Abstract
Workplace disputes are an inherent dimension of organizational life. All firms are confronted with the need to address conflict and the consequences it has for a wide array of individual, group, and organizational outcomes. Nevertheless, organizations vary both in terms of the dominant forms of workplace disputes that they face and the methods they employ in an effort to deal with them. What drives variation in organizational experiences of conflict and conflict resolution? Why are some organizations plagued with dysfunctional levels of conflict and disputes while others are better able to contain the negative consequences associated with these inherent phenomena? These are important and underdeveloped research questions that receive careful attention in Elizabeth Hoffmann’s book, Co-operative Workplace Dispute Resolution: Organizational Structure, Ownership, and Ideology.
Hoffmann’s overarching argument, developed methodically throughout the book, is that organizational ownership structures and associated ideologies play an important role in shaping the nature of conflict and disputes within the boundaries of the firm and the strategies utilized by employees to address them. Conflict, according to this argument, is a product, among other factors, of the structures and organizational characteristics that correspond to different ownership models. Hierarchical and power differences in the workplace alongside different levels of employee input and involvement are likely, Hoffmann maintains, to affect how employees go about addressing disputes. In particular, Hoffmann examines the differences between worker co-operatives and traditionally owned firms. In doing so, she seeks to identify the factors associated with these different ownership structures and to highlight their implications for the manner in which disputes arise and get resolved. This is an extremely worthwhile effort since it provides for a unique lens through which to understand the determinants of workplace disputes and how they manifest themselves within organizations. As noted by Hoffman, worker co-operatives represent an “extreme” organizational form in terms of lack of hierarchy and power differentials and the high levels of employee input and voice. As such, identifying the link between structure and disputes in this setting, as compared to traditional organizations, provides an opportunity to more clearly isolate the manner in which these organizational characteristics affect employee disputing strategies and behaviors.
The book provides for an in-depth comparison of workplace dispute resolution patterns and practices in worker co-operatives and traditional firms across three industries (coal mining, taxi drivers, and whole food distribution) in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The book documents Hoffmann’s qualitative research matching one co-operative organization with a traditional one in each of the three industries. Using this rich contextual qualitative data, Hoffmann is able to analyze the extent to which ownership structure influences the types of disputes that arise in each organization and the manner in which they are dealt “controlling “ for the industry, the work being done, and other general characteristics. In addition, this research design allows Hoffmann to make insightful comparisons across the three industries. For example, she is able to assess the extent to which ownership structure matters in the same way when operating in fundamentally different settings.
The book’s eight chapters can be categorized into three sections. In Chapters 1 and 2, Hoffmann sets the definitional and conceptual foundation for her analysis of dispute resolution across the three industries. Chapter 1 provides for an overview regarding worker co-operatives, highlighting their central characteristics, including their structural and ideological dimensions. Much of this chapter focuses on prevailing scholarly and practitioner assumptions about the role of hierarchy in organizations and the manner in which worker co-operatives challenge and undermine these. In particular, co-operatives represent an organizational form that is able, according to Hoffmann, to escape the inevitability of hierarchical layers and the associated power and status differences that characterize most firms. Hoffmann’s review of the literature also highlights some of the inherent complexities and challenges associated with the worker co-operative model. For example, while the co-operative provides for a structure that avoids many of the traditional tensions between management and employees, it does create new tensions between employees who now have a larger stake in the success of the firm.
As noted above, Hoffmann’s central thesis is that workplace dispute resolution will likely differ as a function of the characteristics associated with worker co-operatives when compared to traditional firms. Chapter 2 provides for an overview of existing research on workplace dispute resolution. The chapter reviews central themes associated with workplace dispute resolution including legal consciousness, procedural justice, and alternative dispute resolution. The chapter concludes with a bridge that attempts to link these concepts with the structural characteristics of the worker co-operative. In doing so, Hoffmann presents evidence from existing research on the link between the organizational dimensions associated with co-operatives and flat organizations more generally and the types of disputes and tensions experienced by their members.
Chapters 1 and 2, therefore, set the stage for the book’s core contribution presented in Chapters 3 to 6. These chapters provide a detailed description of the general and dispute resolution-related differences observed in the matched organizations in each of the three industries studied. Chapter 3 introduces the reader to the three industries examined in the book and to the methodological considerations that guided Hoffmann in selecting her matched comparison firms. As such, the chapter showcases the contextual insights that are gleaned from in-depth qualitative case studies. The chapter also highlights the dramatic organizational differences associated with each of the settings examined, providing Hoffmann with a potentially stronger claim that differences observed between co-operatives and traditional firms are not solely the product of unique industry dynamics.
Chapters 4 to 6, the heart of the book’s contribution, document in detail the empirical evidence comparing worker co-operatives and traditional firms with a focus on dispute resolution patterns. Each of these chapters illustrates the dispute resolution implications associated with the co-operative model and, as such, are interesting in their own right. Nevertheless, one of the clear contributions of the book rests on the comparison of different co-operative effects observed across the three industries. Hoffmann finds that although the co-operative model has a clear and meaningful influence on the dispute resolution patterns and provides employees with a greater array of options, the precise manner in which this plays out varies greatly as a function of broader contextual factors. Thus, for example, in her research in a coal mining co-operative that had previously operated as a traditional company, Hoffmann finds that the transition to a new horizontal and egalitarian organizational model decreased the use of formal methods for resolving disputes and increased the use of informal ones. This finding is explained, in part, by the dramatic reduction in the adherence to bureaucratic rules and structures that, under the traditional organizational model, led to a greater reliance on formal methods for dealing with workplace conflict.
