The limits of high performance work systems in unionised craft‐based work settings

Abstract

This paper focuses on constraints on the effectiveness of high performance work techniques deriving from the traditions of craft‐based trade unionism and long‐established structures and cultures within sector‐based employment relationships. The findings question the fundamentally managerialist nature of HPW accounts that assume labour's position in the high‐performance equation to be simply one of recipient of managerial initiatives.