Showing papers by "Matthew W. Finkin published in 2001"
Journal Article•
TL;DR: This paper found that a majority of workers favor a cooperative form of representation, one in which employees lack power but have influence, but the distinction between power and influence was not explained to respondents, nor is the distinction obvious.
Abstract: What Workers Wan? tells us a great deal, but just what it tells us will be much discussed: social survey research is notoriously \"soft\"; criticism of the research design or its execution is inevitable; and the data may be variously interpreted despite the obvious care Freeman and Rogers have taken even to explore the effect of changed wording and question sequence on the responses. In what may be their most controversial finding, for example, Freeman and Rogers conclude that a majority of workers favor a \"cooperative\" form of representation, one in which employees lack \"power\" but have \"influence.\" This finding perplexes because, from what appears, the survey did not explain the distinction between \"power\" and \"influence\" to its respondents, nor is the distinction obvious. The respondents did indicate that having \"influence\" meant that they were listened to and taken seriously, that their views actually affected management decision-making in certain areas of importance. But this only confounds the distinction: What is \"power\" if not the capacity to influence another's decisions better to comport with one's wishes?4
2 citations