Globalization and Workers\' Participation in Management
Contents: 1. Introduction. 2. Workers\' participation in management. 3. Workers participation in management in India. 4. Workers\' participation in management in USA. 5. Workers\' participation-a comparative study. 6. Globalization and workers\' participation in management. 7. Conclusion and suggestion. Bibliography.
"The contemporary industrial society is full of dynamism. The main reason behind such dynamism is unprecedented and continuous increase in competitive forces. The primary concern of every industrial unit, today, is to get ahead of others by securing maximum results out of limited resources for it, an industry requires the latest technology as well as a peaceful and cordial industrial environment. Technological superiority is entirely a mechanical phenomenon whereas labour management relation, the most important determinant of the industrial peace, is a complicated issues. It relates to human beings, who are responsive, who feel, think and act. Therefore, they cannot be operated like a machine. In the absence of healthy relations between the labour and the management even the latest technology fails to bring desired fruits.
This superiority of human elements over mechanical ones is no more a debatable issue rather an established fact. Though social organism of the industry has been complicated by the intricacies of mechanical invention, the human factor still constitutes the driving force. The mechanical side is passive, lifeless and static in character. It is the human factor that activisms the mechanical component of the plant. It is in this background that today\'s industrial society makes more and more efforts for achieving industrial peace vis-a-vis healthy industrial relations. Such efforts have given rise to a variety of institutions and practices being experimented in the field of industrial democracy.
Workers\' participation in management is a resounding phrase, bridging the past and future. It echoes the millennial vision of nineteenth century thinkers while heralding the evolution of new forms of individual organizations under twentieth century pressures. It has been the most discussed subject of industrial relations in the last quarter of twentieth century and in many countries it has been a subject of research and debate rather than a concrete really. It has not only remained a means through which workers and their organizations can put forward their views and influence decisions, it is also developing into a new management strategy, which is intended to provide an institutional structure in which interest-based conflicts become less bitter through preventive as well as positive ways. This development is perhaps due to the realization that his might be the way to suppress conflicts, achieve an harmonious and qualitative development and also to carry out the political programme of the most progressive forces a society, if they are in power." (jacket)
