著者

大東 英祐

出版者

経営史学会

雑誌

経営史学 (ISSN:03869113)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.5, no.2, pp.47-71,ii, 1971-03-25 (Released:2010-11-18)

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It is generally believed that American workers move much more freely than Japanese employees. But relatively little attention has been paid to the fact that the rate of turnover in the period of World War I was reduced to one-third in the 1950's.For the main reason why the rate of turnover has become lower, we can point out the fact that the seniority system has spread throughout the industries in America since the 1930's. In those days, seniority, though the debate about seniority and management prerogatives in furious, governs not only lay-off and re-call but also promotion, transfer, paid holidays, and many other fringe-benefits.Under these circumstances, the problem of the gain accompanied with long service and the loss accused by the employment change is important. Therefore, it is no wonder that American workers no longer quit so freely as before.Historically, seniority was not the management but union policy. The Management, however, seemed to have good grounds for accepting the unions' demands and we can attribute the rapid diffusion of seniority to the following two factors.First, according to several studies, work organization, with the growth of mass-production, had been formed as a promotion ladder by the 1930's, and it had been a rather common practice to fill a job vacancy, not with the one from outside, but by promotion within the firm.As a result, in the absence of unions, the order of lay-off by and large, comformed to the seniority principle.Second, the principle of seniority, as Reader pointed out, is consistent with the American sense of fairness, ie, the first come, first served.But in pre-union days, much was done through the foreman's personal favoritism without centralized policy, and so intra-firm wage structure was often in a chaotic condition. Confronted with union demand, the management in the 1930's tried to systematize its practice. Personnel departments were expanded and job analysis and evaluation plans were executed and so on. By these efforts the present personnel management system was to be established.