Manufacturing Advantage

by Appelbaum, Eileen; Bailey, Thomas; Berg, Peter; Kalleberg, Arne L.

• ISBN13: 9780801486555
• ISBN10: 0801486556
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-01-01
• Publisher: Ilr Pr

Summary

Much of the hoopla surrounding quality circles, teams, and high-performance work systems has been based on anecdotes and very thin evidence. It has not been established that those employee involvement strategies amount to anything more than another series of management fads or ruses designed to get more out of workers without giving them anything in return. This revelatory book, written by some of the skeptics, lays some of the suspicion to rest.

Based on their visits to 44 plants and surveys of more than 4,000 employees, Eileen Appelbaum, Thomas Bailey, Peter Berg, and Arne L. Kalleberg concluded that companies are indeed more successful when managers share knowledge and power with workers and when workers assume increased responsibility and discretion.

The study of steel, apparel, and medical electronics and imaging plants revealed much. In self-directed teams, workers were able to eliminate bottlenecks and coordinate the work process. In task forces created to improve quality, they communicated with individuals outside their own work groups and were able

Author Biography

Arne L. Kalleberg is Kenan Professor of Sociology and Chair of the department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Manufacturing in the Twenty-First Century	1	(24)
Discretionary Effort and the Organization of Work	25	(22)
Market Dynamics and Work Organization in the Steel Industry	47	(20)
Market Dynamics and Work Organization in the Apparel Industry	67	(15)
Market Dynamics and Work Organization in the Medical Electronic Instruments and Imaging Industry	82	(19)
Workplace Transformation and Its Effects on Plants and Workers	101	(15)
Measuring the Components of a High-Performance Work System	116	(13)
Performance Effects of High-Performance Work Systems	129	(36)
High-Performance Work Systems and Worker Outcomes	165	(38)
Effect of High-Performance Practices on Earnings	203	(24)
Work Systems and Productivity Growth	227	(10)
Bibliography	237	(10)
Index	247	(12)
About EPI	259