Increasing Integrative Negotiation in European Organizations Through Trustworthiness and Trust

Integrative negotiation in which employers and employees create value is a major necessity in the current challenging context. Collective labor negotiations in organizations are traditionally focused on mostly distributive issues, such as pay, working hours, and holidays. However, the current situation demands the inclusion of other issues of a potentially more integrative nature, such as telework, sustainability, and risk prevention, the enhancement of which is a major challenge for organizations. In this study, we explore the negotiation process between management and employee representatives (ERs), analyzing the roles of trust and trustworthiness. We collected data from 614 human resources managers from different organizations in 11 European countries. The results confirm that ERs who management perceive to be trustworthy have a greater influence on negotiation, particularly with regard to integrative as opposed to distributive issues, and that trust partially mediates this relationship.

Organized Labor and Inventory Stockpiling

We document that managers stockpile excess inventory to mitigate the operational risk posed by labor unions and to maintain bargaining power in labor negotiations. Inventory levels are higher for union firms and are incrementally higher preceding the renegotiation of collective bargaining agreements with unions. Inventory stockpiling at union firms is more salient when capital market pressure for transparency or information spillover from peers constrains managers from using disclosure strategies. We further show that managers weigh the costs and benefits of inventory stockpiling, as holding excess inventory due to the presence of a union is negatively associated with future profitability but provides the benefits of avoiding a stockout and mitigating negative outcomes from a strike. Our findings highlight the importance of a major stakeholder, i.e., labor, in managers' investment decision-making.

Strategic Management Forecasts and Accounting Choices: A Case of Employee Downsizing in Japan

ABSTRACT Prior research shows that managers make income-decreasing accounting choices around labor negotiations and predicts that managers disclose bad news during labor negotiations. This study extends the literature by investigating whether disclosure and financial statement reporting practices are consistent during employee downsizing years. Using data from Japanese domestic firms during the period 2002–2016, we find that beginning-of-period management forecasts (i.e., disclosure) are positively associated with during-period negative stock returns for downsizing firms but not for non-downsizing firms. Also, downsizing firms report more conservative earnings at the end of the fiscal year (i.e., financial statement reporting). Our supplementary analyses show no difference in an association between management forecast errors and stock returns between downsizing and non-downsizing firms with during-period negative stock returns, nor in an association between discretionary accruals and employee downsizing. These results suggest that managers strategically inform firms' prospects during employee downsizing years. JEL Classifications: G34; J51; M41. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text.

Capital Structure and a Firm's Workforce

While businesses require funding to start and grow, they also rely on human capital, which affects how they raise funds. Labor market frictions make financing labor different than financing capital. Unlike capital, labor cannot be owned and can act strategically. Workers face unemployment costs, can negotiate for higher wages, are protected by employment regulations, and face retirement risk. I propose using these frictions as a framework for understanding the unique impact of a firm's workforce on its capital structure. For instance, high leverage often makes managing labor more difficult by undermining employees’ job security and increasing the need for costly workforce reductions. But firms can also use leverage to their advantage, such as in labor negotiations and defined benefit pensions. This research can help firms account for the needs and management of their workforce when making financing decisions.

A eficácia horizontal direta dos direitos fundamentais no âmbito das relações de trabalho: o papel da negociação coletiva na implementação de ações afirmativas da dignidade do trabalhador

Resumo: Neste artigo analisa-se a implementação de ações afirmativas pelas empresas empregadoras e sindicatos obreiros, mediante a negociação coletiva como forma de concretização da dignidade do trabalhador sob as perspectivas objetiva e subjetiva dos direitos fundamentais sociais. Nessa tarefa, apresenta-se o conceito de direitos fundamentais e sua relação com a dignidade da pessoa humana. Na sua segunda parte, analisam-se as teorias sobre a eficácia dos direitos fundamentais, em suas dimensões vertical e horizontal. Em seguida, apresenta-se o conceito de ações afirmativas da dignidade da pessoa humana como medidas de concretização da dignidade, para, ao final, apresentar exemplos de normas coletivas que afirmam, concretamente, a dignidade do trabalhador, no âmbito da eficácia horizontal dos direitos fundamentais nas relações entre particulares de forma direta e imediata. A metodologia do estudo é a analítica-interpretativa de investigação bibliográfica e documental. Por método, adotou-se o indutivo.Palavras-chave: Eficácia horizontal. Direitos fundamentais. Ações afirmativas. Negociação coletiva. Dignidade humana. Abstract: The article analyzes the implementation of affirmative actions by employers’ and workers’ unions, through collective bargaining as a way of achieving the dignity of workers under the objective and subjective perspectives of fundamental social rights. In this task, it presents the concept of fundamental rights and their relationship with the dignity of the human person. In its second part, it analyzes the theories on the effectiveness of fundamental rights, in their vertical and horizontal dimensions. Then, it presents a concept of affirmative actions of the dignity of the human person as measures for the realization of dignity, in order to present examples of collective norms that concretely affirm the dignity of the worker within the framework of the horizontal effectiveness of fundamental rights in relations between private individuals directly and immediately. The methodology of the study is the analytical-interpretative of bibliographic and documentary research. As a method, the inductive was adopted.Keywords: Horizontal efficacy. Fundamental rights. Affirmative actions. Labor negotiations. Human dignity.

Collective Bargaining in Professional Sports

This chapter examines the complex collective bargaining process in professional sports leagues. The labor negotiations between players and owners present unique conflicts between labor and antitrust law. The resolution of these conflicts will have a significant impact on the future of collective bargaining between players and owners. This chapter provides a brief overview of the relevant principles of labor law, briefly traces the history of collective bargaining in professional sports, identifies and analyzes the conflict between labor and antitrust law, examines the recent conflicts in the NBA and NFL labor negotiations, and looks forward to future negotiations between players and owners.