Managerial Prerogative Research Articles

The Question of Managerial Prerogatives

Evaluates the validity of management's initial assumption as to the nature of its rights in the absence of the union. Questions on management's conception of its rights; Traditional authority model assumed by management in the absence of the union; Legal interpretation of managerial prerogatives; Rights of the management and the employee in the employment contract. (Abstract copyright EBSCO.)

Procedures for Employee Displacement: Advance Notice of Plant Shutdown

T[~HE development of autonomous procedures for dealing with labor-management problems has been one of the distinctive characteristics of the American industrial-relations system. Pressed by unions, many employers have agreed to explicit procedures governing disciplinary action, the contracting out of work, the determination of production standards, and related matters. Similarly, non-union employers have sometimes decided that due process is the better part of managerial prerogatives and have imposed limitations on the manner in which these rights can be exercised.' In recent years, a growing concern over employee displacement arising from closings has led to further innovation in the procedural aspects of labor relations. In a dynamic economy, changes in technology and market structure have always taken their toll of production facilities that have lost their economic usefulness. Whereas in the past the unit usually suffered a swift, unheralded demise, an impending may now involve a variety of measures to inform, and perhaps comfort, the affected parties. By themselves, these procedures for advance notice of do not alter the economic facts. Considerable evidence reveals, however, that they can contribute to sound labormanagement relations by facilitating an orderly adjustment to employee displacement and by providing a framework for developing other remedial measures. This study is concerned with an analysis of programs for advance notification of employees and their representatives of scheduled permanent shutdowns. The term plant shutdown describes the closing of any physically separable production unit and includes office facilities, telephone exchanges, and railroad installations as well as conventional manufacturing units. In addition, a few cases of partial involving problems similar to those associated with complete closings have been included in the study. Data have been obtained for thirtytwo shutdowns or major dislocations in fifteen firms and two government agencies. The firms include a large chemical company, two oil companies, two agricultural equipment manufacturers, a meat packer, a can company, a manufacturer of electrical equipment, a soap producer, a ladies' garment firm, a telephone company, two railroads, an automobile manufacturer, and an electronics firm. The government agencies are the Veterans Administration, and the Treasury Department's Bureau of Accounts and the Bureau of Public Debt. In twenty-one of the cases, unions repre* This article is largely based on a study made by the authors for the Armour Automation Committee.

The Question of Managerial Prerogatives

The Question of Managerial Prerogatives

Optimization of Capital Expenditures In Petroleum Investments

Abstract As the petroleum industry has embraced the concept of rate of return as an investment criterion, numerous papers on the subject have appeared in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the significance of these methods and extend their application. Because of space limitations, no attempt has been made to duplicate these previous efforts. Instead, the emphasis has been placed on proper utilization of the results. Discussed are:the problem of multiple rates of return on acceleration projects;effect of time on comparative results;development of realistic mathematical model; andformal consideration of probability in the economic evaluation. Several reasonable solutions to these problems are presented. Introduction The rate-of-return concepts embraced by the petroleum industry in the last few years represent techniques that have been widely employed by other groups in the fields of finance and banking for the past century. In the process of attempting to utilize these "new" methods in the industry, many modifications of the basic compound-interest equations have appeared. Refs. 1 through 11 out-line the more popular approaches used. In their preoccupation with obtaining numbers, many have lost sight of the inherent characteristics of many equations used, as well as the real goals of investment. Put another way-rate of return as found by any equation, no matter how good, is not in itself a satisfactory investment criterion. Any economic decision involves either formal or informal consideration of the following:risk factors, includingprediction of future events. and economic climate andprobability of success or failure;rate of return on investment;effect that failure(s) would have on an organization's economic future;tax ramifications;current investment needs and opportunities;cash generation needs in future years to remain in a sound and dynamic position (might involve deferral of revenue for economic reasons);romance factors; andan organization's financial structure. The detailed discussion here will be limited to Items 1 and 2. Usually, these are the ones formally considered by the practicing engineer, while the remainder are usually management prerogatives. Some understanding, though, of Items 3 through 8 is essential for intelligent engineering appraisal. Space does not permit a complete discussion of those latter factors, but a few comments are essential. In theory there is always an infinite number of investment opportunities available for the investment dollar. In practice this is never really true. There are always limitations imposed by organizational policy, personnel capabilities and governmental interference in economic affairs. A decentralized region, area or division, for example, has certain geographic limitations that restrict investment potential. An oil-company management is not likely to seriously consider a project to manufacture television seas unless they have an insufficient number of attractive oil investments. If they do consider it, they must include in their cost considerations the acquisition of new qualified personnel. Most managements inherently limit the largest portion Of their investments to areas where they have experience and are in a position to make qualified judgment decisions. This is one reason why diversification is necessarily slow. No comment should be necessary about the limitation imposed by governmental regulation. It must also be recognized that not all investments are profit motivated. Some are made for strategic reasons. Strategic here means that said investment is necessary to achieve long-range company goals. This class of investment must necessarily strengthen the organization so that it enhances the probability of success of profit-motivated investments. One example of this is represented by funds expended for laboratory research and field tests (pilot floods, special tests, etc.). These cannot be compared with profit-motivated investments by means of a single yardstick, such as rate of return, because strategic investments yield a return that is impossible to measure in dollars and cents. Can anyone cite the cash flowback resulting from research, public relations, college aid programs and similar efforts? No! Yet, any enlightened executive recognizes their value. The eight factors previously listed are primarily important in profit-motivated investments, which comprise the bulk of all investments made. No finite discussion is possible on such things as the romance factors. JPT P. 708^

