Partnership and the High Performance Workplace

ANDY DANFORD is Reader in Employment Relations at the University of the West of England, UK. He has published widely in the areas of trade union renewal and critical studies of lean production in the aerospace and automotive sectors. He is the author of Japanese Management Techniques and British Workers and co-author of New Unions, New Workplaces. MIKE RICHARDSON is a Senior Researcher in Industrial Relations at the University of the West of England, UK. His research interests include labour history. Recent published articles include Leadership and Mobilization: SOGAT i

The promotion of workplace partnership in the high performance workplace has become central to policy debates on the 'modernization' of employment relations in British industry.The promotion of workplace partnership in the high performance workplace has become central to policy debates on the 'modernization' of employment relations in British industry. This book provides critical insights into the dynamics of partnership by way of in-depth case studies of employee experience in an under-researched industry noted for its high concentrations of skilled workers and graduates. Drawing on rich interview and questionnaire data, the authors highlight considerable conflicts of interest in the development of partnership that derive from the competitive capitalist environment in which management strategies operate.