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Ownership, governance, and the diffusion of HRM practices in multinational worker cooperatives: C ase‐study evidence from the M ondragon group
Author(s) -
Bretos Ignacio,
Errasti Anjel,
Marcuello Carmen
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
human resource management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.44
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1748-8583
pISSN - 0954-5395
DOI - 10.1111/1748-8583.12165
Subject(s) - multinational corporation , internationalization , business , subsidiary , human resource management , corporate governance , globalization , industrial relations , business administration , industrial organization , marketing , management , market economy , economics , international trade , finance
Drawing on a qualitative study of one Mondragon multinational worker cooperative (WC) based on longitudinal data and in‐depth interviews, our research evidences the contradictions that internationalisation poses in WCs, both through privileging managerial control at the expense of worker–member participation and through the setting‐up of capitalist subsidiaries in which employees are excluded from ownership and decision‐making. It further shows how institutions, power relations, and interests shape transfer in WCs, supporting the diffusion of certain human resource management (HRM) practices on grounds of efficiency but hampering the implementation of core cooperative practices. We make a threefold contribution: first, to a strand of inquiry focused on the influence of corporate governance on HRM; second, to the field of international HRM by analysing the cross‐national diffusion of HRM practices in WCs; and third, to ongoing debates on the challenges that WCs face when striving to balance the economic and social dimensions in globalisation.