Organisational Structure and Culture: Strike action at BHP Billiton

Are you ready to face down an angry workforce threatening to stop work? No? Read on, young manager, to see an example in action…

To begin this time…

…refamiliarise yourself with the content of Chapter 5 to arm yourself for this scenario. Then, read this article about strike action at BHP Billiton, and consider the summary and questions below.

So, to summarise…

…the article reports recent intentions to go on strike by coal terminal employees of BHP Billiton. The workers are engaged in negotiations over labour agreement and have not been able to reach a mutually satisfying solution. 

The negotiations revolve around several issues: wages, staffing levels, and the inclusion of middle management in the agreements. Some issues have been resolved, such as wages, but others seem to remain conflicting.

The workers already proved that they are able and willing to go on strike last year. When they staged a rolling strike, the company’s output was significantly reduced. This reduction has a risky effect on the company’s share prices and public image, which can impede their performance in the future. Therefore, the company would clearly prefer to avoid a strike. But at the same time, the company cannot afford to grant all of the workers’ wishes; it has to consider the interests of all stake holders: shareholders, managers, customers, and public views.

As for you, as a manager, you might be involved in similar negotiations, and you are likely to find yourself considering the views of your employees and the views of the rest of the company. For now, let’s just focus on a few issues, detailed below…

Some issues to notice and pay particular attention to here are…

• Types of power influencing the situation
• Types of power that can influence the situation
• Organisational structure
• Organisational culture

Consider the following questions for discussion…

1. At the moment, the conflict between workers’ unions and the company involves different power bases.  Which power bases would you say it involves?
2. Which power bases can this situation involve and how?  Do you think more power bases would increase or decrease the chances of a resolution?
3. From the article, what can you infer about the structure of the organisation?  Since this is a large organisation, you probably won’t get all of its aspects, but what elements of structure can you identify?
4. The organisational culture plays a big role in shaping the expectations of the workers and their approach to negotiations.  What elements of organisational culture can you identify in the reported article?