Abstract:
Joint Consultative Council (JCC)/ Employees’ Council (EC) is a widely
employed, but less studied employee voice representation mechanism in
many Sri Lankan enterprises, including the Board of Investment (BOI)
enterprises. This paper explores the forces or rationale for the adoption of
JCC/EC in Sri Lankan organizations, using the Institutional Theory as a
theoretical lens. Based in the Interpretivism paradigm, the researchers have
used qualitative methodology, in which, multiple case study research
strategy and purposive sampling method were employed in selecting the
organizations and respondents respectively. In-depth interviews and focus
group discussions were employed as data collection methods. Exploration
into forces or reasons that led to the introduction of JCC/EC in organizations
revealed that, identification of one force or rational is impossible. The forces
were found to be both external to the organization and internal to the
organization. Force from key customers, pressure of BOI, main decision
makers’ exposure in superior practices (Japanese practices), parental
organizations’ pressure were identified as external forces which led to
adoption of JCC/EC by management of organizations that were studied. In
order to be attentive to employee problems by filling a vacuum of a forum to
redress sectional and common grievances, and to create a bridge that enable
top management accessing employees’ version of reality, were the internal
urgencies or forces of management which lend to formations of JCC/EC.
Thus, it was found out that all the three institutional isomorphism exist in
connection to the introduction of JCC/EC in to organizations. Most
importantly, the researchers identified a distinctive force, which is the
combined pressure from external unionists and internal employees to form
trade union, that does not come under Coercive, Normative and Mimetic
isomorphism as explained in the Institutional Theory. The researchers
labeled this distinctive force as ‘Counteract Isomorphism’. Hence, in conclusion it can be stated that organizations adopt JCC/EC practice not
merely to secure mutual co-operation of employees and provide them with
empowerment and voice, as expected by BOI. Rather, organizations initiate
JCC/EC with various self-centered reasons as well as due to various external
pressures.
