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Directing Democracy:The Case of the John DIRECTING DEMOCRACY: THE CASE OF THE JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Leicester by Abby Cathcart BA (Hons) (Newcastle), MSc (Dist) (Northumbria) School of Management University of Leicester September 2009 Contents ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... 2 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 3 BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH GAP .............................................................................. 4 CHAPTER OUTLINE ......................................................................................................... 6 THE JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP IN 2005 ..................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 2: THE HISTORY OF THE JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP ....................................... 11 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 11 THE EARLY DAYS: JOHN LEWIS (1836-1928) ................................................................ 12 JOHN SPEDAN LEWIS (1885-1963) ............................................................................... 15 EARLY INFLUENCES ON JOHN SPEDAN LEWIS ............................................................. 18 THE BEGINNINGS OF PARTNERSHIP: THE PROCESS ..................................................... 24 THE PRINCIPLES AND OBJECTIVES OF THE JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP ...................... 27 THE PARTNERSHIP’S CONSTITUTION AND STRUCTURE .............................................. 43 RESEARCH ON THE JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP ........................................................... 50 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................ 52 CHAPTER 3: TOWARDS ORGANISATIONAL DEMOCRACY ................................................ 54 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 54 INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY, PARTICIPATION AND EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT ............. 56 WHAT ARE THE AIMS OF ORGANISATIONAL DEMOCRACY? ....................................... 74 POWER ......................................................................................................................... 85 CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................................. 95 CHAPTER 4: ALTERNATIVE ACCOUNTS OF ORGANISATIONAL DEMOCRACY ................ 102 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 102 WORKPLACE PARTNERSHIP ....................................................................................... 105 EMPLOYEE-OWNED ENTERPRISES ............................................................................. 107 CO-OPERATIVES ......................................................................................................... 122 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................ 136 CHAPTER 5: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................ 141 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 141 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MY RESEARCH STRATEGY: EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND ONTOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS.............................................................................. 142 METHODS ................................................................................................................... 153 ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF THE DATA ........................................................... 165 ETHICS AND LIMITATIONS ......................................................................................... 170 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................. 173 STYLE GUIDE ............................................................................................................... 174 CHAPTER 6: DEMOCRATIC STRUCTURES ...................................................................... 175 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 175 BRANCH LEVEL DEMOCRACY: THE CASE OF THE NORTHERN BRANCH ..................... 176 DIVISIONAL LEVEL DEMOCRACY: THE JOHN LEWIS DIVISIONAL COUNCIL ................ 188 PARTNERSHIP WIDE DEMOCRACY: THE JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL......... 198 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................. 207 CHAPTER 7: THE DEMOCRACY PROJECT ........................................................................ 208 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 208 THE PARTNER OPINION SURVEY ................................................................................ 209 THE LAUNCH OF THE DEMOCRACY PROJECT ............................................................ 212 THE NORTHERN BRANCH DEMOCRACY TRIAL ........................................................... 222 THE PARTNERSHIP’S EVALUATION OF THE DEMOCRACY TRIALS .............................. 234 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................. 238 CHAPTER 8: DIRECTING DEMOCRACY AND PARADOXES OF PARTICIPATION ............... 239 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 239 DIRECTING DEMOCRACY............................................................................................ 240 PARADOX AND CONTRADICTIONS ............................................................................. 263 DIFFERENCE AND CONFORMITY ................................................................................ 277 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................. 282 CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSIONS AND REFLECTIONS ............................................................. 285 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 285 KEY CONTRIBUTIONS ................................................................................................. 286 LIMITATIONS AND REFLECTIONS ............................................................................... 295 POSTSCRIPT: AN UPDATE ON THE DEMOCRACY TRIAL ............................................. 299 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................. 301 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 302 1 ABSTRACT Directing Democracy: The Case of the John Lewis Partnership Abby Cathcart The John Lewis Partnership was founded in 1929 as an “experiment in industrial democracy” (Lewis, 1948). This thesis explores the meaning of democracy in the Partnership and examines the wider implications of the case. It argues that democracy in work should be viewed as something which is intrinsically valuable because of its connection to furthering justice, equality, freedom and the rights and interests of all workers. The thesis makes three main contributions. Firstly, the production of a historically situated exploration of democratic participation in the John Lewis Partnership – the largest co-owned business in the UK. Secondly, an analysis of power relations in the organisation and an examination of the ways in which disciplinary power and regimes of truth both constrain democratic practice and offer the potential for resistance and challenge. Thirdly, the thesis challenges critics of the Partnership who have dismissed it as a form of “pseudo democracy” (Pateman, 1970: 73) and “suffocatingly paternalistic” (Ramsay, 1980: 52). Despite the constant threat of degeneration and dilution of the value framework laid down by the founder, the Partnership’s continued commitment to democratic participation provides an important contribution to our understanding of co- ownership and democratically organised forms of work. The analysis shows that management have attempted to direct and define democracy in a highly constrained way, assigning it an instrumental purpose, and privileging the ‘business case’ for democratic engagement. However, the study emphasises that the meaning of democracy is heavily contested and fraught with contradictions and paradoxes. This creates a space in which understandings of equality, solidarity and democracy are debated by the 69,000 employees who are co-owners of the business. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the six and a half years it has taken me to complete my thesis I have changed careers, had a child, and moved to a different continent. The fact that I have finished at all is down to the support provided to me by my supervisors, friends, and family. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the support of the John Lewis Partnership, in particular the Senior Management and Partners at ‘Northern Branch’ who allowed me to spend so much time
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