Collective Bargaining Over Profit-Sharing: The Automobile Union's Effort to Extend its Frontier of Control

THE recent demand of the United Automobile Workers that its 1958 contract with the Big Three and other motorcar manufacturers include provision for participation by the union and its members in the net profits of the corporations' raises complex issues of almost self-evident importance. They are issues of concern to businessmen, to economists, to trade-union leaders, and to the consuming public. Among them are managerial prerogatives and management's conception of appropriate subjects for collective bargaining versus expansion of area of control by an imDortant segment of labor; the impact of the profit-sharing proposal upon the pattern of employer-worker arrangements in other industries;2 the feasibility and economic implications of hitching part of total employee remuneration to profits and the question of what level of wages and supplementary benefits is most conducive to maximum output and the health of the economy as a whole; the effect upon business incentives and investment of a predetermined allocation of part of the profits that traditionally have been regarded as a reward for suc-

Management Views the Local Union

IN UNION-management affairs public attention is typically centered upon strikes or other evidence of conflict, because of their dramatic nature. In those union-management relationships which have had a stormy career, the common prevailing assumption is that management is basically antiunion and would welcome its disappearance. Yet, even where a conflict situation persists over a long period of time, the local union leaders and members of the management hierarchy must somehow solve the various problems that confront them, and this experience may have a profound effect upon their attitudes and their relations. Thus the authors were interested in inquiring whether there can be a growing acceptance of the union within the policy-making and operating levels of a company despite an apparently continuing conflict or armed-truce relationship between the company and the union. Does the management of the individual firm which has frequently clashed with the union view the local with which it has a bargaining relationship as a valuable and constructive influence or as an alien factor that impinges upon managerial prerogatives and interferes with productive efficiency? Do they believe that the union has been responsible for changes in the plant, and which of such changes are thought beneficial and which detrimental from management's point of view? How did managerial personnel view the union when it was organized, and how have their attitudes been affected by their work with the union over a period of years? Now that they have had experience with unionism, would they prefer to operate under union or nonunion conditions? On all these points, are there significant differences to be found as one goes up or down the management hierarchy? In an effort to assess the degree of acceptance of the union in a conflict situation, the authors sought answers to these questions, among others, in a study of the managerial group in a large basic steel company, 14,000 of whose employees are organized into a local of the United Steelworkers of America (CIO) which has maintained bargaining rights since 1937.1

Union Attitudes toward Job Evaluation and Ingrade Progression

Examines union attitudes toward job evaluation and ingrade progression policies in the United States. Arguments of supporters and opponents of job evaluation; Claims supporting the notion that job evaluation and ingrade progression are management prerogatives. (Abstract copyright EBSCO.)

Discussion on 'Management prerogatives and rights in the job' at the Birmingham Section of the Institution

Discussion on 'Management prerogatives and rights in the job' at the Birmingham Section of the Institution

Management prerogatives and rights in the job

Management prerogatives and rights in the job

Discussion on “Management prerogatives and rights in the job” at the Birmingham Section of the Institution

Discussion on “Management prerogatives and rights in the job” at the Birmingham Section of the Institution

Management prerogatives and rights in the job

Management prerogatives and rights in the job

The Impact of Collective Bargaining on Management Prerogatives

The Impact of Collective Bargaining on Management Prerogatives

The Deterioration of the Managerial Prerogative

The Deterioration of the Managerial Prerogative

Management Efficiency and Collective Bargaining

Discusses the effect of collective bargaining practices on management prerogatives in the U.S. Determination of work-rules; Control of work force; Concerns regarding job standards and production incentives; Rates of labor turnover. (Abstract copyright EBSCO.)

The Changing Status of Management Prerogatives

The Changing Status of Management Prerogatives