Co-Operative Practices among Small and Medium-Sized Establishments

Abstract

Industrial networks are rapidly being restructured and in the process new kinds of inter-establishment relationships are being formed. This paper describes several forms of inter-establishment co-operative practices engaged in by small and medium-sized units and seeks to explain them, and their variations, in terms of the context in which the establishments are located. The paper demonstrates that inter-establishment co-operative practices may be normal and integral features, and just as important for an economic unit's viability as relations of competition. The circumstances surrounding various kinds of co-operation are therefore promoted as important areas for further study.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Atkinson, J. (1985) `Flexibility and The Workforce: A Good Night Out?' Work and Society, No. 9, July.

Atkinson, J. and Gregory, D. (1986) `A Flexible Future; Britain's Dual Labour Force', Marxism Today, April.

Atkinson, J. and Meager, N. (1986) Changing Working Patterns. How companies achieve flexibility to meet new needs, London: National Economic Development Office .

Brusco, S. (1982) `The Emilian Model: Productive Decentralisation and Social Integration' , Cambridge Journal of Economics, 6.

Brusco, S. (1986) `Small Firms and Industrial Districts: The Experience of Italy' in D. Keeble and E. Weever (eds.), New Firms and Regional Development in Europe, London: Croom Helm , 134-202.

Brusco, S. and Sabel, C. (1981) `Artisan Production and Economic Growth' in F. Wilkinson (ed.), The Dynamics of Labour Market Segmentation, London: Academic Press .

Lorenz, E.H. (1988) `Neither Friends Nor Strangers; Informal Networks of Sub-Contracting in French Engineering' in D. Gambetta (ed.). Trust: Making and Breaking Cooperative Relations, Oxford: Blackwell .

Marshall, A. (1919) Industry and Trade, London: Macmillan .

Piore, M. and Sabel, C. (1984) The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity, New York: Basic Books .

10.

Piore, M. (1986) `The Decline of Mass Production and the Challenge to Union Survival' , Industrial Relations Journal, 17, 3, Autumn 1986, 207-213 .

11.

Raveyre, M. and Saglio, J. (1984) `Les Systèmes Industriels Localisés', Sociologie du Travail.

12.

Rubery, J. , Tarling, R. and Wilkinson F. (1986) `Flexibility, Marketing and the Organisation of Production' , Paper presented to conference organised by International Institute for Labour Studies, September 1986. Publication forthcoming.

13.

Sabel, C. (1982) Work and Politics: The Division of Labour in Industry, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .

14.

Sabel, C. and Zeitlin, J. (1985) `Historical Alternatives to Mass Production: Politics, Markets and Technology in Nineteenth-Century Industrialisation', Past and Present.

15.

Sayer, A. (1986) `New Developments in Manufacturing: The Just-in-Time System' , Capital and Class, Winter, 43-72 .

16.

Sengenberger, W. and Loveman, G. (1987) Smaller Units of Employment, A Synthesis Report on Industrial Reorganisation in Industrialised Countries, International Institute for Labour Studies, Genève DP3-1987.

17.

Zeitlin, J. (1985) `Markets, Technology, and Collective Services: A Strategy for Local Government Intervention in the London Clothing Industry', GLC Economic Policy Group Strategy Document No. 37.