Surveys in five automobile plants in Canada and the United Kingdom (n=2,600+) indicated that implementation of lean production methods has been uneven across companies and countries and is not associated with greater employee involvement or control. Variations may reflect company-specific responses to the pressures of international competition.…

A case study of Canada's telecommunications industry found the union engaged in education and research that helped build the potential for workplace democracy. However, scarce resources for these activities and management concerns about worker empowerment constrained progressive change. (SK)

This study examines affective commitment to employing and client organizations among long-term contracted employees, a new and growing employment classification. Drawing on organizational commitment and social exchange literatures, we propose two categories of antecedents of employee commitment to client organizations. We tested our hypotheses…

Describes the French system of social relations and the trend toward weaker government intervention and stronger employer and labor roles. (AM)

The authors discuss the introduction of new technology into the workplace focusing on two issues: (1) impact of new technology on conduct of industrial relations and (2) influence of industrial relations on effectiveness of new technology. (CH)

Research and experience in school labor relations suggest that superintendents can be more effective during contract talks by acting like unbiased education leaders--not tough negotiators. Superintendents can avoid taking adversarial positions by staying off the bargaining team and following suggested guidelines for their role as educator,…

Reviews present labor statutes and examines three alternatives to current practices; proposes that teaching, by its nature, is not well administered by industrial standards or well adjudicated through industrial unionism. Suggests "professional unionism" as a means of effecting educational reform. (DR)

In a Delphi study of the strength of the American Federation of Government Employees union at a U.S. government hospital, two rounds of questionnaires were sent to 33 union officials, management officials, and nonofficials. Strong union leadership and management deficiencies in employee relations emerged as the primary factors in the effectiveness…

Presents a brief background of arbitration advocacy, a procedural outline for conducting a mock labor arbitration hearing, and a case study for classroom use. (PD)

Assessment of West German and Japanese systems of worker participation and of attempts to adapt these models to the United States do not provide conclusive evidence that these methods improve productivity and job satisfaction. (SK)

Finds similarities between the roles of labor negotiators and department administrators. Concludes that learning to deal skillfully with problems in one realm develops coping skills in the other. (PD)

Reviews the literature on the ways organized labor, management, government, financial institutions, and the mass media respond to worker strikes. Differences in organizational responses to contractual and wildcat strikes are compared. Countermovements, used by management and other supporting organizations, aimed at ending strikes are examined. (AM)

The crisis in the American economy has provided an opportunity to change traditional bargaining methods and to get the unions involved in taking a serious look at their stake in a healthy economy. (JOW)

Develops and tests a choice model of National Labor Relations Board members in selected unfair labor practice cases over the 1954-77 period. Evidence supports the popular belief that Board decisions are heavily dependent upon shifting political winds. (Author/JOW)

Applies the concept of control to organizations. Argues that organizations have been constructed over time on the basis of different modes of control of the labor process. The modes of control become specialized for different socioeconomic classes within organizations in reaction to historical cycles of capitalist development. (Author/RW)