The Role of Workers in Management

Abstract

Independent of whatever other advantages it might have for the workers, worker ownership has repeatedly demonstrated in the real world that it is no guarantee for worker participation in management. The participation of workers in management as a first step toward worker self-management requires institutions and practices that will both allow such participation and promote it. This paper considers, in the frame of four standard issues in worker self-management, six specific institutions and practices common to the collection of co-ops that constitute the Mondragón complex that have generated meaningful worker participation in management in this large corporation.

JEL classification: J54, L29, M19