A comparative study in attitude variations between two groups of motor vehicle assembly workers

Abstract

The research on which this thesis is based was undertaken in
CAB 2 Shop at British Leyland Ltd., Longbridge, and at Jensen Motors
Ltd., West Bromwich. Fifty men engaged in motor vehicle assembly
work at each place answered a series of questions put to them
individually. They were asked to comment freely on matters they
felt to be related to the issues raised. What follows is partly
concerned with recording the responses to the questions put and
suggesting why they were made.

The aim of the research was to inquire into the nature of
workers' attitudes about their jobs, their colleagues, their unions,
their firms and their firms' products. In addition ta questions
which sought to elicit views about these matters, information was
also sought about the respondents' social and education backgrounds.

British Leyland was a large organisation with a history of
industrial unrest, making popular products: Jensen Motors was a
small, practically dispute-free organisation making quality products.
We were concerned to investigate to what extent these, and other
variations, contributed to the marked differences in industrial
relations.

The thesis is presented in the form indicated in the table of
contents, but falls into three major sections. The first is concerned
with reporting responses to questions and comments to which the
questions gave rise. In the second part we discuss possible reasons
for the views and attitudes encountered. We go on to consider the
aptness of the views of some diistinguished industrial psychologists
and industrial sociologists to the situations obtaining in our area
of inquiry.

The third section is a summary of discussion.

Date of Award	1972
Original language	English