Human resource strategy and unionization: evidence from Taiwan

Abstract

Over the past two decades, industrial relations (IR) have seen the continuous decline of trade unions and a growing interest in high performance work practices (HPWPs). Human resource researchers, examining the traditional adversarial IR strategies, are increasingly calling for more co-operative and innovative HPWPs in employment relations. Can traditional union adversarial strategies exist along with HPWPs or does one necessarily exclude the other? To answer this question, this study, using questionnaires collected from locally owned and multinational corporations in Taiwan, investigates the association between unionization rate and HPWPs. Contrary to most findings from the Western context, HPWPs were found to have a positive and statistically significant impact on unionization at the firm level in Taiwan. The positive impact may be result of close and friendly relationship between employers and unions and the practices of ‘employer-sponsored’ unions in Taiwan. Furthermore, traditional Confucian culture and institutional factors have strengthened the influence of HPWPs on unionization.

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