1st Edition

Labour Relations in Eastern Europe Organisational Design and Dynamics

By Krastya Petkov, J E M Thirkell Copyright 1991

    Changes in labour relations in Eastern Europe arising from recent political events can only be understood against an explanation of the existing structures and mechanisms of labour relations. This full-length collaborative study - the first in its field - analyses these structures and mechanisms by focusing on the radical reforms undertaken in Bulgaria over the last decade. Using a wealth of case studies, it looks at the action processes within enterprises and at the processes of strategy formulation on a national level in Bulgaria, and compares them with those processses in other Eastern European countries such as Yugoslavia and Hungary.

    1. Introduction 2. The Development of the Soviet Model and its Transfer to Bulgaria 3. Strategy Formulation in Bulgaria 1978-88 4. Case Studies and Fieldwork in Bulgarian Enterprises: Research and Methodology 5. Redesigning Structures to Establish the Labour Collective 6. Counterplanning and Worker Proposals - Designed Pressure from Below 7. Distribution - Funds, Wage Interests and Pressure from Below 8. Agreements and the Engagements of Interests 9. Elections - Interests, Representation and Conflicts 10. The Labour Collective, the Labour Community and Self-Management - the Emergence of Organic Mechanisms 11. Organisational Design, the Labour Process and Labour Relations 12. Strategy Formulation and Alternative Models of Enterprise Management - A Historical and Comparative Analysis 13. Conclusions Post Script. Redesigning the Second Structure

    Biography

    Krastyu Petkov, John E. M. Thirkell

    `...A book on Soviet and east European industrial relations is to be welcomed by Soviet and industrial relations specialists, and this book makes a valuable and unique contribution to the field.' - Bob Mason, Industrial Relations Journal

    `...provides an insightly analysis on reforms in the Bulgarian system, with reference to neighbouring countries...a useful contribution to both the IR and HRM literatures...' - Journal of General Management