IRC was originally established and has continued to operate as a nonprofit corporation and as such is tax exempt. To avoid possible questions as to the organization’s continuing right to the tax exemption, its officers and board of trustees decided to drop the practical in-company research which could have been construed to be consulting under new Internal Revenue Service regulations. In 1953, therefore, IRC established a new and separate company which renamed itself Organization Resources Counselors (ORC) in 1969 and today is known as ORC Worldwide, to provide consulting services to management, aside from IRC’s nonprofit research work.
IRC originally held all the stock of ORC, whose income was and is subject to taxes. In 1973, IRC donated approximately 49 percent of the shares to the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business of the University of Virginia to underwrite an IRC professorship. Later these shares were sold, and the income generated from the shares now supports scholarships for needy students from Southeast Asian countries.
Over the years, the focus of IRC’s research has shifted from what had been significant labor relations issues in the period from 1920 to 1960 toward management, organizational, and human resource issues. These changes occurred because of IRC’s continuing involvement with management and employee issues. It was not surprising therefore that in 1994 IRC undertook a study of experience in actual plant situations of new work forms and employee participation. This study examined employee views of participation in work decisions, teams, and other methods of organizing work.
This study raised questions concerning the modern day applicability of Section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act, which banned the employee representation plan. Today, the questions are once again relevant, with modern-day work practices, which reinvolve workers in the work process. Perhaps this more than anything underscores the enduring qualities of the concepts that led to the establishment of IRC.
Moreover, it also underscores the enduring commitment of the work of IRC to supporting important principles that can contribute to the state of the art. In fact, overriding all of its work are two basic tenets learned long ago in the coal fields of Colorado. First, a corporation must perform as a good citizen, or else risk the loss of its right to do business. Second, tough issues must be addressed by employees, employers, and governments if the rewards of enterprise are to be available to all, despite the politics of the day. Thus the championing of employee rights, employer rights, and the need for social progress has characterized IRC over the years.
The ongoing goal of IRC is to continue the pursuit of such work through appropriate and relevant research and educational activities. There continue to be many important work-related issues ranging from labor relations to motivation and compensation to management and organizational development and to social responsibility including affirmative action and diversity.
This means that IRC’s work must continue and continue to be proactive to the extent its resources allow. It must study options that serve the interest of business and its employees and of society generally. Its research and participation in the world of affairs thus far demonstrates IRC’s commitment and underscores the relevance of IRC’s charter language of being dedicated “to advance the knowledge and practice of human relationships in industry, commerce, education, and government.”
Copyright © 2001, 2006 by Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc. All rights reserved.