Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Maurice, Marc
• Sellier, Francois
• Silvestre, Jean-Jacques

Titel

THE SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OF INDUSTRIAL POWER: A COMPARISON OF FRANCE AND GERMANY

Ist Teil von

• Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1986. xi+292 pp, 1986, p.xi+292-xi+292

Erscheinungsjahr

1986

Quelle

Sociological Abstracts

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• A challenge to the industrial convergence theory, offering a new theory of the relation of work & society drawing on seven years of study of large industrial firms. The vol is a translation by Arthur Goldhammer of Politiques d'education et organisation industrielle en France et en Allemagne (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1982), in 4 Chpts. Janice McCormick -- Introduction -- applauds the translation of the research & theories of "one of the most important & influential schools of sociological research to emerge in recent years." The authors utilize an ambitious methodology that relates macro- & microsocial phenomena & concretizes the links among levels of the social system. In addition to disproving industrial convergence, their societal analysis shows that employment relations are determined primarily by the position of enterprise in society. The genesis of intercultural differences in the relation of work to society is located in the educational/training system, the organizational relations domain, & the industrial relations domain. (1) Industrial Skills and Worker Mobility: A Comparative Study of Educational Variables -- demonstrates the usefulness of a societal analysis of workplace relations. The skill structures of the French & German LFs are contrasted, based on observations (details not provided) & national statistics. German workers from a wide variety of backgrounds acquire their skills through apprenticeship programs; in France, skills are acquired at school & through on-the-job training that is usually offered according to seniority. The skill domain is shaped not only by technology, but skills acquisition, employment opportunities, worker social mobility, & the link of national educational systems to workplace hierarchies. (2) Work Systems, Spans of Qualification, and Hierarchy: Organizational Dynamics within the Firm -- relates the skill domain to firm job hierarchy, focusing on job mobility & wage differentials. In German factories, promotions are more likely to be tied to professional degrees & technical competence, & wages are more closely linked to productivity & vary more among enterprises. In French factories, however, there are significantly higher wage differentials between white- & blue-collar workers. (3) The Industrial Dynamics of Conflict and Negotiation -- contrasts French & German conflict management, classification of individuals, & collective bargaining. The complementary fit between social organization & firm-level relations must be considered to understand the interrelationships of human resources management, technical management, productivity, & social relations. (4) Social Patterns and the Dynamics of Wage Determination -- departs from the traditional comparative case analysis, focusing instead on the theoretical implications of the data on the educational, occupational, organizational, & collective action domains of the wage-labor relation. Appendix: Societal Analysis as a Critical and Theoretical Tool -- situates the analysis with regard to the European & Anglo-Saxon literature on organizational sociology, the sociology of work, & labor economics. 18 Tables.