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ABSTRACT
The question of workplace participation opportunities and limitations in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has gained momentum in sociological debates in Germany over the last years. Against the background of fundamental changes in the German industrial relations system, sociological research on this topic has shifted its focus from indirect to direct participation. On this basis, the paper aims to analyse and discuss the panoply of participation practices in an economic cluster in the region of Dortmund, a town in the German Ruhr Valley. The paper starts with an introduction of the empirical case, the development of the high-technology microsystems cluster in Dortmund, and gives an overview of the relevant private enterprises on the basis of three different company types. We go on to discuss the practice-orientated approach of participation which we combine with relevant sociological research results about direct and indirect participation as well as human resource management in SMEs and the New Economy. After a short overview of the methodological and empirical background of our research, we discuss the existing practices and cultures belonging to and surrounding direct and indirect participation with regard to the three types of businesses in the Dortmund cluster. The correlation between participation practices and business types is, however, not sufficient to fully describe the situation. The concept of participation cultures is therefore used as an additional concept.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the working group steps at the IHS, S. Haslinger, M. Kampshoff, L. Kane, O. Katenkamp, K. Kock, H. Neuendorff, S. Nover, U. Schumm-Garling, their interview partners as well as the reviewers and editor of the journal for their help and constructive criticism.
Notes
1All quotations from literature written in German were translated by the authors.
2Companies do not necessarily go through all three stages in their development. A company of the type invention company may never enter into mass production like firms belonging to the all-round company type but might continue to focus on R&D permanently.
3The data is based on Internet investigations, relevant articles in the local press and information taken from interviews.
4‘Formal HRM practices are assessed in terms of whether they are written down, regularly applied or assured to take place’ (Barrett et al. 2008: 186; cf. Adler and Borys Citation1996).
5The first of these projects was a guided student project at the University of Dortmund, which lasted from 1999 to 2001. The project, ‘Participation, Personnel Development, Business Organisation, and Knowledge Transfer in the Field of Microsystems Technology in the Dortmund Area’, was a co-operation between the IHS and the University of Dortmund, which started in the middle of 2003 and went on for one year. The project took place within the context of the TRANET-Ruhr project. The third project was carried out at the IHS. It started in mid-2004 and ended in mid-2006.
6Porter defines a regional cluster as a geographic concentration ‘of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, firms in related industries, and associated institutions … in a particular field that compete but also cooperate’ (Porter Citation2000: 15). Following sociological and geographical approaches (Amin Citation2004), we supplement this definition: clusters are seen as processes happening within the context of regional, national or supranational systems (such as the EU). Relevant interactions do not only happen within the cluster but also between the cluster and its surrounding environment.
7Six of these 41 interviews were held with members of the city council and the Dortmund-project. Five interviews were held with researchers and academics, eight with members of intermediary organisations, and 22 with representatives from the private sector. These last 22 interviews were held with eight employees and 14 representatives from the companies’ management staff. We also base this discussion on material presented at the workshop ‘Personnel Development and Participation in the Microsystems Technology Sector’, which took place in Dortmund in 2004.
8Pressure does not, however, always stem from internal conflicts and relative open communication cultures have their limitations too, for example when lenders of capital exert pressure on management. In one company's case, this situation lead to a layoff. A colleague of the former employee said in an interview that this happened ‘all of a sudden … They told us: “There's been trouble with the banks … There isn't going to be another financing round. And the colleague who sat next to you, we've called him. We'll have to let him go. But you're still in the game.” Well, that's going to take some time to deal with’ (I24).