Anatomy of a strike; System application to understanding events in an organisation

A MAJOR AND prolonged conflict in Jay Engineering Works Ltd. (JEW), was a matter of dismay to everyone who had any interest in industry. The firm had won praise for its managerial practices from such an eminent person as Prof. Charles A. Myers and from several visiting productivity teams. Its workers were known to earn wages that were among the highest in the country. Its produc tion was known to compare favourably with that of organisations of its kind in the West. Why, then, should it be faced with a conflict of this kind? This question was being asked as much among industrialists and students of management as among managers, workers and journalists.

To some of us at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, it became a matter of urgent interest. If we conducted a study of the strike, what would it yield for the academic? What, for the practising manager? What could we learn about organisational behaviour? Why did the strike go on and on? What are those elements that shake asunder a reputedly successful organisation? All these questions simmered down to two primary interests: