Making War and Peace

Doing Exemplary Research, Sage Publications, 1992

16 Pages Posted: 30 Mar 2014

See all articles by Frank Dobbin

Frank Dobbin

Harvard University - Department of Sociology

James Baron

Independent

P. Devereaux Jennings

University of Alberta - Department of Strategic Management and Organization

Date Written: 1992

Abstract

There is a temptation to depict the origins and evolution of our project as deliberate and well planned, but the making of "War and Peace" was neither.

This paper charts the transformation of the employment relationship in different industries during the second quarter of this century and is based on a representative sampling of U.S. business organizations. The first section documents changes in the control systems that prevailed in U.S. industries between the Depression and the end of World War 11. The descriptive analyses generally corroborate portraits that have recently been provided by neo-Marxists of how and where technical and bureaucratic controls evolved. The second section sketches an explanation for the rapid diffusion of bureaucratic controls that apparently occurred between 1939 and 1946. It examines the role of three key constituencies in shaping modem systems of work force control: labor unions, personnel professionals, and the state. In particular, the analvses underscore the large role of government intervention in manpower activities during World War II in bureaucratiaing employment. This effect of the state blurs the distinction between efficiency and control explanations of bureaucratic controls and internal labor markets, calling attention institutional sources of change in organizations' employment structures. The concluding section highlights the implications of the findings for efforts to understand the employment relationship.

Suggested Citation

Dobbin, Frank and Baron, James N. and Jennings, P. Devereaux, Making War and Peace (1992). Doing Exemplary Research, Sage Publications, 1992, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2417441

Frank Dobbin (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Department of Sociology ( email )

33 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

James N. Baron

Independent

P. Devereaux Jennings

University of Alberta - Department of Strategic Management and Organization ( email )

Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2R6
Canada

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