Abstract
This chapter examines partnership in the context of a British utility organisation which is referred to by the pseudonym “PowerCo”. The case study examined partnership over a 13-year period (2000–2013). Liberal market economies such as the UK are often believed to provide an inhospitable institutional environment for meaningful workplace partnership to flourish because of factors including unstable markets, weak trade unions and the absence of regulatory or state support (Hall and Soskice 2001). However, PowerCo provided an interesting contrast to these prototypical characteristics associated with liberal market capitalism: The organisation provided highly skilled and long-term employment in a stable market place, within a high-density trade union environment, and regulatory support for partnership working.
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Notes
- 1.
The regulator supports cooperative relations but does not lay down regulation stipulating how relations are conducted.
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Hoskin, J., Johnstone, S., Ackers, P. (2016). A Partial Partnership?The Contradictions of Cooperation at PowerCo. In: Johnstone, S., Wilkinson, A. (eds) Developing Positive Employment Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-42772-4_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-42772-4_9
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