Edward Cadbury – Paternalistic Employer Or Quaker-Inspired Pathfinder of British Industrial Relations Pluralism and Women Workers’ Champion? John Kimberley

Edward Cadbury – Paternalistic employer or Quaker-inspired pathfinder of British industrial relations pluralism and women workers’ champion? John Kimberley A thesis submitted to De Montfort University in partial fulfilment of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Leicester Castle Business School De Montfort University November 2020 Acknowledgements Professor Peter Ackers has overseen this research since its inception, and it is to Peter that I owe the greatest debt. Throughout he has been a superb supervisor, advising, encouraging and supporting in equal measure, always managing to achieve the right balance. More recently there has been the additional guidance and support of Professor Jonathan Payne. By providing an alternative perspective and challenging my general arguments, Jonathan has added a different dimension to the work, and the thesis is definitely the stronger for it. Prior to submission, Peter Butler-Pogorzelczyk raised issues about my understanding and use of ‘pluralism’, which involved me returning to earlier arguments, and helped me firm up my analysis and discussion. The research itself could not have been done without the archive and library staff at Cadbury. Sarah Foden and Jackie Jones provided the necessary help to navigate the Cadbury archive, and always supplied documents quickly and efficiently. It was encouraging to witness the Cadbury Quaker ethic of friendship and kindness being continued by Sarah and Jackie. The service they provide says a lot about the company today. Beyond my academic friendships, my family and friends remain the anchor that has sustained me throughout what has been a lengthy, but very enjoyable, programme of research. To them I send all my love. Edward Cadbury – Paternalistic employer or Quaker-inspired pathfinder of British industrial relations pluralism and women workers’ champion? Contents Page Abstract Introduction 1 a) Introduction to the thesis and brief biography of Edward Cadbury b) Methods and Sources Section One – Background Literature 24 a) Debating Cadbury b) Birmingham Quakerism in the early twentieth century c) Birmingham background and industrial relations Section Two – The writings of Edward Cadbury 57 a) Women’s Work and Wages (1906) b) A handbook of the ‘Daily News’ exhibition (1906) c) Sweating (1907) d) Experiments in Industrial Organization (1912) e) The Case against Scientific Management (1914) Section Three – Theory into Practice 121 a) Shop Committees and Works Councils b) Employee Relations and the Quaker Employers Conferences of 1918 and 1928 Discussion 154 Conclusions 175 a) To what extent was the firm of Cadbury paternalistic? b) Was the management approach at Cadbury an early form of pluralism? c) How influential was Quakerism to the development of the workplace system at Cadbury? d) Covenant – a Quaker approach to industrial relations? Bibliography and Notes 186 Abstract Using Edward Cadbury as the central character, this thesis considers the development of the Cadbury company between the years 1899 and 1919. This was a period of experiment and innovation, and the occasion when all the reforms that came to epitomise the company as being ‘progressive’, were introduced. Most commentators portray the company as being paternalistic, but this appears too simplistic an answer. Instead, this thesis takes an alternative approach and poses the question: How far did Edward Cadbury have a distinctive Quaker approach to managing people, and what were the main elements of this approach? The question is addressed through three principal themes: First, the thesis challenges the idea that the company was run in any way as a form of narrow social control paternalism, and in so doing, will draw attention to the written work of Edward Cadbury, as well as identify the workplace practices introduced into the firm in its early period of development. The second main theme argues that Edward Cadbury and his approach to labour relations was an early version of pluralism, one that could be described in contemporary terms as ‘sophisticated modern’ or ‘neo-pluralist’. Finally, the third main theme takes issue with the idea that the influence of Quakerism had little to do with the workplace system that emerged in the Cadbury company. Included will be important contextual background information covering details of what was happening in the world of Quakerism during this period, as well as important information on the Birmingham industrial relations environment of the time. Significant use is made of Edward Cadbury’s written work to identify his role as a progressive employer and champion of women in the workplace. This is further validated by a consideration of the introduction of Works Councils into the company, as well as reference to the first two Quaker Employers Conferences of 1918 and 1928. The thesis concludes by suggesting that the management approach developed over a century ago by Edward Cadbury is more appropriately described today as ‘sophisticated modern’ or ‘neo-pluralist’, and ends with an outline of a distinctive Quaker approach to managing people