The quest for working with dignity faces many challenges and many opportunities. The main challenge to working with dignity is the continuation of unilateral management power in many sectors of the economy and resulting patterns of mismanagement and abuse. Mismanagement and abuse spark resistance, undermine worker citizenship, creativity, and self-realization in work, and promote infighting among employees, all of which erode dignity, productivity, and well-being for employees and for society at large. But important opportunities for increased dignity at work are available at this time as well. The central opportunity for increasing dignity at work rests squarely on the necessity for modern systems of production to incorporate greater employee participation in order to run efficiently. This necessity sets the stage for greater worker power and for increased dignity at work.

Workers want to participate and contribute in the workplace, but they are too often prevented from doing so by unilateral management power, mismanagement, and abuse. The continuation of unilateral managerial power in the face of an increased need for employee involvement and worker empowerment is the core contradiction in the contemporary organization of work. In order for workers and organizations to take advantage of increased opportunities for productivity and for working with dignity, workers must exercise greater agency and bilateral power in the workplace (Grint 1991:135).

What Have We Learned?

In this book we have offered many insights about working with dignity. In the following sections, we review the core findings.