This paper is a consequence of several years of research and management learning activity with small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), which focused on the development of the organisations and the concomitant development of managers within those organisations. The empirical study sample revealed a preference by owner managers and directors for action learning as a medium for the development the organisation and its people. In situations in which action learning was operational, the owner managers and directors in the sample were positive about the effect on organisational effectiveness. The authors conclude with the proposition that the development of a learning organization is a journey, which might never be completed, however, the decision to embark on the journey and the process leading to embarkation provide the organisation and its people with an increasingly effective compass through which the company is able to navigate itself through the hostile uncertainty of the business environment.

This paper precedes the final stages of a five-year research project the aim of which was to seek explanations as to reasons for``organizational growth'' and``business success'' in the small and medium size enterprise (SME) sector. The groundwork for the empirical study comprised a literature review of existing perspectives on SME growth and development. The authors originally identified two major perspectives. The first of these focused upon a group of writers whose explanation was informed by``growth model'' literature. This perspective identifies clear stages of growth and development over time, each of which generates a trigger for organizational growth. The second perspective on business growth and development was through explanations focusing upon individual agency and entrepreneurship. However, during the work on the literature review, the attention of the authors became focused on research that dealt with the influence of``organizational culture'' on the performance of companies within the corporate sector. Moreover, what was apparent from the literature review, was a clear gap, the lack of reference as to the effects of organizational culture on the development of SMEs. Initial analysis of the empirical data indicates several differing views as to the actual meaning of the term of``organizational culture'' from amongst the research sample. In the majority of cases respondents who identified unique``cultures'' in their organizations believed that those``cultures'' had a positive effect on the performance of their companies. This effect was even more clearly articulated by those respondents who perceived their companies to be``growth orientated''. The focus of this paper is a consequence of the journey from the literature review through to the initial findings of the empirical work and subsequent evaluation and reflection.This article is part of a special issue of papers entitled``Policy and support for entrepreneurial behaviour (Part 2)'', edited by David Deakins.

Drawing upon research conducted in thirteen organisations between 1980 and 1984, the authors illustrate, b y the use of case studies, a range of developments in joint consultation. They specifically link their findings on consultation to other industrial relations activity and the nature of the product market in which the companies find themselves.It is now accepted by most observers that joint consultation in the UK has undergone something of a renaissance during the last decade; the reasons for this are varied but certainly inctude anxieties about legislation being imposed on companies-either by the British government or by the EEC-an increasing concern with improving productivity and competitiveness in order to survive in a more hostile product market environment, a desire to foster organisational commitment so as to aid the process of change, and shifts in societal values regarding the legitimacy of employee involvement. As we will report below, a series of assumptions have been made about the character of this 'new' consultation based upon questionnaire and case study work. This is something about which we have certain doubts, because of our own research between 1980 and 1984.It is the purpose of this article, therefore, to provide further information pertinent to the current debate about joint consultation in Britain today, and to reconsider the altern Mick Marchington is Lecturer in the Uepartmenl of Management Sciences at UMIST. Roger Armstrong is Lecturer in the School of Business at Lancashire Polytechnic.158 Industrial Relations Joitrnal native (and potentially all-embracing) theorising which has underpinned recent contributions to the literature. The remainder of the article proceeds as follows: firstly, we will review the development of joint consultation over the past century, concentrating primarily upon the last decade. In this, we will point to both the survey and case study work undertaken since the mid 1970s, but especially that published in the last few years. Secondly, we will briefly outline our own research programme, and outline the results using three case studies as typical examples of different sets of arrangements. We will then interpret these results within a more systematic framework.

It now seems to be fairly widely accepted that joint consultation has experienced a resurgence of interest and practice since the mid 1970s. Whilst the seeds of this revival were probably sown by anxieties prior to the publication of the Bullock Report, the institution does not appear to have withered away following the demise of the ideas on worker directors.

From recent evidence in both the industrial and the political arena, it would seem that diluted forms of industrial democracy/employee participation are undergoing some kind of a revival. This is probably a reflection of a change of government on the one hand and a reaction to the proposals of Bullock and the White Paper on the other. One of the forms of participation attracting most interest would appear to be joint consultation and, in a recent report in the Employment Gazette, Hawes and Brookes have argued that “in particular it seems likely that over the next few years emphasis will be placed on the voluntary development of employee participation by managements and trade unions, and the growth of new and existing forms of negotiating and consultative machinery”. It is within a context such as this that we can outline the remainder of this article.