structure would have to be completely reorganised. Secondly, for
effective participation of the workers, the vital information con-
nected with the enterprise has to be made available to them, both
the form and the content of which have to be comprehensible. But
with the present structure, such information, full of financial and
other technicalities, is more suited to a trained accountant than a
worker.

Is a foreign partner likely to concede to such radical
reorganization of the enterprise structure so as to enable effective
workers’ participation? Even the limited change, like the workers’
Councils®® (which have only advisory powers) in Tanzania has
been greeted with hostility. The Chairman of the East African
Breweries (N.D.C.’s foreign partner in Tanzania Breweries Ltd.),
Sir Michael Blundell was reported *° as having warned the
shareholders that it experienced some difficulties in its
management function over its Tanzanian subsidiary as a result of
the Government move to involve the workers in the decision-
making process through Workers’ Councils. While in theory the
conception of workers’ participation was laudable one, Sir Blun-
dell continued, ‘it is suggested that if such a conception is to be
implemented in a constructive and useful sense it is quite vital, at
the outset, to educate workers councils as to the role they are expected
to play and as to true objects behind the exercise’. (Emphasis mine.)

N.D.C., Tanzania’'s own development corporation, was quick to
formulate ‘the true objects behind the exercise’, at least for the
Workers' Committees, which are more representative of workers
than the Workers’ Councils. The N.D.C. guidelines stipulate:

The workers’ committee deals mainly with discipline. It does not deal
with politics, or personnel policy or even with other aspects of
management. But it would be wise to consult with the committee on
these matters simply because it will help them better to appreciate the
implication of their function. Experience has proved that a well-used
committee can be a useful tool of good management.®

Conclusion

We have seen the various benefits that accrue to a multinational
corporation and the various losses that are incurred by a public
corporation when the two go into one or the other form of part-
nership. This is one important ‘problematic area’ that faces
African public corporations as vehicles of economic development.

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