Social Responsibilities of the Businessman

15. Other Proposals

15 Other Proposals In this chapter, we shall consider several proposals (or actual developments) less comprehensive than the industry council plan, but nevertheless related to the industry council idea. Some of these have to do with the decision-making process in individual enterprises and others are concerned with the formulation of national economic policies. The general theme which runs throughout most of these proposals is that business and economic policy should be formulated in joint consultation with various interest groups concerned . They are presented here, not necessarily for advocacy, but to illustrate the kind of thinking that is developing in many quarters. The idea that there should be broader participation in business decisions-that businessmen should share their powers with other groups-has been frequently expressed over the past fifty years. The interest of some Protestant leaders and groups in broadening the base of business decision-making has already been mentioned.' And these ideas have also been advanced by many other social critics and observers. Often, the doctrine of broader participation is expressed as a concern without any indication of how it is to be implemented. Frequently it is not made clear whether the participation is to be restricted to matters of basic policy or to detailed business decisions, or whether it involves actual devolution of power and responsibility or only improved communication among interest groups. And frequently little attention is directed toward the considerable administrative problems that would confront businessmen if they were to make their policies or decisions in joint consultation with other groups. Nevertheless, the doctrine of broader participation apparently appeals to many persons of widely different experiences and viewpoints.f 1See pp. 41-43 and Chap. 14. 2 Perhaps the most consistent advocate of a broader base for the determination of business policy is Dr. Ordway Tead. See his Personnel Administration (with H. Metcalf), New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1933, pp. 484-505; New 177 178 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE BUSINESSMAN DEVELOPMENTS IN WESTERN EUROPE In Western Europe there has been a definite movement toward broader participation (especially of workers) in the control of industry , and several interesting experiments are in progress. In England, these ideas go back at least to the early 1920'S. At that time guild socialism, a form of socialism which stressed industrial self-government, was being advocated by a highly articulate and influential group. At that time also, the Whitley Committee recommended the setting up of "joint industrial councils" representing labor and management. Many such councils were organized, some temporarily. Today more than a hundred are in operation. Sir Godfrey Ince, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labor and National Service, rated these councils as very important when he said: Their regular meetings to discussmatters not in dispute, have helped employers' associationsand trade unions to think of their problems in common, and to see each other as partners rather than as bitter rivals. Adventures in Democracy, New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1939, pp. 142224 ; Democratic Administration, International Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association, New York, Association Press, 1945; and The Art of Administration , New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1951. Other articles and books in which the doctrine has been discussed are J. M. Clark, Alternative to Serfdom, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1948, pp. 121-53; J. M. Clark, Guideposts in Time of Change, New York, Harper & Brothers, 1949, Chdpter VII; Russell W. Davenport , "The Greatest Opportunity on Earth," Fortune, October, 1949; Peter F. Drucker, The Future of Industrial Man, New York, John Day Company, 1942; J. M. Keynes, "The End of Laissez Faire," in Essays in Persuasion, New York, Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1932, pp. 313-14; S. H. Slichter, "Social Control in Industrial Relations," Commercial and Financial Chronicle, January 26, 1950, p. 15; John Calder, Capital's Duty to the Wage-Earner, New York, Longmans, Green & Company, 1923; Charles P. McCormick, The Power of People, New York, Harper & Brothers, 1949; James F. Lincoln, Incentive Management, Cleveland, Lincoln Electric Company, 1951; W. L. Mackenzie King, Industry and Humanity, Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1918; B. A. [avits, How the Republicans Can Win in 1952, New York, Henry Holt & Company, 1952; J. Spedan Lewis, Partnership for All, London, Kerr-Cris Publishing Company , 1948; George Goyder, The Future of Private Enterprise, Oxford, Basil Blackwell & Mott, 1951; Peter F. Drucker, The New Society, New York, Harper & Brothers, 1950; Neil Chamberlain, "What Is Management's Right to Manage ?" Fortune, July, 1949, pp. 68-70; Morris L. Cooke and Philip Murray, Organized Labor...