A comparative study in attitude variations between two groups of motor vehicle assembly workers

Abstract

The research on which this thesis is based was undertaken in CAB 2 Shop at British Leyland Ltd., Longbridge, and at Jensen Motors Ltd., West Bromwich. Fifty men engaged in motor vehicle assembly work at each place answered a series of questions put to them individually. They were asked to comment freely on matters they felt to be related to the issues raised. What follows is partly concerned with recording the responses to the questions put and suggesting why they were made. The aim of the research was to inquire into the nature of workers' attitudes about their jobs, their colleagues, their unions, their firms and their firms' products. In addition ta questions which sought to elicit views about these matters, information was also sought about the respondents' social and education backgrounds. British Leyland was a large organisation with a history of industrial unrest, making popular products: Jensen Motors was a small, practically dispute-free organisation making quality products. We were concerned to investigate to what extent these, and other variations, contributed to the marked differences in industrial relations. The thesis is presented in the form indicated in the table of contents, but falls into three major sections. The first is concerned with reporting responses to questions and comments to which the questions gave rise. In the second part we discuss possible reasons for the views and attitudes encountered. We go on to consider the aptness of the views of some diistinguished industrial psychologists and industrial sociologists to the situations obtaining in our area of inquiry. The third section is a summary of discussion.