New Forms of Work Organization and Employee Involvement in Two Case Study Sites: Plural, Mixed and Protean

This article critically examines the introduction of new forms of work organization and employee involvement in two American electronics companies operating in the Republic of Ireland. The success of these initiatives was found to be intimately related to three factors: management commitment, workers' response and operational pressures. It was found that a number of different forms of labour regulation existed side-by-side within the same organization. This paper tries to account for the persistence of these 'older' forms of labour regulation. In addition, it is argued that workers remain suspicious of, and removed from, management.