Life on the Line in Contemporary Manufacturing: The Workplace Experience of Lean Production and the "Japanese" Model
Author Description
Much is stated and written about the new world of work, but how much do we know about the contemporary workplace? What influence have Japanese management techniques had on the way work is organized? Have the systems and mechanisms of control changed radically in recent years, or are they much the same as they have always been?Rick Delbridge sought an answer to these questions at first hand by working on the shopfloor in a Japanese consumer electronics transplant and a European automotive components supplier in order to witness and experience life on the line in contemporary manufacturing. Not only does his book offer rich empirical data on the lived reality of work and a management practice that may share little in common with that found in the textbooks; he also raises a number of important issues about the best ways to understand the complex and changing nature of work.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This book investigates the actual impact of Japanese management techniques and lean production systems on the daily experiences of workers in contemporary manufacturing environments. Rick Delbridge, a scholar in industrial relations and organizational behavior, utilizes ethnographic research methods to bridge the gap between theoretical management models and shopfloor reality. By conducting direct observation within a Japanese electronics transplant and a European automotive supplier, he evaluates whether modern control mechanisms represent a radical shift in labor organization or a continuation of traditional industrial practices.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Comparative analysis of Japanese management techniques versus traditional European manufacturing models.
- Empirical data derived from direct participant observation on the shopfloor.
- Examination of workplace control mechanisms and their influence on employee autonomy.
- Critical assessment of the discrepancy between textbook management theory and lived industrial practice.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Experts in industrial sociology and labor studies frequently cite this work as a foundational ethnographic study of lean production. Readers often note the academic rigor of the research and the clarity with which the author contrasts theoretical management ideals with the practical realities of the assembly line.
Page Count:
248
Publication Date:
1998-06-25
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0198292333
ISBN-13:
9780198292333
Business
Manufacturing
Management
Labor Studies
Sociology
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