I'm sick. I don't like being sick. Ugh.
But you know what else makes me sick?
The idea that the German ER model is in decline! (Not really but you know)
I have various, various sources saying that it's currently in transition - the recent pressures from Anglo-Saxon models from the U.S. will either largely influence the current model, or it will morph into a 'more flexible' model of the current one.
Let it be noted, though, that the majority of employers in Germany actually prefer a model closer to the one pre-existing. I wonder why!
Funnily enough though, most firms haven't yet taken advantage of the flexibility the new framework has to offer. The original model is usually what is referred to post WWII, describing the collaborative efforts used between Unions and Work Councils to fuel the IR side of things, resulting in a very Consensus-based model.
The main reasons pushing Germany to reform their current IR model rests with the power that the German bank has in shaping the industrial sector, along with the record high unemployment levels at 12.6%! (Highest since WWII!!).
Honestly, the other positive argument towards Germany's ER model being great is how jealous all the other countries are of it, as they survived a bunch of famous scandals done by famous companies (I've never heard of them), along with the financial crisis of '07-'10. It survived so well in fact, that many other nations in EU have actually adopted the same or similar economic model and it has, interestingly, flourished.
So definitely, definitely the answer is the German ER model is in transition!
http://www.ribm.mmu.ac.uk/wps/papers/00-07.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_model
http://asr.sagepub.com/content/74/1/1.short?rss=1&ssource=mfc
Thanks for the blog post clearing that up! It is always confusing when there are many conflicting opinions out there.
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty obvious that this transition for the German ER system has strong influence from the US model (as you said).
I found this study done by some German academics who were analysing the changes in German workplace relations systems and they predict that the following will occur after a break from the original German model:
1) the withdrawal from or abandonment of the negotiation arenas of social partner- ship (e.g. the collective bargaining system or the works councils) and a move to- wards individualised bargaining and incentive models, i.e. an institutional break
2) the abandonment of the idea of the recognition and balance of all interests in the enterprise (e.g. through the domination of the shareholder value concept), i.e. a break in the governance logic
3) the decline of solidarity and the increase of inequality within and among enter- prises, i.e. an important change in the distribution of security, risk and wealth; i.e. a break with previous value orientations;
4) determined steps to relocate activities outside Germany i.e. to take the exit option
This is obviously a very negative view (they are German after all so maybe they believe the original system is the only way), but these outcomes do sound very similar to the American model of ER!
Well at least I think so anyway!
Like the European countries I'm also totes jealous of Germany's ER system, I hope they don't end up "Americanating" all over it. Yes, I can make up words if I want.
ReplyDeleteOh wait! U-(SA)-rinating... Needs work, I'll get it eventually
DeleteGreat post Aish! Hope you are feeling better
ReplyDeleteI actually think it’s a good thing that the German ER model is in transition. I know that the existing model was great for the economy and helped it to flourish especially in the tough economic times. The tough economic times are pretty much done now (for most of the world at least – not really southern Europe though) so why not make a transition and reform to help sustain the model in the globalised economy? Like you said unemployment rates are at a record high since WWII! Something definitely needs to be done to lower this. I did find an article (link below) that revealed that by 2011 the unemployment rate had dropped to 5.9% which was pretty low in comparison to other European countries at the same time. So I’m thinking that this reform/transition is a pretty good thing!
www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/country/germany.pdf