Technological University Dublin ARROW@TU Dublin Masters Business 2006-7 An Exploration of Enterprise Level Partnership and the Influences Informing Private Sector Organisations Choice of this Model in the Republic of Ireland Kevin O'Leary Technological University Dublin Follow this and additional works at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/busmas Part of the Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, and the Marketing Commons Recommended Citation O'Leary, K. (2006). An Exploration of Enterprise Level Partnership and the Influences Informing Private Sector Organisations Choice of this Model in the Republic of Ireland. Masters dissertation. Technological University Dublin. doi:10.21427/D74K7Z This Theses, Masters is brought to you for free and open access by the Business at ARROW@TU Dublin. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters by an authorized administrator of ARROW@TU Dublin. For more information, please contact arrow.admin@tudublin.ie, aisling.coyne@tudublin.ie. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License An Exploration qf Enterprise Level Partnership and the Influences Inform i7zg Private Sector Organisations ' CIzoice qf this Model in the Reptrblic ofIreland Kevin 0 'Leary Thesis submitted for fulfilment of the award of Master of Philosopliy Degree (MPhil) Dublin Institute of Technology Supervised by: Serge Basini School of Marketing July 2006 Declaration I ccrtify that this thesis which I now submit for examination for the award of Master of PElilosophy degree (MPhil), is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work, This thesis was prepared according to the regulations for postgraduate study by research of the Dublin Institute of Tecl~nologyand has not been submitted in wl~olcor UI part for an award in any other Tnstitute or University. The work reported on in tlzis tllesis conforms to tlze principles and requirements of the Instih~te's&widelines for ethics in research. Tlze Institute Izas permission to keep, to lend or to copy this thesis in whole or in part, on condition that any such use of the material of the thesis be duly acknowledged. S ignaturc Date Candidate Abstract The research follows the strategic choice of Partnership and seeks to gain an understanding of the processes and practices which define this concept and the political, economic and historical influences which have shaped it's evolution. The primary focus of this study is to explore the factors which have shaped the decision of private sector einployers to engage with or to reject Partnership as an appropriate model. The literature and the surveys consulted suggest that Partnership has not become an established or mainstream activity and reflects singularly low levels of uptake despite being actively promoted by Government and it's social partners. The findings suggest that Partnership is not a model of choice for employers but is often imposed by adverse circumstances, sometimes embraced opportunistically as a solution to intractable industrial relations problems and sometimes engaged in nominally without the spiritual cominitment to true Partnership values. The study gleans data from private sector organisations, where enterprise level partnership as defined by the Partnership 2000 Agreement, is an optional choice for employers. Working within the interpretive paradigm, qualitative in-depth interviews are the chosen means of enquiry. The findings, in addition to highlighting sometimes reluctant engagement by organisations also identify significant ideological opposition in other organisations to Partnership as a model which extends trade union voice. A well developed commitment to HRM process and values was evident in organisations rejecting the Partnership option. This appeared as vindicating the organisation's choice not to engage on the basis that many of the common principles shared in the Partnership model are actively promoted and reflected in an affirmative HR based employee culture created by the organisation. The study confirms that enterprise level Partnership, conceived by the Partnership 2000 Agreement, underpinned by a persuasive rhetoric, promoted by Government through the National Centre for Partnership and subsequently the National Centre for Partnership and Performance, has not become an established model largely due to resistance by organisations to sharing power and influence in strategic decision malting. Acknowledgements I wish to thank my supervisor Serge Basini for his encouragement atid support, for the excellence or lzis guidance, for his generosity and endurance beyond expectation and for the energy and insight he brought to the process. To my partner, Mary, lor w horn all things are