Employee Relations: An International Journal

Analoui, Farhad; Kakabadse, Andrew

1989 Employee Relations: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/01425458910133969

Discussions about conflict at work generally tend to revolve aroundexamples of overt industrial action, taken against an employer by agroup of wellorganised employees. As the service sector becomesincreasingly prominent within the UK, this model is no longer adequateif it ever was since much action is covert andindividualistic in nature. Moreover, managers themselves may also engagein activities designed to defy or subvert central policy initiatives.This monograph is concerned with an analysis of such activities in anightclub environment, and is based on six years research during whichone of the authors worked as an employee for a large service sectororganisation. It illustrates graphically the way in which employeesresisted management instructions, or sought to get evenwith individuals who had alienated them. The implications which thisresearch suggests for improving systems of management in an environmentsuch as this are assessed.