Journal Article

Global Framework Agreements and Trade Unions as Monitoring Agents in Transnational Corporations

Garaudel, Pierre, Porcher, Simon, Bourguignon, Rémi

2020

Overview

In combining the micropolitics approach in international management, the industrial relations literature and business ethics, this article conceptualizes global framework agreements as an alliance between central CSR managers of transnational corporations and central actors within trade unions to monitor subsidiaries in the implementation of CSR policies. The empirical investigation, based on the qualitative analysis of ten French multinational companies, confirms the relevance of such a conceptualization. It particularly shows that central CSR managers hope mobilizing the union network to increase their capacity to supervise subsidiaries. Over there, it helps understanding concrete mechanisms adopted to implement global framework agreements since, in some of the studied cases, the managerial and union channels are coordinated precisely to strengthen this capacity. It, then, highlights the procedural nature of policies regarding global framework agreements. Overall, this paper examines the conditions necessary for mobilization of the union network and suggests avenues for future research.

• Publisher: Springer,Springer Netherlands,Springer Nature B.V,Springer Verlag
• Subject: Agreements / Alliances / Business administration / Business and Management / Business Ethics / Companies / Concept formation / Education / Ethics / Humanities and Social Sciences / International trade / Labor relations / Labor unions / Management / Managers / Mobilization / Multinational corporations / Networks / Original Paper / Philosophy / Qualitative research / Quality of Life Research / Subsidiaries / Transnationalism