Is Small Beautiful? Industrial Relations in Small Clothing Firms
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2325971 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alistair Rainnie (0000-0001-6071-4193, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1985 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 213-224 |
| Publication date | 1985-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-0385 • E-ISSN: 1469-8684 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0038038585019002005 |
| OpenAlex | W2117460632 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 8 |
The first part of the article traces, briefly, the political and ideological background to the resurgence of interest in small business. Largely unresearched and uncritically adopted, the theory that 'small is beautiful' assumes that harmonious industrial relations characterise small firms. The proxy measures of harmony (strike indices, levels of unionisation) commonly used to support the 'small is beautiful' school of thought are examined. Secondly, using research in small clothing firms as an example, an investigation into what lies behind statistical returns reveals a reality different from that conventionally assumed to be reflected in the statistics. It is argued that apparent industrial relations harmony, in this case, can be explained by a mixture of the isolation of shop stewards from the union, the weakness of that union, the resulting weakness of workplace trade unionism and the general position of women at work and the role of the family. These factors combine to produce the proxy measures of harmony that have been uncritically accepted in constructing the 'small is beautiful' thesis
Clothing · Clothing industry · Economics · Harmony (color) · Ideology · Labour economics · Management · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Sociology · Trade union · Fashion and Cultural Textiles · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · Industrial relations · Labor Movements and Unions · Law
Labour Management Practices in Non-Union Firms
Human resource management strategies for small territories
Networks of value, commodities and regions
Technology, markets and the design of women's jobs—the case of the clothing industry
New technology based firms and the emergence of new industries
The Myopia of "Diverse Economies", or a Critique of the "Informal Economy
Job Quality in Small Businesses
Control and Autonomy in Small Firms
Rethinking Economic Structure
Family Networks and Employment in Textiles
What's So Special About Small Firms
The Sociology of Petit Capitalism
Organizational Structures and Job Rewards in Sweden
The real world of the small business owner
Girls, Wives, Factory Lives
The State in Capitalist Society
The Social Dynamics of the Small Manufacturing Enterprise
The decentralisation of production - the decline of the mass-collective worker
Worker Involvement and Social Relations in the Small Firm
Deviancy Theory and Industrial Praxis
| Unique citing works | 13 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,33 |
| Citation span | 1986 - 2007 (22) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 12 |