Codetermination and industrial adjustment in the German steel industry: A comparative interpretation
Article Abstract:
Industrial adjustment can ultimately be evaluated only in comparative perspective. This article argues that the German steel industry is a case of relatively successful adjustment compared with the other major steel-producing countries. First, the German steel industry as a whole is faring better in the market than most other comparable steel industries, and German firms have adjusted with substantially less support from the government than their European and American counterparts. Second, adjustment in the German steel industry has seen relatively more consensual and less disruptive than in most other advanced countries. Third, far from inhibiting adjustment, codetermination has contributed to Germany's relative success because it has allowed for positive economic adaptation while at the same time providing a forum for resolving the political conflicts that accompany economic change. It is this combination of technically effective and politically smooth adjustment that makes the German steel industry a successful and instructive example of economic change. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: California Management Review
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0008-1256
Year: 1987
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Codetermination and industrial policy: the special case of the German steel industry
Article Abstract:
German employee codetermination has been greatly affected by the economic and political environment in which it operates. However, little attention has been paid to the impact of industrial policy on the behavior of unions, managers, employees, and works councils in this participatory decision-making process. Labor unions have historically enjoyed a particularly strong voice in the German steel industry. Advocates of codetermination consider the joint union-management decision-making process in the German steel industry a model that deserves imitation in other countries. However, the interaction of an EEC-imposed industrial policy with codetermination in a declining industry has had unanticipated and detrimental consequences. These are particularly noticeable in the case of Arbed-Saarstahl, a marginal enterprise in a depressed industrial region. There is strong evidence that EEC steel policy in combination with codetermination has encouraged management, union leaders, and employees to delay difficult decisions and rely on federal subsidies. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: California Management Review
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0008-1256
Year: 1987
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
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