Megatrends Briefing Summary

Case Study & Megatrends Briefing Summary
Student's Name
Institution
Case Study
1 Compare union relations in two different countries? How are the unions (and employers) organized? What is the nature and role of bargaining? What role does the government play? Are there additional forms of employee representation?
Union relations differ from country to country. In Germany, for instance, the unions have a small membership, but they have a strong presence, whereas, in a country such as Mexico, unions are not as strong, but the membership is quite high (Briscoe, Schuler, & Tarique, 2011). Unions may represent all workers regardless of membership status in some countries, whereas in some, it only represents the members. Governments of the day provide a conducive environment for the unions to thrive by making policies that govern employee relations with the employers. As in the case of Ford Motor Company in Germany, negotiations for all auto companies and auto unions are done at the same time through the national employers' association and the national metalworkers' union that represent workers at all automotive companies (Briscoe, Schuler, & Tarique, 2011).
Bargaining is a process where representatives of a workers union meet with representatives of the business organization and negotiate a contract stipulating employee-employer relationships such as terms of employment and working conditions. Bargaining seeks to arrive at a collective agreement that governs the conditions and and terms of employment (ILO, n.d.). Governements play an importan role in upholding international labor guidelines as well as formulating laws that dictate the operations of organizations in relations to employment (Briscoe, Schuler, & Tarique, 2011).
There are different approaches to employee representation that are non-union related, with three being the common ones. The first one is worker's councils that are practiced in many countries in Europe. Another one is co-determination, majorly practiced in Germany. It entails the representation of employees on supervisory boards. It has three corresponding systems, namely the dual system, single-tier system, and mixed systems. Lastly, there are the worker cooperatives of which the best set is found in the Basque country of northern Spain (Briscoe, Schuler, & Tarique, 2011). This is an economic system that is open to everyone, is democratic in its operations, and the solidarity and equality of the worker and owner is a key principle.
2 What problems do you see for MNEs that must bargain with unions in multiple countries? How would you advise those problems be resolved?
That they must refer to different laws governing employee relations in different countries is the biggest problem faced by MNEs that must bargain with unions in multiple countries. This means that the MNEs cannot employ a blanket rule with regards to dealing with employee representation, and the fact that they have to understand the laws from every country can be exhausting and time-consuming. Apart from this, but in relation to, other problems faced by these MNE in multinational bargaining include differing national priorities, cultural and economic differences among different countries, widely varying industr...