THE LIMITS OF TRADE UNION POWER IN ORGANISATIONAL DECISIONMAKING
1982; Wiley; Volume: 20; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1111/j.1467-8543.1982.tb00108.x
ISSN1467-8543
AutoresDavid C. Wilson, Richard J. Butler, David Cray, David J. Hickson, Geoffrey R. Mallory,
Tópico(s)Management and Organizational Studies
ResumoBritish Journal of Industrial RelationsVolume 20, Issue 3 p. 322-341 THE LIMITS OF TRADE UNION POWER IN ORGANISATIONAL DECISIONMAKING David C. Wilson, David C. Wilson Organizational Analysis Research Unit, University of Bradford.Search for more papers by this authorRichard J. Butler, Richard J. Butler Organizational Analysis Research Unit, University of Bradford.Search for more papers by this authorDavid Cray, David Cray Organizational Analysis Research Unit, University of Bradford.Search for more papers by this authorDavid J. Hickson, David J. Hickson Organizational Analysis Research Unit, University of Bradford.Search for more papers by this authorGeoffrey R. Mallory, Geoffrey R. Mallory Organizational Analysis Research Unit, University of Bradford.Search for more papers by this author David C. Wilson, David C. Wilson Organizational Analysis Research Unit, University of Bradford.Search for more papers by this authorRichard J. Butler, Richard J. Butler Organizational Analysis Research Unit, University of Bradford.Search for more papers by this authorDavid Cray, David Cray Organizational Analysis Research Unit, University of Bradford.Search for more papers by this authorDavid J. Hickson, David J. Hickson Organizational Analysis Research Unit, University of Bradford.Search for more papers by this authorGeoffrey R. Mallory, Geoffrey R. Mallory Organizational Analysis Research Unit, University of Bradford.Search for more papers by this author First published: November 1982 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1982.tb00108.xCitations: 15AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat REFERENCES 1 We acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Runo Axelsson and Dr. W. Graham Astley to this research. They are respectively Associate Professor, University of Sundsvall, Sweden, and Assistant Professor, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. U. S. A. This research was supported by the Social Science Research Council and the University of Bradford Management Centre. Google Scholar 2 H. Mintzberg, D. Raisinghani and Andrew Theoret, ('The Structure of "Unstructured" Decision Processes', Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 2, June 1976, pp. 246–75), point to the pervasiveness of strategic decisions throughout an organisation in terms of 'the actions taken, the resources committed, or the precedents set' (p. 246). 10.2307/2392045 Web of Science®Google Scholar 3 C. Pateman, (' Participation and Democratic Theory', Cambridge U. P., 1980, p. 70) suggests that such strategic decisions are at a level where they 'relate to the running of the whole enterprise'. Google Scholar 3 C. Edwards, 'Measuring Union Power: A Comparison of Two Methods Applied to the Study of Local Union Power in the Coal Industry', British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. XVI, No. 1, 1978. Google Scholar 4 F. A. Heller, P. J. D. Drenth, P. Koopman and Veljko Rus, 'A Longitudinal Study in Participative Decision-Making', Human Relations, Vol. 30, No. 7, 1977, pp. 567–87. 10.1177/001872677703000701 Web of Science®Google Scholar 5 For examples of initial papers from this research see R. J. Butler, W. G. Astley, D. J. Hickson, G. Mallory and David C. Wilson, 'Strategic Decision Making in Organizations: Concepts of Content and Process', International Studies of Management and Organization, IX, 4, 197980, pp. 5–36, and. 10.1080/00208825.1979.11656276 Google Scholar 7 R. Axelsson, R. J. Butler, D. J. Hickson and David C. Wilson, ' Organizational Power in Organizational Decision Making', in M. Warner (ed.), Organizational Choice and Constraint. Saxon House, Farnborough, 1977. Google Scholar 8 Under review by journals are R. J. Butler el al, ' Strategic Decision Making: A Large Scale Study', and. Google Scholar 9 W. G. Astley et al, ' Complexity and Cleavage: Dual Explanations of Strategic Decision Making'. Copies are available from the Organizational Analysis Research Unit, University of Bradford Management Centre. Google Scholar 6 H. Ramsay, ('Participation: The Shop Floor View', British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. XIV, No. 2, pp. 128–41, 1976), makes the distinction clear between decisions concerned with individuals' own work and company level decisions. 