STUDY Production as a service Plural network organisation as a challenge for industrial relations JÖRG SYDOW& MARKUS HELFEN November 2016 „ „ Traditional demarcations between production and service are increasingly losing their contours. Plural forms of network organisation are becoming ever more salient alongside those of the market and hierarchy. „ „ Departing from the single enterprise view, plural network organisation brings about a change in traditional human resource management and labour policy. The dynam­ics of this development pose a challenge to institutionalised forms of labour regula­tion as these are circumvented and undermined. At the same time, new forms of service companies are emerging that are marked by low degrees of trade union or­ganisation and poor labour standards. „ „ As a result, trade unions which follow traditional demarcations increasingly face a structural disadvantage. To effectively represent employees’ interests, a combination of strategies appears advisable that includes both cooperative formation of alliances and networks between trade unions as well as with other societal actors. In addition, unions can leverage»focal« enterprises that»orchestrate« such networks in order to build pressure to support workers at the networks’ periphery.