A comparative study of employment relations in low-end service sector work in China and the UK: The case of the McDonald’s Corporation

In recent decades, globalization has been associated with the growth of service sectors, the considerable expansion of multinational enterprises and the increasing prevalence of precarious jobs worldwide. This thesis presents a comparative study of employment relations practices at one leading multinational enterprise in a low-end service sector - the McDonald’s Corporation in two different countries (China and the UK). In order to examine the interactions between employers, employees, trade unions and the state, this study applies Burawoy’s notion of ‘workplace regime’ (1985) to understand workplace dynamics around ‘control-consent-resistance’ and the connections between the labour process and national institutional settings.

The data for the thesis is derived from a qualitative study in China and the UK, based on participant observation, semi-structured interviews and analysis of documents. The research reveals two workplace regimes which not only represent the workplace dynamics between employers and employees, but also illustrate the mediating role played by national societal arrangements in the two countries. In both workplace regimes, employment contracts and working time are manipulated by McDonald’s managers to seek greater flexibility and control over employees. However, different control styles and different employee responses are displayed in the workplace regimes in the two countries, which are influenced by institutional factors. McDonald’s has adopted divergent strategies to respond to these national institutional systems, yet similarly developed its managerial despotism to achieve profitability, flexibility and legitimacy. The thesis concludes that in both countries McDonald’s jobs converge around a set of ‘low-road’ outcomes for workers, with low pay, insecure working hours, and a powerful suppression of employee voice, which allows little space for workers interests.