This article presents a multivariate analysis of the structure, uses, and consequences of nonunion employee appeal systems in three large U.S. companies over the 1980-83 period. Appeal system data drawn from company files are matched with personnel data to determine the effects of age, race, sex, education, occupation, and work experience on appeal system usage, types of appeal issues filed, and levels of appeal settlement. Analysis of appeal settlement data shows that the probability of an employee “winning” an appeal case increases with the level of settlement, but also that the probability of any single appeal progressing through the appeal system declines markedly with the level of settlement. Quantitative analysis of appeal settlement consequences, using an ex post facto control group design, shows that appeal filers and their supervisors-managers have significantly lower promotion rates and performance ratings and significantly higher turnover rates in the post-appeal settlement period than comparable (matched) groups of nonfilers and their supervisors-managers. Implications of these findings for due process, exit-voice, and organizational punishment theories of workplace dispute resolution are identified and discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aram, J. D. and P. F. Salipante, Jr. (1981) “An evaluation of organizational due process in the resolution of employee/employer conflict.”Academy of Management Rev.6 (April): 197-204.
2.
Arvey, R. D. and A. P. Jones (1985) “The use of discipline in organizational settings: a framework for future research,” pp. 367-408 in B. M. Staw and L. L. Cummings (eds.) Research in Organizational Behavior, Vol. 7. Greenwich, CT: JAI.
3.
Arvey, R. D. and J. M. Ivancevich (1980) “Punishment in organizations: a review, propositions, and research suggestions.”Academy of Management Rev.5 (January): 123-132.
4.
Ashenfelter, O. and J. Pencavel (1969) “American trade union growth, 1900-1960.”Q. J. of Economics83 (August): 434-448.
5.
Berenbeim, R. (1980) Nonunion Complaint Systems: A Corporate Appraisal, Report No. 770. New York: Conference Board.
6.
Brown, L. D. (1983) Managing Conflict at Organizational Interfaces. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
7.
Chamberlain, N. W. and J. W. Kuhn (1986) Collective Bargaining. New York: McGraw-Hill.
8.
Freeman, R. B. (1980) “The exit-voice tradeoff in the labor market: unionism, job tenure, quits, and separations.”Q. J. of Economics94 (September): 643-673.
9.
Freeman, R. B. and J. L. Medoff (1984) What Do Unions Do?New York: Basic Books.
10.
Gandz, J. (1979) “The role of the industrial relations manager in conflict resolution.” The University of Western Ontario School of Business Administration, Working Paper (July).
11.
Goodman, P. , J. Pennings, and Associates. (1979) New Perspectives on Organizational Effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
12.
Hirschman, A. O. (1970) Exit, Voice and Loyalty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
13.
Ichniowski, C. (1986) “The effects of grievance activity on productivity.”Industrial and Labor Relations Rev.40 (October): 75-89.
14.
Katz, H. C. , T. A. Kochan, and K. Gobeille (1983) “Industrial relations performance, economic performance, and QWL programs: an interplant analysis.”Industrial and Labor Relations Rev.37 (October): 3-17.
15.
Katz, H. C. , T. A. Kochan, and M. Weber (1985) “Assessing the effects of industrial relations systems and efforts to improve the quality of working life on organizational effectiveness.”Academy of Management J.28 (May): 509-526.
16.
Knight, T. R. (1986) “Feedback and grievance resolution.”Industrial and Labor Relations Rev.39 (July): 585-598.
17.
Kochan, T. A. (1980) Collective Bargaining and Industrial Relations. Homewood, IL: Irwin.
18.
Kolb, D. and B. H. Sheppard (1985) “Do managers mediate, or even arbitrate?”Negotiations J.1 (December): 379-388.
19.
Kornhauser, A. , R. Dubin, and A. Ross (1954) Industrial Conflict. New York: McGraw-Hill.
20.
Kuhn, J. W. (1961) Bargaining in Grievance Settlement. New York: Columbia Univ. Press.
21.
Lewicki, R. J. and J. A. Litterer (1985) Negotiation. Homewood, IL: Irwin.
22.
Lewin, D. (1983) “Theoretical perspectives on the modern grievance procedure,” pp. 127-147 in J. D. Reid, Jr. (ed.) New Approaches to Labor Unions, Research in Labor Economics, Supplement 2. Greenwich, CT: JAI.
23.
Lewin, D. (1984) “Empirical measures of grievance procedure effectiveness,” pp. 491-499 in Proceedings of the 1984 Spring Meeting of the Industrial Relations Research Association. Madison, WI: IRRA.
24.
Lewin, D. (1986) “Conflict resolution in the non-union high technology firm,” pp. 137-155 in A. Kleingartner and C. Anderson (eds.) Human Resource Management in High Technology Firms. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
25.
Lewin, D. and P. Feuille (1983) “Behavioral research in industrial relations.”Industrial and Labor Relations Rev.36 (April): 341-360.
26.
Lewin, D. , P. Feuille, T. A. Kochan, and J. T. Delaney (forthcoming) Public Sector Labor Relations. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
27.
Lewin, D. and R. B. Peterson (forthcoming) The Modern Grievance Procedure in the United States: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis. Westport, CT: Quorum.
28.
Lewin, D. and R. B. Peterson (1987) “Behavioral outcomes of grievance activity.” Columbia University, Graduate School of Business, Working Paper.
29.
Norsworthy, J. R. and C. A. Zabala (1985) “Worker attitudes, worker behavior, and productivity in the U.S. automobile industry: 1959-1976.”Industrial and Labor Relations Rev.38 (July): 544-557.
30.
O'Reilly, C. A. and B. A. Weitz (1980) “Managing marginal employees: the use of warnings and dismissals.”Administrative Sci. Q.25 (June): 467-484.
31.
Peach, D. A. and E. R. Livernash (1974) Grievance Initiation and Resolution. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
32.
Peterson, R. B. and D. Lewin (1982) “A model for research and analysis of the grievance process,” pp. 303-312 in Proceedings of the 34th Annual Meeting of the Industrial Relations Research Association. Madison, WI: IRRA.
33.
Reynolds, M. A. (1986) “The case for ending the legal privileges and immunities of trade unions,” pp. 221-238 in S. M. Lipset (ed.) Unions in Transition. San Francisco: Institute for Contemporary Studies.
34.
Scott, W. G. (1965) The Management of Conflict: Appeal Systems in Organizations. Homewood, IL: Irwin.
35.
Slichter, S. , J. J. Healy, and E. R. Livernash (1960) The Impact of Collective Bargaining on Management. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
36.
Thibaut, J. W. and L. Walker (1975) Procedural Justice: A Psychological Analysis. New York: John Wiley.
37.
Troy, L. and N. Sheflin (1985) Union Sourcebook: Membership, Structure, Finance, Directory. West Orange, NJ: Industrial Relations Data Information Service.
38.
Wheeler, H. N. (1976) “Punishment theory and industrial discipline.”Industrial Relations15 (May): 235-243.
