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Article: Democracy, community and chocolate: the management philosophy of the Cadburys and the Rowntrees, 19th century commercial rivals, resulted in happy and well-paid workers and strong, profitable and creative companies.(EBF HISTORY LESSON)
- Article from:
- European Business Forum
- Article date:
- June 22, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Caspian Publishing Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw a wave of interest in industrial democracy and worker participation in management. As with many issues in management, the subject was more talked about than practised, and many business leaders were sceptical as to its value. Nevertheless, a number of companies did conduct experiments in industrial democracy, and some of these were outstandingly successful.
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The best and most profitable of these were companies which, as well as introducing industrial democracy, also had strong ideologies and an equally strong sense of social responsibility. Worker participation in the company was ...