Partnership, Ownership and Control: The Impact of Corporate Governance on Employment Relations

Cambridge Centre for Business Research Working Paper No. 200

61 Pages Posted: 21 Sep 2011

See all articles by Simon Deakin

Simon Deakin

University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research (CBR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law

Richard Hobbs

University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law

Suzanne J. Konzelmann

University of London - Birkbeck College - Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Management and Organizational Psychology; University of Cambridge - Faculty of Social and Political Sciences

Frank Wilkinson

University of London - Birkbeck College

Date Written: June 1, 2001

Abstract

Most large UK private-sector organizations are listed companies that are subject to intense pressures to enhance shareholder value. The question arises of whether this constrains the ability of UK managers to pursue genuine partnership arrangements with long-term stakeholders, including employees. Empirical evidence is presented in the form of case studies of partnership relations between labor and management since the mid-1990s in companies operating under different forms of ownership. While some companies have been able to reconcile shareholder demands with a ‘partnership’ approach, in other cases, shareholder pressure has undermined partnership relations of the kind which have endured under more concentrated forms of ownership. Where the corporate governance system can be seen to support partnership, it is in conjunction with market regulation underpinning quality standards, relative stability in product markets, and a willingness on the part of senior management to mediate between the claims of different stakeholder groups.

Keywords: corporate governance, industrial partnership, stakeholding, co-operation

JEL Classification: G34, J53, K22, K23

Suggested Citation

Deakin, Simon F. and Hobbs, Richard and Konzelmann, Suzanne J. and Wilkinson, Frank, Partnership, Ownership and Control: The Impact of Corporate Governance on Employment Relations (June 1, 2001). Cambridge Centre for Business Research Working Paper No. 200, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1930871 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1930871

Simon F. Deakin (Contact Author)

University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research (CBR) ( email )

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European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

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Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://www.ecgi.org

University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law ( email )

10 West Road
Cambridge, CB3 9DZ
United Kingdom

Richard Hobbs

University of Cambridge - Faculty of Law ( email )

10 West Road
Cambridge, CB3 9DZ
United Kingdom

Suzanne J. Konzelmann

University of London - Birkbeck College - Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Management and Organizational Psychology ( email )

Malet Street
Bloomsbury
London, WC1E 7HX
United Kingdom
+44 (0) 207 631 6799 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/management/our-staff/academics/konzelmann

University of Cambridge - Faculty of Social and Political Sciences ( email )

ESRC Centre for Business Research
Cambridge, CB2 1TN
United Kingdom
+44 1223 337733 (Phone)

Frank Wilkinson

University of London - Birkbeck College ( email )

Department of Management
London WC1E 7HX
United Kingdom

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