ABSTRACT
Relatively strict managerial controls were observed in the three plastic firms with varying degrees of emphasis. The Chinese plastic firm also provided a staff food canteen for its employees. As a control strategy for absenteeism, management in the Hausa plastic firm had to introduce a monthly financial bonus for regular attendance to work. The evidence in this study shows that stringent control practices in the three plastic firms produced environments of pervasive distrust between employees and their managers in especially the Chinese and Lebanese firms. The prescribed standards in the plastic industry for continuous quality control at each specific work cycle were seldom met in the plastic firms. Nevertheless, the tight controls introduced by the Chinese operators' of the plastic firm made the worker's union very weak. The clientelistic recruitment patterns imply that conflict resolution procedures in the three plastic firms were largely informal.
