Introduction

The last decades of the twentieth century have seen rapid changes in the way work is performed, where it is done, the kinds of work available to people, and labour-management relations. Industrial organization is being re-shaped by two distinct yet inter-related processes — computerization and new labour relations policies, among them labour-management participation programmes. Popularly known as Quality of Work Life, or QWL, these programmes are organizational strategies designed to address production, motivation and control on the shopfloor and usually take the form of quality circles (QCs) in which small groups of workers and a supervisor discuss issues of quality and productivity.1