Employee Directors Research Articles

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:Company Organization and Worker Participation: A Survey of Attitudes and Practices in Industrial Democracy with Special Emphasis on the Prospects for Employee Directors, by Ian B. Knight.Boards of Directors in British Industry, by Christopher Brookes.Sabotage in Industry, by Pierre Dubois.British Industry between the Wars: Instability and Industrial Development 1919–1939, edited by Neil K. Buxton and Derek H. Aldcroft.Birds of Passage: Migrant Labour and Industrial Societies, by Michael J. Piore.Concise Encyclopedia of Industrial Relations, by Arthur Marsh.Industrial Conflict in Modern Britain, by James E. Cronin, Croom Helm,What do the British Want from Participation and Industrial Democracy? by Frank Heller, Malcolm Wilders, Peter Abell and Malcolm WarnerProtest and Participation: The new Working Class in Italy, by J. R. Low‐BeerCapitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry, edited by Michael NovakThe Awkward Warrior, Frank Cousins: His Life and Times, by Geoffrey Goodman. David PoynterSatisfactions in Work Design: Ergonomics and Other Approaches, edited by R.G. Sell and P. ShipleyThe Japanese Company, by Rodney ClarkJob Redesign and Management Control: Studies in British Leyland and Volvo, by F.H.M. Blackler and C.A. BrownThe Quality of Working Life in Western and Eastern Europe, edited by Caryl L. Cooper and Enid MumfordThe Working Class Manager: Beliefs and Behaviour, by S. G. ReddingTechnical Change and Employment, by Roy Rothwell and Walter ZegveldA Bibliography of British Industrial Relations, by G. S. Bain and G. B. WoolvenA Sociology of Industrialisation: An Introduction, by David Brown and Michael J. HarrisonBetween Labour and Capital, edited by Pat Walker.Women for Hire: A Study of Female Office Workers, by Fiona McNallySexual Harassment of Working Women, by Catharine A. MacKinnonWomen in Trade Unions, by A. J. Geare, J. J. Herd, J. M. HowellsDoctrine and Ethos in the Labour Party, by H. M. DruckerGovernments and Trade Unions: the British Experience 1964–79, by Denis Barnes and Eileen Reid

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:The Evolution of British Manpower Policy (from the Statute of Artificers 1563 to the Industrial Training Act 1964). By p. j. c. perry.A Social Scientist in Industry. By lisl klein.Wage Incentive Systems. By pinhas shwinger.Social Analysis. By ralph rowbottom. London: Heinemann.Staff Appraisal and Development. By edgar anstey, clive fletcher & james walker.Women at Work, No. 1. Geneva: International Labour Office.Sandwich Courses: An Integrated Education? By alan g. smithers.The Worker Directors: A Sociology of Participation. By peter brannen, eric batstone, derek fatchett & philip white.Worker Directors Speak. By the British steel corporation employee directors, with john bank & ken jones.

Book Notes

Book Reveiwed in this article Public Administration as a Developing Discipline Robert E. Golembieski. Democracy, Bureaucracy and Hypocrisy Dwight Waldo. Modern Politics and Government Alan R. Ball. Political Integration and Disintegration in the British Isles A. H. Birch. British Foreign Secretaries since 1945 Avi Shlaim, Peter Jones and Keith Sainsbury. The Machinery of Justice in England R. M. Jackson. The Consumer's Guide to Local Government Martin Minogue (ed.) In Search of Democracy: A Guide to and Polemic About Scottish Local Government Ronald G. Young. Modern Management in Local Government Raymond L. B. Knowles. Parish Council and Town Council Accounts R. U. Davies. Planning and Politics: The British Experience 1960–1976 Michael Shanks. Social Analysis: A Collaborative Method of Gaining Usable Scientific Knowledge of Social Institutions Ralph Rowbottom. The Year Book of Social Policy in Britain 1976 Kathleen Jones (ed.) Social Economics Cedric Sandford. Heinemann Economics and Education Policy: A Reader Carolyn Baxter, P. J. O'Leary and Adam Westoby. Education Welfare: Strategy and Structure Keith MacMillan. Unmet Need: The Case of the Neighbourhood Law Centre Anthea Byles and Pauline Morris. Leaving London: Planned Mobility and the Inner City Nicholas Deakin and Clare Ungerson. Cases and Materials in Administrative Law S. H. Bailey, C. A. Cross and J. F. Garner. Worker Directors Speak: British Steel Corporation Employee Directors with John Bank and Ken Jones. Project Management Dennis Lock. Administrative Management for Development: A Reader Yves Chapel (ed.) Administrative Federalism Kenneth W. Wiltshire (comp. and ed.) Towards a Nationally Integrated Health‐Welfare System for Australia Michael Court.

The Demand for Participation among Employees

Britain 's entry to the European Economic Community has addedfuel to the frequently fiery debates amongst politicians, managements, trade unions, and social scientists on the merits of existing member countries' current participative practices. These discussions seem to carry an underlying assumption that the furtherance of such systems as Employee Directors and Works Councils will be reflected in an improved quality of working life for employees. This paper suggests that participation will be more meaningful to workers when those to be affected participate in decisions concerning the practices to be adopted in their own workplace. The authors' studies, in organizations ranging from a coal mine to a number of hospitals, reveal considerable individual and organizational differences in the manner and extent of desiredparticipation. It is concluded that the higher level forms of participation, though of commendable ideal, may be inappropriate where the climate of the organization denies employees suitable opportunities to participate in decisions seen to be of more direct relevance to their everyday activities. Tailoring a participative system to the characteristics of the employees and the organization may be difficult but also more worthwhile.