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Stark, Hilary Margaret
(1994).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.0000fdf7
Abstract
The purpose of this enquiry is to examine the nature of the working of the management of this particular brewery. A study is made of the the role of the management; the relationship that pertained between the Board of Directors and others employed within the brewery, both as managers and as workers; the working practices that existed within various sections of the company including the nature of career progression that was possible for members of the workforce and attitudes to trade unionism.
By studying these aspects of the operation of the brewery in the broader context of the ongoing debate about the nature of workplace relationships, it is demonstrated that the management were implementing two key strategies to control the labour force. These were paternalistic practices, modified by contemporary thinking about the nature of 'welfare work' and internal job ladders. What the work finds it impossible to demonstrate is the extent to which these strategies were being consciously implemented and it seeks to explain why it is hard to reach any firm conclusion.