Working for McDonald's in Europe

The Unequal Struggle

Tony Royle

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2004
• eBook ISBN: 9781134620791
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

The McDonald's Corporation is not only the largest system-wide sales service in the world, it is a phenomenon in its own right, and is now recognized as the most famous brand in the world. By providing a detailed analysis of the extent to which the McDonald's Corporation adapts or imposes its labour relations policies in Europe, this volume represents a real life case study revealing the interaction between a global multi-national enterprise and the regulatory systems of a number of different European countries. Key features include:

* an overview of the McDonald's Corporation's development and structure
* an analysis of its corporate culture and the issues of franchising
* an examination of key union strategies, including systems of co-determination, consultation and collective-bargaining
* a chapter dealing specifically with European legislation, in particular the McDonald's European Works Council

The author systematically analyzes the conflict between the McDonald's Corporation and the industrial relations systems of the European countries within which it operates, and exposes this conflict as an 'unequal struggle' between economic liberalism and collectivism.

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• FIGURES AND TABLES
• 1: LIBERALISM, COLLECTIVISM AND THE MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION
• 2: WELCOME TO BIG MAC
• 3: THE CORPORATE PARADOX: MCDONALD’S AND ITS FRANCHISE SYSTEM
• 4: MCDONALD’S AT WORK
• 5: ‘THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME’: THE IMPACT OF TRADE UNIONS AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FRAMEWORKS
• 6: CO-DETERMINATION?: WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!
• 7: FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE: COMPARING PAY AND CONDITIONS
• 8: WHERE’S THE BEEF?: THE EUROPEAN WORKS COUNCIL
• 9: CONCLUSION
• APPENDIX: DOING THE RESEARCH
• NOTES
• REFERENCES