ABSTRACT
In the 1920s, Tomás Bat’a built up a large international business using a unique blend of the techniques of scientific management on the one hand and innovative human resources policies on the other. His management methods have become known as the ‘Bat’a system of management’, and are the subject of increasing scholarly interest. Bat’a anticipated many modern management movements such as workplace autonomy, decentralisation, flexible manufacturing and industrial democracy. His slogan, ‘Every worker a capitalist!’, which expressed his views on employee participation and the right to share in profits, earned him the admiration of many but the hatred of many others.
