There is nearly unanimous agreement that worker representatives have no influence on broad strategic decisions, even when they sit on company boards.”

"There is nearly unanimous agreement that worker representatives have no influence on broad strategic decisions, even when they sit on company boards. Fewer than 5% of Finnish worker representatives believe they can affect strategic decisions (Harju, Jäger, and Schoefer, 2021), and Swedish Managing Directors report that worker representatives are almost completely inactive during strategic discussions in board meetings (Levinson, 2000). The general perception among worker representatives is that strategic decisions are made out of their view, and presented to them once management’s mind is already made up (Wheeler, 2002; Gold, Kluge, and Conchon, 2010). While this survey evidence leaves room for equilibrium or anticipation effects of board-level representation on the decisions of managers, this self-professed near-complete lack of influence on strategic decisions highlights the lack of power conveyed by arrangements like minority board-level representation. Worker representatives’ inability to influence strategic decisions in particular may help explain the absence of evidence for negative effects of codetermination on firm performance.

anecdotal


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