Self-Management in Action: Examples from Yugoslavia

There is something to be gained from a scholarly presentation and something different from a first-hand account of one’s observations and reactions. I will, therefore, begin with relating to the reader some of my experiences and first reactions to self-management, a system I gradually discovered as I interviewed my way through from one company to another. I also visited other organizations, such as hospitals, cooperatives, trade unions, etc., on which I will report later when I present a more thorough analysis. I should point out that the system of self-management has gone through a process of gradual development extending over a quarter century. All major changes were initiated or legalized by constitutional amendments. Some companies were quicker than others to introduce these changes. Some of the more recent changes have, therefore, not yet been universally implemented. It will be noted in the reports below that some companies are still being run by workers’ councils as the ultimate decision-making body while others have already progressed to the more recent system of direct democracy in which major decisions are made by the workers’ collective. A change which has, in larger companies, accompanied this process of democratization is the transformation of a company into basic organizations of associated labour (DOUR): economically independent work units with their own independent self-management structure.