Lost narratives? From paternalism to team-working in a lock manufacturing firm

This article discusses a process of workplace change at a manufacturing com pany. The firm had sought to radically change traditional working practices , organizational culture and labour-management relations. The article ident ifies a significant mismatch between management rationale for the changes a nd their subsequent behaviour, on the one hand, and workers' views, objecti ves and aspirations about their work lives, on the other. Explanations for this are grounded within the competing discourse of workers and managers. T he article argues, in particular, that the relative failure of the change p rocess derived largely from the unwillingness of management to recognize th e way in which the workplace culture is embedded in a context of social and historical traditions. This analysis of 'paternalism' is situated within a discussion of the psychological contract.