GUNG HO

Gung Ho



Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION3

Overview3

Situation Overview4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW7

Theory and Prior Research on Participation and Job Satisfaction7

Prior Research on Participation and Satisfaction11

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY15

Research approach15

Data collection methods15

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION17

Hypotheses From the Standard View17

Motivation and Effort at Work18

Job Satisfaction: A Moving Target24

Employee Involvement: Increased Responsibilities27

Frustration and stress27

An uneasy paradox: resisting empowerment31

The eye of the beholder32

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION36

REFERENCES44

Gung Ho

Chapter 1: Introduction

Overview

The traditional Fordist model of mass production is based on a Taylorist division oflabor in which workers' knowledge is systematically collected, operations are simplified into constituent parts and specified in great detail, and front-line workers are rigidly supervised and expected to complete their tasks with no deviation or input into the process (see, e.g., Braverman 1974: ch. 5; Friedman 1977:91-96). Increased use of so-called participatory work practices, or employee involvement (EI), is seen by many as a defining factor of post-Fordist industrial restructuring in the US and other advanced capitalist economies. Within manufacturing, increased EI through practices such as teamwork and continuous improvement is argued to be central to lean production and other forms of "high performance" work organization.

The increase in the responsibilities and abilities of front-line workers - labeled empowerment by many academics, business gurus and practitioners - is argued to increase job satisfaction, primarily through increasing the intrinsic rewards of work. In the more extreme formulations "the project of liberated, fulfilling work, originally interpreted as an anticapitalist project" is now "likely to be staged by capitalist management itself" (Kern and Schumann 1992: 111; quoted in Vallas 1999:68, his emphasis).

Situation Overview

I am employed as a HR Manager at DHL within the third party supply chain division which manages Primark's storage and distribution to their 190 stores throughout the UK. The operation is 18 months old and encompasses cultures from a variety of organisations and other DHL sites through the initial recruitment during the site start up. The site employs just over 300 full time staff within warehousing, transportation, administration, and management roles. In addition to the permanent employees the business maintains a supply of temporary labour which is volume driven and can range from 50 to 250 workers. The nature and volumes of the business demand's working patterns which operate through a three shift system.

The organisation is hierarchical with what is perceived as process and role culture and being most influential. The impact of the process culture means feedback is slow, employees find it difficult to measure what they do and get little feedback on their effectiveness. The current culture of the site is not of team working and cohesiveness and often departments work against each other and not embrace the bigger picture of harmony for success which suggests that the role culture is possibly too strong. Currently the organisation, although works at a fast pace doesn't achieve the required productivities which has a negative effect on morale. Possibly the impact of the culture may inhibit business success and sustainability. Further research and evaluation of the current culture will be addressed in the research ...