Corporate Nonunion Complaint Procedures and Systems

In the most comprehensive work on the subject published to date, McCabe presents a thorough analysis of internal dispute resolution systems in 78 of the nation's leading nonunion companies. The study's primary focus is on the procedural requirements involved in processing employee complaints for companies desiring to establish or improve internal grievance resolution programs. Three major types of procedures are examined in depth: nonunion grievance arbitration systems, nonunion internal tribunals and peer review systems, and nonunion open-door policies and formal appeal systems.

McCabe's organizing precept is the belief that it is always in management's own self interest to recognize the need for sound and equitable nonunion complaint and grievance procedures. Following his analysis of complaint procedures as stipulated in the employee relations manuals of the 78 companies under study, McCabe appraises the effectiveness of these procedures in actual practice. He demonstrates that in order to be successful, each company must tailor an individualized package of dispute resolution techniques to fit its own corporate philosophy of employer-employee relations. A comprehensive literature review and a bibliography for both practitioners and scholars of strategic human resources management complete this definitive study of dispute resolution in nonunion settings.

DOUGLAS M. McCABE is Associate Professor of Human Resources Management and Industrial Relations at Georgetown University's School of Business Administration, Washington, D.C.