IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v1y1987i2p225-246.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Family Networks and Employment in Textiles

Author

Listed:
  • Beryl Dick

    (Work and Organizations Research Group Bradford and Ilkley Community College Great Horton Road Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 1AY)

  • Glenn Morgan

    (Work and Organizations Research Group Bradford and Ilkley Community College Great Horton Road Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 1AY)

Abstract

The paper explores the extent to which the family remains of significance within the workplace. Considering material derived from a study of a textile mill in Yorkshire, the paper shows that family ties remain crucial within the company. It then goes on to consider the significance of these ties. It rejects the view that these ties can be seen as anachronisms or as evidence of paternalism in the manner identified by Martin and Fryer (1973) or Newby (1977). Instead, we argue that the existence of family ties and a family ideology within the firm is a crucial element in giving the firm flexibility within a highly competitive sector of the textile industry. The characteristics of the firm to an extent reflect those of Japanese firms where life-long employment also promotes commitment and flexibility on the part of the workforce. Thus, far from family ties being irrelevant to modern industry, we argue that they have, if anything, an increased relevance in the era of `flexible specialization' (Piore and Sabel 1984).

Suggested Citation

  • Beryl Dick & Glenn Morgan, 1987. "Family Networks and Employment in Textiles," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 1(2), pages 225-246, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:1:y:1987:i:2:p:225-246
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017087001002005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017087001002005
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0950017087001002005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Manwaring, Tony, 1984. "The Extended Internal Labour Market," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 8(2), pages 161-187, June.
    2. Peter B. Doeringer & Philip I. Moss & David G. Terkla, 1986. "Capitalism and Kinship: Do Institutions Matter in the Labor Market?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 40(1), pages 48-60, October.
    3. Lazonick, William, 1979. "Industrial Relations and Technical Change: The Case of the Self-Acting Mule," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 3(3), pages 231-262, September.
    4. Soon Kyoung Cho, 1985. "The Labor Process and Capital Mobility: The Limits of the New International Division of Labor," Politics & Society, , vol. 14(2), pages 185-222, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Armanda Cetrulo & Giovanni Dosi & Angelo Moro & Linnea Nelli & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2023. "Automation, digitalization and decarbonization in the European automotive industry: a roadmap towards a just transition," LEM Papers Series 2023/36, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    2. Gareth Rees & Sarah Fielder, 1992. "The Services Economy, Subcontracting and the New Employment Relations: Contract Catering and Cleaning," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 6(3), pages 347-368, September.
    3. Toms, J. S., 2002. "The rise of modern accounting and the fall of the public company: the Lancashire cotton mills 1870-1914," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(1-2), pages 61-84.
    4. Bruno Tinel, 2013. "Why and how do capitalists divide labor? From Marglin and back again through Babbage and Marx," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-00763837, HAL.
    5. R Florida & M Kenney, 1990. "High-Technology Restructuring in the USA and Japan," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 22(2), pages 233-252, February.
    6. Theresa Thompson Chaudhry & Mahvish Faran, 2016. "Same Jeans, Same Stitch? A Comparison of Denim Production Across Three Factories in Punjab, Pakistan," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 21(Special E), pages 211-236, September.
    7. Virginie Jacquier-Roux & Hiroatsu Nohara & Claude Paraponaris, 2020. "La régulation dynamique des dispositifs et des situations de gestion des connaissances au cœur de l’innovation des firmes multinationales," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 23(N° spécia), pages 57-87, may.
    8. Adina D. Sterling & Roberto M. Fernandez, 2018. "Once in the Door: Gender, Tryouts, and the Initial Salaries of Managers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(11), pages 5444-5460, November.
    9. Savona, Maria & Ciarli, Tommaso, 2019. "Structural Changes and Sustainability. A Selected Review of the Empirical Evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 244-260.
    10. Ciarli, Tommaso & Savona, Maria, 2019. "Modelling the Evolution of Economic Structure and Climate Change: A Review," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 51-64.
    11. Valery Yakubovich, 2013. "Getting a job as a favor in the Russian post-socialist labor market," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 351-372, June.
    12. Muñoz, Lina Gálvez, 2000. "Género y cambio tecnológico: Rentabilidad económica y política del proceso de industrialización del monopolio de tabacos en España (1887–1945)," Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 11-45, March.
    13. Peter Maw & Peter Solar & Aidan Kane & John S. Lyons, 2022. "After the great inventions: technological change in UK cotton spinning, 1780–1835," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(1), pages 22-55, February.
    14. Valery Yakubovich & Daniela Lup, 2006. "Stages of the Recruitment Process and the Referrer’s Performance Effect," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(6), pages 710-723, December.
    15. Cawthorne, Pamela M., 1995. "Of networks and markets: The rise and rise of a South Indian town, the example of Tiruppur's cotton knitwear industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 43-56, January.
    16. repec:ilo:ilowps:307504 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. David Atkin & Azam Chaudhry & Shamyla Chaudry & Amit K. Khandelwal & Eric Verhoogen, 2017. "Organizational Barriers to Technology Adoption: Evidence from Soccer-Ball Producers in Pakistan," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(3), pages 1101-1164.
    18. Lee, Min-Yang & Benjamin, Sharon & Carr-Harris, Andrew & Hart, Deborah & Speir, Cameron, 2019. "Resource Abundance, Fisheries Management, and Fishing Ports: The U.S. Atlantic Sea Scallop Fishery," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(1), pages 71-99, April.
    19. Ariel L. Wirkierman & Tommaso Ciarli & Maria Savona, 2023. "A taxonomy of European innovation clubs," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(1), pages 1-34, April.
    20. Domenech, Jordi, 2005. "Labour market adjustment to economic downturns in the Catalan textile industry, 1880-1910: did employers breach implicit contracts?," Economic History Working Papers 22333, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    21. P. K. Edwards, 1992. "Industrial Conflict: Themes and Issues in Recent Research," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 361-404, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:1:y:1987:i:2:p:225-246. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.