The Impact of Cross-border Mergers on Co-decision Making: A Case Study of a Danish Company

The present article investigates co-decision making with focus on the development of partnerships arrangements (PAs) between managers and trade-union representatives in a Danish multinational company which has grown through cross-border mergers and acquisitions. The findings show the difficulties which trade-union representatives and management face in combining different forms of corporate governance and supporting PAs. The article argues that hybrid forms of PAs are unlikely to develop, due to historically embedded governance institutions, which create distinct expectations about how a firm must be controlled and who has the rights to exert this control.