RIVAL PARADIGMS AT WORK - WORK REORGANIZATION AND LABOR-FORCE IMPACTSIN A STAPLE INDUSTRY

Changes in the organization of work, and specifically the adoption of post-Fordist production relations, have been subject to alternative in terpretations. Some have identified the new management systems with sk ill enhancement and the production of more interesting, humane jobs. O thers have argued that the new workplace relations represent an intens ification of work effort that has little to do with the production of better quality employment. To assess the validity of the competing cla ims, this article compares two firms in one industry, potash productio n: one has bought into the new managerial practices, while the other h as remained traditional.