Developing Cooperative Labor-Management Relations in Unionized Factories: A Multiple Case Study of Quality Circles and Parallel Organizations within Joint Quality of Work Life Projects

Abstract

A study compared the attempts of five different manufacturing plants of a corporation to develop more cooperative labor-management relations, examining results obtained for the first two years of the change projects. Data were collected through interviews with senior and lower-level managers, supervisors, and union officials, and from records on productivity, product quality, and grievances. Based on the numbers of problem-solving groups and reported changes affecting managers and union officials, two plants succeeded in improving labor-management relations, but through processes contrary to prescriptions given in the current literature. The author presents many deficiencies in current conceptualizations related to union-management change efforts. The article suggests topics for future research, especially the utility of an intergroup relations perspective and parallel organizations.