ABSTRACT
The debate about the convergence of industrial relations systems has recently reemerged (Due, Madsen and Stroby-Jensen, 1991) in the context of a European pattern for labour relations and human resource management. This may be seen in the attempts by the EC to harmonize the Social Dimension of the Single European Act or in trends in the decentralization of collective bargaining and the emergence of the common agenda of flexibility. The pressure for such a convergence is most likely to come from multinational companies operating in a global or an integrated European market. Trends in such companies can have profound effects in weakening industrial relations systems from the bottom with national-level actors forced to respond by relaxing previously entrenched patterns of behaviour if only to preserve jobs and remain attractive for investment which is increasingly mobile across national boundaries. The early signs of convergence are likely to be found in industries with integrated European product markets, strong
Source: The International Journal of Human Resource Management (May 1992), 3(1):15-34.
