This article is an interpretation of the last fifty years of behavioral science research in industry. The author, who has been active in the field since the early 1940s, describes the development since the late 1960s of two distinct streams of organizational behavior research: a main stream, characterized by a sharp separation between research and practice and rigorous specification and measurement of variables, and an alternate stream, with more applied research and sometimes active involvement in organizational change. Labor and management practitioners today are far more interested in behavioral research—at least that of the alternate stream—than they were in the 1940s and 1950s. From an analysis of the literature on the relationship between worker participation and productivity, the author concludes that the alternate stream offers more promise for advances in both science and practice.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AldrichHoward E.1979Organizations and Environments. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
2.
AnthonyRobert N.1987“We Don't Have the Accounting Concepts We Need.”Harvard Business Review, Vol. 65 (Jan.–Feb.), pp. 75–83.
3.
ArgyrisChris1952The Impact of Budgets on People. Ithaca, N.Y.: School of Business and Public Administration, Cornell University.
4.
ArgyrisChrisPutnamRobertSmithDiana McLain1986Action Science. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
5.
BrettJeanne M.HammerTove Helland1982“Organizational Behavior and Industrial Relations.” In KochanThomasMitchellDaniel J. B.DyerLee, eds., Industrial Relations Research in the 1970s: Review and AppraisalMadison, Wis.: IRRA, pp. 221–81.
6.
ColeRobert1985“The Macropolitics of Organizational Change: A Comparative Analysis of the Spread of Small-Group Activities.”Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 30, pp. 560–85.
7.
DunlopJohn T.WhyteWilliam F.1950“Framework for the Analysis of Industrial Relations: Two Views.”Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 3, No. 3 (April), pp. 383–401.
8.
EldenMax1979“Three Generations of Worker Democracy Research in Norway.” In CooperC. L.MumfordE., eds., The Quality of Work Life in Europe. London: Associated Business Press, pp. 226–57.
9.
HallRichard H.1982Organizations: Structure and Process. 3d Edition. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
10.
HammerTove Helland1983“Worker Participation Programs: Do They Improve Productivity?”ILR Report, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 15–20.
11.
InkelesAlex1986“Advances in Sociology: A Critique.” In DeutschKarl W.MarkovitsAndrei S.PlattJohn, eds., Advances in the Social Sciences, 1900–1980. Lanhan, Md.: University Press of America (Abt Books), pp. 13–31.
12.
KochanThomas A.KatzHarry C.MowerNancy R.1984Worker Participation and American Unions. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
13.
LawlerEdward E.1986High Involvement Management. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
14.
LawrencePaul R.LorschJay W.1967Organizations and Environment. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
15.
LazesPeterCostanzaTony1983“Cutting Costs Without Layoffs Through Union-Management Collaboration.”National Productivity Review, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Autumn), pp. 362–70.
16.
RoethlisbergerF. J.1977The Elusive Phenomena. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
17.
RoethlisbergerF. J.DicksonWilliam J.1939Management and Worker. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
18.
SaylesLeonardStraussGeorge1953The Local Union: Its Place in the Industrial Plant. New York: Harper & Bros.
19.
SchonDonald A.1983The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books.
20.
Servan-SchreiberJ. J.1968The American Challenge. New York: Harper & Row.
21.
ThorsrudEinar1977“Democracy at Work: Norwegian Experience with Non-Bureaucratic Forms of Organization.”Applied Behavior Science, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 410–21.
22.
TristEric1981The Evolution of Socio-Technical Systems: A Conceptual Framework and Action Research Program. Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Labour.
23.
WalkerCharlesGuestRobert H.1952The Man on the Assembly Line. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
24.
WalkerCharlesGuestRobert H.TurnerArthur1956The Foreman on the Assembly Line. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
25.
WoodwardJoan1965Industrial Organization: Theory and Practice. London: Oxford University Press.
26.
WhyteW. F.1978“Review of The Elusive Phenomena.”Human Organization, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 412–20.
27.
WhyteW. F.1955Money and Motivation. New York: Harper Bros.
28.
WhyteW. F.1943Street Corner Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
29.
WorthyJames C.1984Shaping an American Institution: Robert E. Wood and Sears, Roebuck. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
