r i a l relations, i t is suggested tha t the adoption of such management styles presents an explicit challenge to trade unions and collective bargaining (Beaumont, 1991). The essence of such challenge is a reduced emphasis on collective bargaining and management-trade union interactions, w i t h the focus shift ing from manage­ m e n t u n i o n to managementindividual employee interactions (Guest, 1989; Purcell , 1987; Beaumont, 1991, 1992; Storey and Bacon, 1993). The Republic of I re land is a part icularly appropriate context for testing the extent of an ind iv idua l i s t or ienta t ion i n i ndus t r i a l relations. Despite the presence of some prominent examples of managerial styles other than those based on t r a d i t i o n a l p lu ra l i sm, the evidence to date does not point to significant decline or change i n the t radi t ional p lural is t model (Murphy and Roche, 1994; Roche, 1994). Numerous reasons have been advanced to explain the cont inui ty of the pluralist /collectivist t rad i t ion , the most persuasive of wh ich have been ar t iculated by Roche and Turner (1994) who point to the impact of the socio-political context i n Ireland: . i t is the dis t inct ive features of the social and pol i t ical context i n I r e l and wh ich i n large measure account for the contrasting effects of h u m a n resource policies . as compared w i t h the Uni ted States or the Un i t ed Kingdom. (Roche and Turner (1994), p. 8). I n part icular , Roche and Turner point to the continued legitimacy of trade unions and trade un ion membership i n I re land, and l i n k th is to the his­ torical ly in t imate involvement of the trade union movement i n the nationalist struggle and also to the current sequence of centralised, corporatist style agreements on pay and other aspects of social and economic policy (Roche and Turner, 1994, Roche and Kochan, 1996). The I r i s h empirical evidence thus appears at odds w i t h the t rend of severe erosion of the p lu ra l i s t t r ad i t i on so ingrained i n the US and U K l i te ra ture (see, for example, Kochan et al., 1986; Bassett, 1987; Beaumont, 1987, 1995; M c L o u g h l i n and Gourlay, 1992; M i l l w a r d et al., 1992). However, t h i s evidence is largely based on nat ional un ion density statistics or studies of longer established firms. I t is therefore opportune to consider developments i n the newer "greenfield" sector which has been the locus of much of Ireland's recent indus t r ia l development. This paper reviews measures considered indicat ive of i nd iv idua l i sm i n indus t r i a l relations. Findings on levels of ind iv idua l i sm are then compared w i t h measures of collectivism i n indust r ia l relations. The paper also considers the major exp lana to ry factors i m p a c t i n g on v a r i a t i o n i n levels of individual ism and collectivism i n industr ia l relations. I I I N D U S T R I A L RELATIONS I N G R E E N F I E L D SITES I t is widely accepted that, i n establishing a greenfield site facility, manage­ ment possess considerable strategic discretion to decide on i t s "preferred" indus t r i a l relations style and on related policies and practices (Beaumont, 1995). I t is therefore reasonable to suggest t ha t i f employers are adopting more ind iv idua l i s t approaches, the evidence of such change should be most evident i n greenfield sites. This paper is based on a study of a l l greenfield site f irms established i n the manufac tur ing and in ternat ional ly t raded services sectors i n the Republic of I re land i n the period 1987-1992. The study excluded f irms w i t h less t han 100 employees. The study population amounted to 53 f i rms. The research was conducted us ing a methodologically p l u r a l i s t approach i n v o l v i n g : (a) qual i tat ive semi-structured interviews w i t h senior managers i n a l l sites; (b) s tat is t ical analysis of a questionnaire based survey completed by the senior manager responsible for personnel/IR i n each site; (c) consideration of research findings to three H R M / I R "expert" panels. Table 1, wh ich outlines the pr incipal act ivi ty and country of or igin of the fif ty three firms, h ighl ights the dominance of US owned start-ups i n I re land and the concentration of such firms i n what have been termed "high technology" sectors. I l l M E A S U R I N G I N D I V I D U A L I S M I N I N D U S T R I A L R E L A T I O N S The contemporary l i t e r a t u r e ident i f ies an increased management emphasis on the development of an individual is t orientation i n managementemployee relations as one of the most impor tant developments i n indus t r i a l relations i n the past decade (Beaumont, 1985, 1991; Beaumont and Townley, 1985; Kochan et al., 1986; Guest, 1989; Storey, 1992; Bacon and Storey, 1993). However, beyond Purcell 's (1987) and Bacon and Storey's (1993) at tempts to explore the discrete components of ind iv idua l i sm, i t remains qui te an amorphous concept. The most popular conception of h i g h i n d i ­ v idual ism identif ied i n the l i tera ture incorporates a strong "human capital" perspective whereby workers are seen as a cri t ical resource (Beer etal. , 1984; Table 1: Greenfield Establishments 1987-1992 by Activity and Country