possible. To my son, David the challenge of a post-graduate qualification has been presented. To my coIleslgues in Dublin Institute of Technology who offered much appreciated advice and goodwill in particular Seamus Kelly. To Dr. Robbie Bums my former Head of School who kindly facilitated the application process. To the arganisatioi~swho provided access and information and the busy senior executives who made time in their busy and prmsurised schedules. List of Tables Table 1.0 Employee Participation at Board level in EEC member states, 1980 Table 1.I Representative participation at plant level in EEC Member States, 1980 Table 1.2 Annual days lost to industrial action in Ireland 1970-2003 Table 1.3 Range of HRM and Manufacturing strategy initiatives Table 2.0 Real take home pay of PAYE workers 1980-1993 Table 2.1 Comparison of tax/ social security in Euro Zone 1999 Table 2.2 Days lost to Industrial Disputes 1979-2000 Table 2.2.1 Days lost to unofficial industrial disputes 1980-1985 Table 2.3 Common principles and practices evident in a list of UK definitions Table 2.4 Stereotypes of Personnel and Human Resource Management Table 2.4.1 The Guest model of HRM Table 2.4.2 The Storey model of PRand HRM- the differences Table 2.5 Incidence of formal partnership by company Table 2.5.1 Areadinitiatives of employee participation Table 2.5.2 Forum Survey 2003- extent of partnership and participation in the workplace Table 2.5.3 Partnership involvement Table 2.5.4 Forum survey 2003 Extent of partnership arrangements in the publiclprivate sector Table 2.5.5 Agencies involved in Partnership Table 2.5.6 Areas of Partnership Table 2.5.7 Key partnership objectives Table 2.5.8 Effectiveness of partnership in achieving objectives Table 2.5.9 Sources of opposition to partnership strategy Table 2.6 The Unitarist and Pluralist view of interests, conflict and power Table 2.6.1 Personnel Management and Industrial relations -the differences Influence tables Table 3.1 Assumptions of the two main paradigms Table 3.2 main differences between inductive and deductive approaches Glossary of Terms ACAS - Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service ATGWU - Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union CSO - Central Statistics Office CBI - Confederation of British Industry EBR - Exchequer Borrowing requirement FDA - Food and Drug Authority F WUI - Federated Workers Union of Ireland GDP - Gross Domestic Product GNP - Gross National product HRM - Human resource Management IBEC - Irish Business and Employers Confederation IB OA - Irish Bank Officials Association ICT - Information and Communications Technology ICTU - Irish Congress of Trade Unions IPA - Involvement and Participation Association IR - Industrial Relations MNC - Mulinational Corporation MPGWU - Marine Port and General Workers Union NCP - National Centre for Partnership NCPP - National Centre for Partnership and Performance NUM - National Union of Miners P 2000 - Partnership 2000 PACT - Partnership in Action Training PCW - programme for Competitiveness and Work PESP - Programme for Economic and Social progress PMDS - Performance Management Development System PNR - Programme for National recovery PPF - Programme for Prosperity and Fairness PRP - Performance Related Pay SPTU - Services, Industrial and Professional Trade Union TUC - Trade Union Congress WCM - World Class Manufacturing Table of Contents Page Declaration I Abstract i1 Acknowledgements i11 List of Tables IV Glossary of Terms v Chapter 1 - Introduction: The Context of Partnership Emergence Introduction Enterprise Level Partnership - A Definition Historical Influences EU influences and historic origins Two Tier Boards and Work Councils in Post War Germany Germany- Two Tier Boards and Participation at Board Level Co-Detemination Act of 1951 Works Constitution Act 1952 Co-Determination Act of 1976 Work Councils and Participation at Plant Level The Irish Response The Return to Centralised Pay Bargaining EmployerJUnion Position ICTU and Emerging Policy Influences Partnership 2000 Agreement Chapter 2 - Literature Review Section A Introduction Partnership - Influences Factors indicating the extent of difficulties to be confronted PNR - Government Pledges Beneficial effects of the Early Agreements, the PNR and PESP Progress under the PCW and P2000 Trade Union Response to Partnership Levers of Change within the Trade Union Movement Dissenting Voices within the Trade Union Movement Partnership as Pragmatism Other Economic Benefits Partnership at National Level - the Employers View Reduction in Days Lost due to Industrial Disputes 2.4.2 Economic Certainty and Stability 2.5 Partnership - the Government's View 2.5.1 Partnership and the Facilitating Bodies 2.6 Partnership