Joseph N. Scanlon: the man and the plan
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to describe the career and contributions of Joseph Scanlon in gaining labor‐management cooperation through employee participation and sharing the gains from cost savings.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper makes use of archives and unpublished sources; correspondence with Scanlon's daughter and a previous colleague; Scanlon's writings; and secondary sources as needed.
Findings
Joseph Scanlon used his experiences to develop a plan that encouraged union‐management cooperation and workers and managers sharing gains from improved productivity. Scanlon's background is examined and how his colleagues at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, especially Douglas McGregor, provided the venue for his ideas to flourish and gain widespread acceptance. An analysis of 117 studies over a period of six decades is used to identify the conditions that appear to promote or to interfere with the Scanlon Plan.
Practical implications
The Scanlon Plan illustrates a means to promote labor‐management cooperation and a means to involve employees through sharing cost savings.
Originality/value
This is the first biographical study to use archival and unpublished sources to provide new insights into Scanlon and how his plan for cooperation and Gainsharing developed.
Keywords
Citation
Wren, D. (2009), "Joseph N. Scanlon: the man and the plan", Journal of Management History, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 20-37. https://doi.org/10.1108/17511340910921763
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited