Macho Managers and the New Industrial Relations

A new breed of tough managers, almost contemptuous of unions and negotiating procedures, seems to have emerged. “Macho Management” one British Leyland shop steward called it at the time of the strike, referring to plant management's rediscovery of the management prerogative. The spirit is almost of the divine right of managers to manage, to broach no argument and get on with the job of directing, controlling and enforcing order over a demoralised workforce.