Surveying Employment Practices of Multinationals in Comparative Context: Integrating and Differentiating National Systems, 2006-2010

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.This study was based on a representative sample of multinational companies (MNCs) operating in the UK, both UK- and foreign-owned. It aimed to provide a picture of employment practice within MNCs, focusing on the four key areas of performance management and reward systems, organisational learning, employee representation, and employee involvement and communication. It aimed to test hypotheses concerning the association between a company's employment practices and such organisational factors as structure, degree of internationalisation, nationality of ownership, and sector. The survey aimed to collect data on employment practices for three employee groups: managers, 'key group', and the 'largest occupational group'. The research team that conducted the survey is the founding member of an international network of academics conducting parallel surveys of MNCs and employment practice in four countries: UK, Ireland, Canada, and Spain. These surveys are the most comprehensive investigations of the employment practices in MNCs in their respective countries. Each documents the variety of employment practices among MNCs and explores the level at which decisions on such issues are determined, how practices are transferred across borders, and how policies are monitored and enforced. This project extended an earlier study fielded in the UK, held at the UK Data Archive under SN 5748, Employment Practices of Multinational Companies in Organisational Context, 2005-2006. The later research extended this in an exciting and novel direction. Specifically, cross-national comparative analysis of the closely co-ordinated surveys extended understanding of the factors underpinning patterns of similarity and difference. The funding provided the means to transform data from the surveys into one integrated dataset, forming the empirical basis for an unprecedented analysis of MNCs in different countries. Further information may be found on the ESRC's Surveying Employment Practices of Multinationals in Comparative Context: Integrating and Differentiating National Systems award webpage, and the Warwick University Employment Practices of Multinational Companies in Organisational Context project webpage. An account of the design and method and an overview of the findings of the earlier UK survey (funded by ESRC, Award RES-000-23-0305) are provided in Edwards, T. et al. (2008) and Edwards, P. et al. (2007), respectively. Prior to the most recent project, the survey data had been analysed independently at national level. Main Topics:Topics covered include company details, management, labour and workforce, productivity, industrial relations and trade unions, mergers, diversification, training and development, business operations, international policy, operations and arrangements