10.1111/j.1467-8543.1976.tb00046.x Google Scholar 7 H. Holter, ' Attitudes Toward Employee Participation in Company Decision-Making Processes', Human Relations, No. 18, 1975, pp. 297–321. Google Scholar 8 H. Ramsey, op cit., pp. 129–35. Google Scholar 9 J. Banks and Ken Jones, ' Worker Directors Speak', Gower Press. Farnborough. 1977. Google Scholar 10 J. Banks and Ken Jones, op cit., p. 58. Google Scholar 11 T. Kirkwood and Horst Mewes. The Limits of Trade Union Power in the Capitalist Order: The Case of West German Labour's Quest for Co-Determination', British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. XIV, No. 3, 1976. pp. 295–305. 10.1111/j.1467-8543.1976.tb00061.x Google Scholar 12 T. Kirkwood and Horst Mewes, op cit., p. 297. Google Scholar 13 F. A. Heller, P. J. D. Drenth. P. Koopman and Veljko Rus, op. cit., p. 581. Google Scholar 14 The six case studies can be found in D. C. Wilson, ' Organizational Strategy', Ph. D. Thesis. University of Bradford. Google Scholar 19 One of the case studies, showing how the career interests of a senior manager can dictate the characteristics of decision making, is in D. C. Wilson, 'Electricity and Resistance; A Case Study of Innovation and Polities', Organization Studies, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1982. 10.1177/017084068200300203 Web of Science®Google Scholar 15 The eight topic categories are derived from an open-systems view of organisations and focus on the procurement of inputs, their transformation to outputs and on other organisation/environment factors. See D. Katzand Robert L. Kahn. The Social Psychology of Organizations', Wiley. New York, 1966, pp. 71–109. Google Scholar 16 The comparative level of unionisation of the thirty organisations is data not collected in the present research. However, each organisation has more than one recognised union at liberty to participate in the decision making process. The unions are acknowledged by management for negotiating pay and conditions in each organisation. Google Scholar 17 R. M. Blackburn and Michael Mann, ' Ideology in the Non-Skilled Working Classes', in M. Bulmer (ed.), Working-Class Images of Society, Routledge and Kegan Paul. London, 1975. Google Scholar 18 For example see D. Katz and Robert L. Kahn. op. cit., p. 86. They point to the need for organisations to develop sub-systems for maintenance of the working structure leaving management free for 'resolving conflicts between hierarchical levels, coordinating and directing functional sub-structures, coordinating external requirements and organizational resources and needs'. Google Scholar 24 See also R. M. Cyert and James G. March. A Behavioral Theory of the Firm'. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 1963 and. Web of Science®Google Scholar 25 J. Child. Organization: A Guide to Problems and Practice'. Harper and Row, London. 1977. Google Scholar 19 See. for example, C. R. Walker and R. H. Guest, ' The Man on the Assembly Line'. Harvard U. P., Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1952 and. 10.4159/harvard.9780674599949 Google Scholar 27 C. Merz. And Then Came Ford'. Doubleday-Doran. New York, 1929. Google Scholar 20 W. G. Astley et al, op.cit., p. 11. Google Scholar 21 For a full exposition of the concept of localised interests see R. M. Cyert and J. G. March op. cit., Ch. 1–3 and. Google Scholar 30 D. J. Hickson, W. G. Astley, R. J. Butler and David C. Wilson, 'Organization as Power', in L. L. Cummings and B. M. Staw (eds.). Research in Organizational Behavior, Vol. 3, 1981, pp. 151–96. Google Scholar 22 The explicit or implicit constraints upon the exercise of power in organisations have been examined at great length. Central texts would be, for example, S. Clegg. Power, Rule and Domination'. Routledge and Kegan Paul. London, 1975 and 'The Theory of Power and Organization', by the same publisher. 1979. Google Scholar 32 P. Bachrach and M. S. Baratz, (' Power and Poverty: Theory and Practice', Oxford U. P., 1970). focus on non-decisions whereby adherence to the status quo may be, in reality, consensus enforced through the established power structure in which certain issues are taken for granted and seldom questioned. Google Scholar 33 In the same vein, S. Lukes, (' Power: A Radical View, Macmillan, London and Basingstoke. 1974). points to the inherent contradiction …between the interests of those exercising power and the real interests of those they exclude. These latter may not express or even be conscious of their interests…' p. 25. 