Deck 13: Industrial Relations Around the World

Question 1

When multinational firms compare the economic performance of different affiliates,all but which one of the following has resulted?

A)increased job satisfaction
B)reduced employment
C)introduction of teamwork
D)intensification of work
E)cost reduction

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Globalization has been linked to all but which of the following effects?

A)increase in migrant labour
B)increase in minimum wages
C)growth of child labour
D)slavery
E)dampening of union wage demands through threat of relocation by companies

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following is the IR system where unions have no effective role to play?

A)partially free system
B)free system
C)unfree system
D)open system
E)restrictive system

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In Canada and the U.S.,unions have devoted special effort to organizing

A)construction.
B)heavy manufacturing industries.
C)the public sector.
D)the private service sector.
E)resource industries.

Question 5

Which of the following is the IR system where unions an almost unrestricted role to play?

A)restrictive system
B)partially free system
C)open system
D)free system
E)unfree system

Question 6

The most distinctive feature of Japan's hybrid system of IR is

A)dominance of decree systems.
B)extension of collective agreements.
C)system of enterprise unions.
D)heavy government involvement in the IR system.
E)unions' role as advocates for the individual worker.

Question 7

Why are Latin American unions particularly open to informal sector workers?

A)because Latin Americans tend to be more solidaristic than most other people
B)because of legislation allowing those workers to join unions
C)because there are so many of those workers
D)because there are so few of those workers
E)because of the region's low union membership rates

Question 8

All but which one of the following has proved a barrier to small- scale entrepreneurs in the developing world?

A)lack of experience in the wider world
B)a lack of NGOs
C)lack of access to capital
D)low literacy levels
E)lack of marketable skills

Question 9

Which of the following best helps explain the growing importance of publicity campaigns as an international labour tactic?

A)multinational firms' growing concern about their public image
B)growth of instantaneous communication technologies
C)the United States' growing support for international labour standards
D)all of the above
E)none of the above

Question 10

All but which one of the following is a barrier to the organization of informal sector workers?

A)family loyalties
B)blurring of employer- employee distinctions in developing countries
C)the large size of informal sector units
D)diversity of their employment status
E)lack of access to basic amenities

Question 11

Union density in decentralized IR systems ranges from

A)non- existent to very low.
B)no range-it is always very low.
C)low to moderate.
D)moderate to high.
E)high to stratospheric.

Question 12

Liberalization of the former Soviet bloc countries has had all but which one of the following impacts?

A)increased role for employers
B)increased centralization of bargaining
C)increase in industry- level bargaining
D)growth in national tripartite agreements
E)reduced role for the state in IR

Question 13

All but which one of the following countries experienced an increase in unemployment between 1980 and 1995?

A)Venezuela
B)U)S.
C)Japan
D)Norway
E)Sweden

Question 14

All but which one of the following is a characteristic of the Quebec IR system?

A)lower than average union membership rates for Canada)
B)employers' associations
C)multiple labour federations
D)the decree system
E)an active role for the labour movement in social and economic planning

Question 15

The chapter suggests that economic conditions

A)explain most recent union growth and decline.
B)are a significant explanatory factor,but only one of several.
C)are irrelevant in explaining union growth.
D)explain the difference between Canadian and American union membership rates.
E)both B and D.

Question 16

All but which one of the following is an activity engaged in by micro- entrepreneurs' associations?

A)mutual savings and loans
B)providing "improve your business' programs
C)providing liability insurance to members
D)increasing the bargaining power of members
E)providing "Start your business" programs

Question 17

The main reason why centralized systems have recently been falling into disfavour is

A)employer opposition.
B)union opposition.
C)pressure from IR academics.
D)government's preference for high inflation levels.
E)none of the above.

Question 18

Even among decentralized IR systems,the U.S.stands out for all but which one of the following reasons?

A)strong emphasis on civil and human rights
B)lax enforcement of labour law
C)fierce employer opposition to unions
D)low union membership rates
E)lack of political activity in its labour movement

Question 19

Which word best sums up the attitude of developing countries' labour movements toward the growth of the informal sector?

A)hostile
B)indifferent
C)ambivalent
D)comradely
E)supportive

Question 20

A perhaps unforeseen consequence of the growing importance of individual firms in IR systems has been

A)more centralized bargaining structures.
B)growth in the informal economy.
C)the weakening of employers' associations.
D)steady union growth.
E)the weakening of unions.

