... institutional constraints on companies. At the same time it provided an incentive structure that forced and enabled companies to compete on a high skills/high productivity/ high value added basis. H.Tuselmann & A.Heise (2000). Up until the early 1990s, the German model of industrial relations impressed many observers by its sturdiness, its potential to provide social cohesion, business competitiveness, a low record of industrial disputes and a high level of training. The German model was based on a complex and differentiated structure of institutions which were mutually supportive and functionally beneficial for all actors of the economy (Hassel and Schulten, 1998). However, in the 1990's the German model of labour relations, and especially the sectoral system of collective bargaining has come under a great deal of pressure. Together with heightened international competition, global shifts in production, the problems of German unification and high unemployment the general consensus regarding the advantages of ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now