Structure and Agency in Bargaining

STRUCTURE AND AGENCY IN BARGAINING: PRACTICE, ROUTINES, TRUCE, AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES by © Búi K. Petersen A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management Faculty of Business Administration Memorial University of Newfoundland May 2018 St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador ABSTRACT This thesis uses a practice theoretical lens to examine the social process of negotiation, particularly in the context of union-management negotiations. The use of a practice lens helps address some fundamental gaps in the existing negotiation and industrial relations literatures, where the focus generally is only on either the micro (behavioural) or macro (structural) aspects of negotiations. Furthermore, most empirical research on negotiation behaviour has tended to separate the negotiations from their natural context. Therefore, we have very limited knowledge about the interactions between behaviour, process, practice, and structure. In this thesis, I use the practice theoretical approach, generally referred to as strategy-as-practice. This approach emphasizes the need to see all behaviour as socially situated, and practices as instrumental in the maintenance of structures. Therefore, it helps address the micro-macro divide, especially in terms of the tension between agency and structure. For my investigation, I chose to examine multiple cases of collective agreement negotiations within a small Nordic jurisdiction. I used a qualitative grounded theory approach that included a) observations of bargaining meetings; b) interviews with negotiators; and c) archival sources, such as meeting reports, collective agreements, email correspondence, and news media. The theoretical model that emerged from my findings suggests that collective bargaining is a highly routinized process that produces a truce. On the one hand, this truce provides stability and reduces volatility in industrial relations; on the other, it induces rigidity and inertia, significantly reducing the ability of individual negotiators to influence process and outcomes. However, this model also suggests that individual negotiators do ii have some individual agency in shaping outcomes, albeit marginally. More importantly, the model shows the critical role negotiators play in enacting and maintaining the routine truce through practice. The thesis also examines the sources for the varying degrees of agency individual negotiators demonstrated, including individual skills, experience, education, cognition, relationships, as well as the status of the occupation they represent. Keywords: Negotiation, collective bargaining, conflict management, industrial relations, strategy-as-practice, organizational routines, qualitative methods iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis marks the endpoint of a long journey, where I have travelled many theoretical and methodological mountains and valleys before reaching my final destination. I would not have been able to complete this journey had it not been for the support, assistance, and companionships of many individuals. First, I want to thank the members of my supervisory committee who helped me, supported me, and guided me in so many different ways, including advising me before I decided to pursue a PhD. To my co-supervisor, Dr. Gordon Cooke who first introduced me to the fascinating world of industrial relations (in one of the first courses of my MBA), an introduction that proved instrumental to my desire to pursue doctoral research. Thanks for the many conversations and frank discussions about research, life, and the world along the way. To my other co-supervisor, Dr. Natalie Slawinski who showed me the inner workings of qualitative research and demonstrated how to conduct high quality and rigorous research. Thank you for pushing me to aim for quality and rigour at the times I was tempted by expedience just in order to finish this project. To my committee member, Dr. Dianne Ford, thank you for all your support and advice along the way, and for helping me navigate my way out of the methodological and interdisciplinary wilderness. To my committee member, Dr. Amy Warren, for your always thoughtful theoretical and methodological advice as well as you your empathy and exemplary listening and conflict resolution skills. To all my committee members, thank you for always being available and willing talk about whatever problems I faced on this journey, often on very short notice. But above all, thank you for just being you. iv I would like to thank the thesis examining committee, Dr. Vern Glaser, Dr. Tom Cooper, and Dr. Jianyun Tang, for taking the time to evaluate this research and for their very insightful ideas, comments, and suggestions for developing and refining this research further, and for helping me clarify the real contribution of this research. In addition to the supervising committee and examiners, many people within the Faculty of Business Administration at Memorial University of Newfoundland helped make completing this PhD a rewarding, and