Question 21

Precarious employment has contributed to all but which of the following?

A)an increase in the "informal" sector of the economy
B)replacement of full- time work with part- time or contractual work in industrialized countries
C)declining labour force participation in developing countries
D)increased unemployment rates throughout most of the world
E)decreased work hours

Question 22

What have been the major reasons for reduced union membership rates in developing countries?

Question 23

How have unions been trying to counter the steep declines in employment and membership in their traditional power bases?

Question 24

Since the first free trade agreement took effect,Canada has experienced all but which one of the following?

A)loss of manufacturing jobs
B)steady economic growth
C)weakening of the social safety net
D)cuts to health care
E)higher unemployment

Question 25

The greatest single force driving change in national IR systems has been

A)climate change.
B)universal suffrage.
C)end of colonialism in most of Africa.
D)liberalization of the former Soviet bloc.
E)globalization of the world economy.

Question 26

Why do traditional industrial relations tools no longer adequately apply to todays IR systems?

Question 27

Why do employers continue to be the weak link in the IR systems of former Soviet bloc countries?

Question 28

How have trade unions and informal workers' organizations worked together in Venezuela?

Question 29

Why have both very small and very large firms begun to break away from employers' associations,in countries where these associations still play an important role?

Question 30

Why do employers in decentralized systems tend to be more anti- union than their centralized counterparts?

Question 31

Which of the following is the IR system where unions have only a limited role to play?

A)free system
B)open system
C)partially free system
D)unfree system
E)restrictive system

Question 32

What's the major difference between the way unions and works councils/joint committees operate?

Question 33

Compare the benefits achieved with the costs incurred by the Japanese hybrid system of IR.

Question 34

Why do many developing countries favour a partially free system of industrial relations?

Question 35

What role did unions play in the former Soviet bloc countries?

Question 36

How are multinational firms reducing the autonomy of their national affiliates?

Question 37

Works councils are especially prominent in

A)The U.S.
B)Australia.
C)Asia.
D)Africa.
E)Europe.

Question 38

Why are broad- based publicity campaigns of particular importance in developing countries?

Question 39

Give an example of the ways in which associations of micro- entrepreneurs and established employers' associations have worked together.

Question 40

The role of the unemployed is particularly important in the labour movements of

A)Asia.
B)New Zealand.
C)Africa.
D)Latin America.
E)northern Europe.

Question 41

How does global poverty and underdevelopment force IR to re- evaluate its traditional tools and concepts?

Question 42

Governments around the world feel as free now to engage in stimulative macroeconomic policies as they did in the early postwar period.

Question 43

Child slavery and prostitution have been among the consequences of globalization in extremely poor countries.

Question 44

Governments' inability to regulate informal sector work activities stems almost from lack of political will.

Question 45

Clothing firms have been prominent targets of international publicity campaigns.

Question 46

What are the key elements of the hybrid systems of IR in Japan,Australia and Quebec tha lead to their development and current features.Do the three systems share any common feature in the reasons for their development?

Question 47

Decentralized free systems place greater emphasis on collective bargaining than do centralized ones.

Question 48

Globalization is a minor force driving the change in national IR systems.

Question 49

In general,union membership rates have held up better in decentralized than in centralized IR systems.

Question 50

What led to the establishment of Australia's arbitration court?

Question 51

Unions in the former Soviet Union led the world in their independent advocacy of workers' rights.

Question 52

Australia's hybrid IR system was the result of severe early twentieth century labour market shortages.

Question 53

Co- optation of key union leaders has been a control tactic adopted in a number of developing countries.

Question 54

Service sector organizing operates in a very similar fashion to organizing in the manufacturing sector.

Question 55

Discuss the effect that globalization has had on labour markets.

Question 56

What's been the major difference in the impact of globalization and the shift of the balance of workplace power to employers and managers as felt by developed and developing countries?

Question 57

Japanese unions are heavily concerned with advocacy activities in behalf of their members.

Question 58

Canadian developments in IR are unique in the world.

Question 59

Unions in North America have done more to form multinational alliances than those anywhere else.

Question 60

The most distinctive feature of the Japanese hybrid system of IR are its systems of enterprise unions.

Question 61

How have unions responded to the changes in their traditional membership?

Question 62

What explains the sharp drop in union membership rates in so many countries over the past two decades?

Question 63

How do centralized IR systems help bring about improved economic performance?

Question 64

Distinguish between unfree,partially free,and free IR systems,and give at least one example of each.