Narrowing Indeterminacy: Standardization, Outsourcing, and Labor Control in Copper Production Networks

Outsourcing labor is a well-established strategy that enables lead firms to reduce production costs. Still, it also presents managerial challenges related to coordinating actors across production networks and maintaining uninterrupted production and commodity circulation flows. In this context, operational disruptions caused by worker mobilizations are a key concern for lead firms operating within global production networks (GPNs). This article examines the downstream managerial strategies used by lead firms to impose uniformity and control over the labor process across the production network—a process conceptualized as standardization. Drawing on a case study of copper production networks in Chile—the world’s leading copper producer, characterized by high outsourcing rates and frequent labor unrest—this study unpacks how standardization operates as a class-based dynamic, assigning distinct functions to lead and outsourced firms. Lead firms create procurement systems, contractual regulations, and compliance mechanisms to enforce discipline through capital–capital relationships. In turn, outsourced firms manage capital–labor relations by disciplining workers via human resources platforms, supervisory control, and union deterrence. Based on qualitative interviews and document analysis, this contribution advances current debates on labor regimes and GPNs by highlighting how managerial strategies mediate labor control across the division of labor.