sometimes pleasant, experience. First, I want to thank Dr. Susan Hart for inspiring me to pursue doctoral research and for introducing me to international and comparative industrial relations. To Dr. Michael Withey and Dr. Lorne Sulsky for always being helpful and understanding during the first, very challenging, term of this program. I want to especially mention Dr. Kara Arnold who, as the Director of the PhD program in the early parts of my PhD, had to endure and help navigate the cross-Atlantic differences in funding bureaucracy. And finally, to Dr. Travor Brown who, as the Director of the PhD program in the latter parts of my study, helped me close the loop and successfully complete this project. There is a long list of administrative staff in the Faculty of Business who in different ways contributed to making this research possible. These include Linda Battcock-Clowe, Wendy Roach, Mona Watts, and Sherry Whelan, in the General Office, and Donna Fitzgerald, Susan Gardiner, and Dr. Mekaela Gulliver in the Dean’s Office. I especially want to thank Donna Fitzgerald (Program Assistant for the PhD in program) for keeping me administratively on track in an always helpful and friendly manner, and Linda Babcock-Clowe for patiently putting up with my grant accounting requirements. v Outside of the Faculty of Business, I want to give special thanks to Dr. Mario Blaser, whose course (on ontological politics and actor-network theory) I ended up in rather serendipitously, for opening my eyes to a new theoretical landscape, something that will forever change the way I look at research, theory, and ontology. One of the biggest reasons that I was able to enjoy most of my PhD, was the experience of being a member of a fantastic cohort. To Dr. Megan Walsh and Dr. Bishakha Mazumdar, I could not have wished for better people to go through the process with (including the comprehensive exams). Thank you for your extraordinary collegiality, good sense of humour, and great company. This journey would have been very lonely without you. I want to the thank the University of the Faroe Islands (Fróðskaparsetur Føroya) for lending me office space during my visits to the Faroe Islands. Thanks go to all the faculty in the Department of History and Social Sciences for their warm welcome, allowing me to work in a very collegial environment during my very brief stays, and even inviting me to the weekly Friday breakfasts. A special thanks to Dr. Jens Christian Svabo Justinussen for helping me establish the academic connections and introducing me to everyone. I also want to thank my extended network of relatives and old friends who made my visits to the Faroe Islands truly enjoyable. I particularly need to thank my brothers, Atli and Uni (and their families), for providing me with a place to stay and for fantastic company. I want to give a special acknowledgement to the Research Council Faroe Islands (Granskingarráðið) for the generous support for this project. Without this support, this research would have been much more difficult to pursue and complete. I want to vi especially thank Annika Sølvará, Director of the Research Council, for her incredible helpfulness, flexibility, and patience in dealing with complications of cross-Atlantic funding bureaucracy. Ultimately, this research would not have been possible without access to the information all the study participants so willingly provided. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed, letting me sit in on meeting, and sharing documents. Not only did the trust you had in me as a researcher deeply enrich this research, your interest in the project also helped remind that I was pursuing something very important. As I decided to pursue academic research relatively late in life – having previously dedicated much of my life to music – I am profoundly influenced by many things I have experienced along the way. These influences include my high school music teacher, Kristian Blak, who introduced me to the world of jazz and whose advice to not worry and “just play” is something I try to remember in my approach to life and work. My views and understanding of the world and human coexistence have also been deeply enriched by such diverse authors as Peter Bastian, M. Scott Peck, William Ury, and Bruno Latour. I am also indebted to the cooperative housing movement in British Columbia for intruding me to the fascinating complexities of conflict and making me want to learn more about the nature of conflict, and to the Justice Institute of BC for teaching me how conflict can be resolved. While I have been guilty of neglecting music in recent years, the supreme artistry of Miles Davis will forever enrich my life. It is also through music that I met my wife and life partner, Dr. Sonja Boon. And a true partnership it has been, first in music and then in academia. Without your love, commitment, support, and the many intellectually stimulating discussions, I would have vii not made it this far. Thank for not giving up on your point of view on that train ride from Wales many years ago.

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