Toward better theory on the relationship between commitment, participation and leadership in unions

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to give a critique of the extant literature on union commitment and participation in order to develop remedies to identified weaknesses Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a critical assessment of extant literature. Findings – A number of critical deficiencies exist in the literature to which remedies are proposed. Research limitations/implications – The remedies need testing through empirical research. Practical implications – Future research needs to have different research foci and questions. Social implications – With a reorientation of future research on union commitment, participation and leadership, unions may be better able to benefit from academic research in the area. Originality/value – The paper suggests that a reorientation of future research on union commitment, participation and leadership will allow more incisive and more robust contributions to be made to understanding unions as complex social organisms.