that is characterised as ‘covenantal’. Introduction a) Introduction to the thesis This thesis takes a fresh look at Edward Cadbury and the way in which the Cadbury company was managed and run in its early period of development. Previous studies have suggested either that Cadbury was an example of a progressive employer informed by the Christian beliefs of its paternalistic owners, or has cast doubt on the depth of such sentiment and offered a more critical view. Neither has focused on the pivotal role of Edward Cadbury, probed fully the nature of Cadbury’s Quakerism, or considered his contribution to modern management thinking and industrial relations pluralism in Britain. This thesis will explore these areas more fully by focussing on the period, 1899 – 1919, and addressing the question: How far did Edward Cadbury have a distinctive Quaker approach to managing people, and what were the main elements of this approach? In order to answer this question, the thesis will identify, discuss and debate three crucial themes that are central to the research question: a) to what extent was the firm of Cadbury paternalistic? b) was the management approach at Cadbury an early form of pluralism? c) how influential was Quakerism to the development of the workplace system at Cadbury. I will introduce these three themes in this Introduction, and then address them instrumentally throughout the thesis, before returning to make final comments about them in the Conclusion. Beginning with paternalism, this is a term that has often been invoked when describing labour relations at the Cadbury company. But paternalism is a term with different meanings, and a dictionary definition will be helpful: Paternalism has been described as a large and loose term, without any clear definition. This is because the idea itself can be divided into weak and strong definitions. The weak version is seen as simply the benign and benevolent behaviour of the good employer. A stronger version would identify a power nexus at the heart of the employment relationship. The subordinate in the relationship would be unable to recognise his or her ‘real’ interests, but would instead submit him or herself to the care and protection of the superior in return for acts of service. It is a reciprocal relationship that can develop into one of excessive control by the superior of the subordinate (Kimberley, 2016d, p. 317). In addressing the idea of paternalism, the thesis will challenge the view that the company was run in any way as a narrow social control paternalist, and in order to do so, will draw attention to the written work of Edward Cadbury, as well as identify the workplace practices introduced into the firm in its early period of development. The second main theme will argue that Edward Cadbury, as the central figure and architect of labour relations in the firm, was an early and innovative British management thinker. His approach to labour relations was an early version of pluralism, one that could be described in contemporary 1 terms as ‘sophisticated modern’ or ‘neo-pluralist’. Another dictionary definition will be helpful here, as pluralism is another contested concept and needs some clarification: For pluralists, employers and employees hold many opposing interests on various aspects of the employment relationship. Consequently, employers should not demand, or expect, absolute deference to their authority, but accept that conflict is a legitimate and inevitable feature of work...............The acceptance of inevitable clashes at work and the preference for negotiation prompts pluralists towards favouring formal means of institutionalising conflict management. Trade unionism and collective bargaining were historically the preferred mechanisms, but as these have declined in coverage across many industrialised economies, pluralists have looked to other instruments such as legal regulation, mandated consultation rights and alternative dispute resolution systems. Such institutional mechanisms are considered by pluralists to potentially offer a fairer and more viable way in which conflicts of interests at work can be identified, debated and resolved in a mutually agreed fashion (Cullinane, 2016, p. 336). Whilst Edward Cadbury and the company always supported collective bargaining through trade union representation, the firm was also open to new and different ways of providing a voice for employees. This was not as an alternative to trade union representation, but rather as an additional voice in the workplace. This was a voice that could act and work alongside trade unions, rather than in opposition to them. The evidence supporting trade union organisation in the company, as well as the early introduction of works councils, will be used to suggest this was the case at Cadbury. The third main theme will take issue with the notion that the influence of Quakerism had little to do with the workplace system that emerged in the Cadbury company. This is the argument that has found most support in the work of Mick Rowlinson, and this research will engage in debate with Rowlinson’s arguments throughout the thesis (Rowlinson, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2002).

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