MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

organisations. So using Cornforth’s ideas in a trade union context is not
extending his ideas unduly.
He seeks to use a multi paradigm framework to seek to understand
governance more holistically – what he calls a paradox perspective.
This study found, unexpectedly, that normative stakeholder
management was not the common currency of trade union managers.
It also found that trade union managers commonly believed that they
were managing in a ‘partnership’ environment without being able
clearly to articulate what that meant. Boundaries, in particular, were
unclear.
The study therefore employed Cornforth’s (2003) model to see if it had
potential to throw light on trade union governance, arguably something
needed in view of the rather polarised view taken in much of the
literature. This, although somewhat speculative, did demonstrate some
potential to help us better to understand trade union governance and
some of the complexities involved in the topic in the modern age.
10.5. NEW, NOVEL OR UNIQUE ELEMENTS – THE CONTRIBUTION OF
THE STUDY TO KNOWLEDGE
Trade union managers
The study has established that there is a category of employee in trade
unions which can be labelled ‘trade union manager’. This has not been
identified empirically in the literature in these terms. It is of significance
because literature analysing trade unions has never taken into account
the existence of managers. The discovery of this category has
potentially immense importance for future literature on all aspects of
trade union work because the internal dynamics of trade unions will
have to be re-read and re-stated in its light.
The study concluded that trade union management developed over
time. All four of the case study unions had merged and their mergers
were also developing over time. Using Buono and Bowditch’s (1989)
seven stage model of merger, the study found that there were links
between the development of trade union management and the
development of a union’s merger along the final three stages of the
model. This may be a two way link, in which the development of
management is affected by the stage of merger and the development
of the merger may be affected by the existence or otherwise of a cadre
of developed managers. These issues are not to be found either in
trade union literature, or in Buono and Bowditch (1989) or other merger
management literature.
Management, however, is practised even in unions in an early phase of
merger and low institutional support for management. Where a staff
member personally accepts the managerial role and seeks to manage,
s/he operates in something of a cocoon, denied the systems and
support which managers in many other organisations take for granted.
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