In contrast, Hoffmann’s evidence from two taxi companies studied points to a very different co-operative effect. Specifically, she finds that employees in the co-operative company relied more extensively on formal dispute resolution mechanisms. Hoffmann argues that the different pattern of formal dispute resolution use on the part of co-operative employees is a function of a fundamentally different collective legal consciousness. In particular, co-operative employees, in contrast to private company employees, were keenly aware of the importance of having a formal grievance process in place and the benefits associated with utilizing it. Interestingly, Hoffmann finds evidence suggesting that gender moderates the relationship between ownership structure and dispute resolution patterns. Thus, for example, she finds that greater emphasis on the formal grievance process was driven, primarily, by female employees in the taxi co-operative. Building on her argument that co-operative ideologies play an important role in influencing how employees deal with disputes, Hoffmann provides evidence for a link between the co-operative ideological paradigm and the confidence that female employees had in utilizing formal grievance procedures.
Hoffmann’s research in the whole foods distribution industry provides for interesting findings regarding the relationship between ownership models and turnover intentions. As with both the coal mining and taxi company settings, the co-operative food distribution company offered a greater number of dispute resolution options as compared with the private company studied. Nevertheless, Hoffmann finds that co-operative employees reported a higher level of turnover intentions associated with workplace disputes. In attempting to explain this somewhat paradoxical finding, Hoffmann maintains that it is the co-operative employees’ increased loyalty to the organization that is likely making them more susceptible to seek out exit strategies in the face of difficult disputes, especially when those are seen as inconsistent or in conflict with the essence of a co-operative ideological approach. Thus, in this industry, Hoffmann finds evidence of a potentially stronger negative turnover effect associated with conflict in the co-operative setting.
Chapters 7 and 8 integrate findings across the three empirical chapters and highlight overarching themes. In particular, Chapter 7 provides evidence regarding the difficulties co-operatives have in delivering on their proposed promise to increase workplace equality and fairness as a result of the dismantling of traditional hierarchical layers and the greater levels of employee empowerment. As such, the book documents the nuances and complexities associated with the relationship between ownership model and workplace dispute resolution. Findings from both the taxi and food distribution co-operative companies suggest that, despite this espoused egalitarian ideology, power differences emerged in the form of insider and outsider groups and these differences affected utilization of dispute resolution options. Members of co-operative insider groups, men in the taxi co-operative setting, and middle managers in the food distribution setting were more likely to use informal dispute resolution mechanisms while, as alluded to earlier, outsiders were more likely to rely on formal grievance processes. Chapter 8 summarizes the book’s findings and provides practical lessons for scholars and practitioners.
Alongside the book’s contributions highlighted above, there are a number of potential extensions that could strengthen this stream of research. For example, Hoffmann’s conceptualization and operationalization of conflict and disputes seem to be somewhat narrow on a number of fronts. Much of the focus in the book centers on the procedural dimensions of employee disputes. Hoffmann pays careful attention to the extent to which the different ownership models are associated with different levels of access to formal and informal mechanisms for resolving disputes. This is a central and important distinction, but one can think of other dispute-related dimensions that could be examined. For example, the book provides little evidence regarding substantive differences between private companies and co-operatives. Thus, we know little about potential differences in the types of conflicts and disputes that arose in each of the companies studied and the extent to which these varied as a function of ownership structure. Hoffmann’s review of worker co-operatives and their structural and ideological characteristics suggests that the very nature of conflict might be different in such organizations. It would be interesting to examine the extent to which this implicit proposition is supported empirically. It also seems as though Hoffmann’s definition of conflict emphasizes formal complaints and grievances. Conflict can also take on a more informal everyday manifestation. It would be interesting to explore the ways in which lower-level tensions and disagreements play out in worker co-operatives versus traditional companies. Here too, one might expect the structure and ideology associated with a worker co-operative to affect the ways in which everyday conflict plays out in the workplace. Finally, one of the consistent findings emphasized by Hoffmann is the greater availability of dispute resolution options afforded to employees in co-operatives. What is a little less clear is actual usage patterns. In other words, did these employees also use options more frequently than their private company counterparts?
In addition and as noted above, Hoffmann’s research includes US- and UK-based companies. This comparative dimension could add additional nuance and complexity to the analysis of dispute resolution strategies across different industries. Nevertheless, Hoffmann makes almost no mention of the national and cultural-level differences that might affect dispute resolution strategies in both co-operative and private companies. Given the observed differences across industries, it is important to account for the potential influence that such factors might have had. Thus, without explicit attention to these differences it is difficult to assess whether the different dispute resolution strategies used by employees in the coal mining and taxi co-operatives, studied in the UK and US respectively, were a function of industry and professional factors or of different national approaches to this type of organizational arrangement. As Hoffmann notes, worker co-operatives are much more prevalent in the UK than in the US and the reader might wonder whether this difference in acceptance and diffusion affects the relationship between this ownership model and employee dispute resolution strategies.
Having acknowledged these potential limitations, it is important to note that the book contributes to existing knowledge regarding the link between worker co-operatives and dispute resolution patterns.