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Description
The programme examines the cooperative organisation of Michael Jones Jeweller in Northampton and at how the company copes with change and conflict.
The programme examines the cooperative organisation of Michael Jones Jeweller in Northampton and at how the company copes with change and conflict.
| Module code and title: | T243, Systems organisation: the management of complexity |
|---|---|
| Item code: | T243; 06 |
| First transmission date: | 18-06-1980 |
| Published: | 1980 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:25 |
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| Producer: | Ian Rosenbloom |
| Contributors: | Michael Jones; Rob Paton |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Alternative systems; Business organisation; Co-operatives; Michael Jones Jeweller; Systems |
| Footage description: | Opening shots show the exterior, sales areas and workshops of the two branches of Michael Jones Jeweller in Northampton. In voice-over Rob Paton describes their scale of operation and internal organization. Shots of employees at work in one of the shops. Paton asks three of them what they think of the cooperative organisation of the company. In interview Michael Jones explains why he set up the cooperative. Shots of an evening meeting of the staff assembling. Jones explains how the cooperative is organised. Film of the firm's monthly cooperative meeting. Michael Jones is seen delivering the monthly sales report. Then follows the main discussion item of the evening - the size of the staff's Christmas bonus. The meeting discusses a petition from a majority of the staff to exceed the bonus recommended by the board of directors. In a vote the petition is successfully carried. Brief shots of some other business being discussed. Shots of the evening meeting closing, over which Paton speculates on the significance of the board's defeat at the meeting. Interviews with the employee who organised the petition for a larger staff bonus and with one of the directors. They consider the success of the petition. Film of one of the directors playing golf over which Paton comments on the function of a director and his relationship with the rest of the staff. One director and Michael Jones give their views on working within a cooperative enterprise. The head of the workshop also outlines the advantages of the cooperative system. Shots of young employees being trained and of scenes in the shops. Finally brief interviews with staff at all levels consider the problems and successes of the company, and ponder its future development. |
| Production number: | FOUT026P |
| Videofinder number: | 2702 |
| Available to public: | no |
