Parallel Organizations in Unionized Settings: Implications for Organizational Research

Abstract

Sociotechnical systems theory focuses on the mutual adjustment of an organization's social and technical systems. This mutual adjustment aims at achieving “joint optimization, “ that is, it aims at producing conditions which are favorable to both the organization's members and to its productive capability. Until recently, this joint optimization has, in practice, occurred mainly at the work group level. Beginning in the early 1970's, however, a number of North American labor unions, acting jointly with the managements of the organizations involved, have created experiments aimed at increasing productivity and improving the quality of working life for the members of the organizations. These experiments, largely due to the influence of organized labor, have applied sociotechnical systems principles to the governance of total organizations as well as to the arrangement of tasks in work groups. This organization-wide application distinguishes parallel organizations in unionized settings from worker participation schemes in non-union organizations. It also raises a principle which the author terms “social integration” to a position of importance in sociotechnical systems theory and has major implications for the selection of issues and methodologies by organizational researchers.