Between Strategy and Unpredictability
研究了德国工会合并中看似不可预测的结果，通过两个案例揭示谈判决策过程如何塑造合并成败，对理解工会策略和组织变革有用。
Restructuring through mergers has been a key strategy of union revitalization. In Germany, union merger activity has been extensive but seemingly unpredictable in its outcomes, with failed mergers outnumbering successful attempts by a ratio of 2:1. The authors use case studies of two attempted union mergers in Germany—one failed and one successful—to exemplify how these complex processes unfold. Drawing on Walton and McKersie’s (1991) work on negotiation, the authors show how common decision-making processes involving key actors at various organizational levels shape the trajectory of merger attempts. Looking beyond mergers to broader questions of union strategy, the authors argue that the concept of negotiated decision making can help reveal the strategic and logical dimensions of apparently unpredictable processes.