The thesis that some manual workers gradually develop a stable set of orientations which leads them to choose to work for small rather than large firms is tested against data from a study of small and large firm workers in the printing and electronics industries. Little support is found for the thesis and an alternative view is presented which suggests that the main reasons why some manual workers come to work in small firms are connected with their overall market situation, the employee selection practices of small and large firms' employers and position in the life cycle. It is also shown that workers' orientations may be more related to industrial subculture than factors associated with size of firm.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ALBROW, M. (1967). Bureaucracy, Pall Mall Press, London .
2.
ALLEN, G. C. (1970). British Industries and Their Organisation, 5th ed., Longman, London .
3.
BATSTONE, E. V. (1969). Aspects of Stratification in a Community Context: A Study of Class Attitudes and the `Size Effect', PhD thesis, University of Wales.
4.
BATSTONE, E. V. (1975). `Deference and the Ethos of Small Town Capitalism' in M. Bulmer (ed.), Working-Class Images of Society, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London , 116-130.
5.
BLAUNER, R. (1964). Alienation and Freedom, the Factory Worker and his Industry, University of Chicago Press .
6.
BOTTOMORE, T. B. and RUBEL, M. (1963). Karl Marx, Selected Writings in Sociology and Social Philosophy, Penguin books, Harmondsworth .
7.
BROWN, R. (973). `Sources of Objectives in Work and Employment', in J. Child (ed.) Man and Organization, Allen and Unwin, London , 17-38.
8.
CANNON, C. (1967). `Ideology and Occupational Community: A Study of Compositors' , Sociology, (May), 165-185 .
9.
CARTER, M. (1966). Into Work, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth .
10.
CHILD, J. (1 967). Industrial Relations in the British Printing Industry, The Quest for Security, Allen and Unwin, London .
11.
DANIEL, W. W. (1969). `Industrial Behaviour and Orientation to Work - A Critique' , Journal of Management Studies, (Oct.), 366-375 .
12.
DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT (1970). Printing and Publishing, Manpower Studies No. 9, HMSO, London .
13.
GOLDTHORPE, J. H.et al. (1968). The Affluent Worker: Industrial Attitudes and Behaviour, Cambridge University Press .
14.
HOLLOWELL, P. G. (1968). The Lorry Driver, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London .
15.
INGHAM, G. K. (1970). Size of Industrial Organization and Worker Behaviour, Cambridge University Press .
16.
JORDAN, Z. A. (1971). Karl Marx: Economy Class and Social Revolution, Nelson, London .
17.
KETS DE VRIES, M. F. R. (1977). `The Entrepreneurial Personality: A Person at the Crossroads' , Journal of Management Studies, (Feb.), 34-57 .
18.
MAIZELS, J. (1970). Adolescent Needs and the Transition from School to Work, Athlone Press, London .
19.
MOUZELIS, N. (1967). Organization and Bureaucracy, an Analysis of Modern Theories, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London .
20.
PRICE, R. and BAIN, G. S. (1976). `Union Growth Revisited: 1948-1974 in Perspective' . Brit. Journal of Industrial Relations (Nov.), 339-355 .
21.
Report of the Census of Production 1973, General Printing and Publishing, (1977). MLH 489, HMSO, London .
22.
ROBERTS, K. (1975). `The Developmental Theory of Occupational Choice: A Critique and an Alternative' in G. Eslandet al. (eds.), People and Work, Holmes McDougall, Edinburgh/The Open University Press, Milton Keynes , 134-146.
23.
ROBERTS, K.et al. (1977). The Fragmentary Class Structure, Heinemann, London .
24.
ROSE, M. (1975). Industrial Behaviour. Theoretical Developments since Taylor, Allen Lane, Penguin Books, London .
25.
SHIMMIN, S. (1962). `Extra-Mural Factors Influencing Behaviour at Work' , Occupational Psychology (July), 124-131 .
26.
Small Firms, Report of the Committee of Inquiry on Small Firms, (1971). Cmnd. 4811, HMSO, London .
27.
STANWORTH, M. J. K. and CURRAN, J. (1973). Management Motivation in the Smaller Business, Gower Press, London .
28.
STANWORTH, M. J. K. and CURRAN, J. (1976) `Growth and the Small Firm - An Alternative View' , Journal of Management Studies, (May), 95-110 .
29.
SYKES, A. J. M. (1960). `Unity and Restrictive Practices in the British Printing Industry' , Sociological Review, 239-254 .
30.
SYKES, A.J. M. (1960). `Trade Union Workshop Organization in the Printing Industry: the Chapel' , Human Relations, 49-65 .
31.
SYKES, A. J. M. (1967). `The Cohesion of Trade Union Workshop Organisation' , Sociology (May), 141-163 .
32.
TUNSTALL,J. (1962). The Fishermen, McGibbon and Kee, London .
33.
TURNER, B. (1 971). Exploring the Industrial Subculture, Macmillan, London .
34.
WILLIAMS, W. M. (ed.) (1974). Occupational Choice: A Selection of Papers from the Sociological Review, Allen and Unwin, London .
35.
WILLMOTT, P. (1966). Adolescent Boys of East London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London .