10.1007/978-1-349-02248-9 Google Scholar 23 A. W. J. Thomson and V. V. Murray, ' Grievance Procedures', Saxon House, Farnborough. 1976. Google Scholar 24 W. Brown (ed.), ' The Changing Contours of British Industrial Relations', Industrial Relations Research Unit. Unpublished Paper, Warwick University. 1980. Google Scholar 25 P. Bachrach and M. S. Baratz, op. cit., Ch. 3. See also W. Wesolowski, ' Classes, Strata and Power', Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1979, who cogently argues the case of the domination of labour by capital via the sedimentation of accepted values especially over 'the means of production, the process and the product and labour' and by the legal norms of capitalism which guarantee the control of labour conditions by capital, pp. 50–64. Google Scholar 26 C. Edwards, op. cit., p. 8. Google Scholar 27 W. Brown (ed.), op. cit., Ch. 2. Google Scholar 28 P. Boreham, ' The Dialectic of Theory and Control: Capitalist Crisis and the Organization of Labour', in D. Dunkerley and G. Salaman (eds), The International Yearbook of Organization Studies, Routledge and Kegan Paul. London, 1980. Google Scholar 29 The term Industrial Democracy Projects is used to cover the many studies aimed at transforming the workplace into a participatory and efficient organisation given the constraints of specific technologies. For example, see E. L. Trist. G. W. Higgin. G. Murray and A. B. Pollock, ' Organizational Choice: The Loss, Re-discovery and Transformation of a Work Tradition', Tavistock. London. 1963. Google Scholar 41 See also IDE International Research Group. 'Industrial Democracy in Europe: Differences and Simulation Across Countries and hierarchies Organization Studies, Vol. 2. No. 1981. pp. 113–29. 10.1177/017084068100200201 Google Scholar 30 P. Boreham, op. cit., p. 25. Google Scholar 31 S. Wood, ' Corporate Strategy and Organizational Studies', in D. Dunkerley and G. Salaman (eds), The International Yearbook of Organization Studies. Routledee and Kegan Paul, London, 1980. Google Scholar 32 A. Flanders, ' Management and Unions', Faber, London. 1970. Google Scholar 33 A. Fox, ' Beyond Contract', Faber. London, 1974. pp. 276–80. Google Scholar 34 R. J. Butler el al, 1982. op. cit., pp. 22–30. Google Scholar 35 A. S. Tannenbaum, ' Control in Organizations', McGraw-Hill, New York. 1968. Google Scholar 36 D. C. Wilson, 1980, op. cit., pp. 70–2. Google Scholar 37 J. Banks and Ken Jones, op. cit., p. 66, accord with these findings. In the British Steel Corporation, employee directors only expressed views on issues that had already been decided upon, such as cutting 30, 000 jobs and closing down plants, and they were not allowed to initiate or 'to pick up on controversial matters' of policy information. Google Scholar 38 R. J. Butler, et al., 1982, op. cit., distinguish between issues, topics and decisions by arguing that an issue is a continuing problem/opportunity faces by an organisation, a topic is a label attached to an issue when it is the subject of a decision making process (such as a new product or reorganisation topic) and a decision is a choice arrived at by the processing of an issue. Google Scholar 39 These six concepts are drawn from Butler et al., 1979/80. op. cit., pp. 26–9. For a full range of concepts and variables used in the decision making research project see Butler et al., 1982. op. cit., pp. 8–13. Google Scholar 40 For a full discussion of this test of significance see F. N. Kerlinger, ' Foundations of Behavioural Research'. Holt. Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1973. Google Scholar 41 W. Brown (ed.), op. cit., Chapter 2. Google Scholar 42 K. Coates and T. Topham, The New Unionism: The Case for Workers 'Control', Owen. London, 1972. p. 89. Google Scholar 43 K. Coates and T. Topham, op. cit., p. 110. Google Scholar 44 See D. C. Wilson, 1982. op. cit., p. 25. Google Scholar 45 See G. K. Kenny, R. J. Butler, D. Cray, D. J. Hickson, G. Mallory and David C. Wilson, ' Public and Private Organizations: Influence Patterns', forthcoming, for an extended discussion and empirical analysis of trades union involvement and influence in both public sector and private sector organisations. Copies are available from the Organizational Analysis Research Unit. University of Bradford Management Centre. Google Scholar Citing Literature Volume20, Issue3November 1982Pages 322-341 ReferencesRelatedInformation
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