Start-Up Factories High-Performance Management, Job Quality, and Regional Advantage

by Doeringer, Peter B.; Evans-Klock, Christine; Terkla, David G.

• ISBN13: 9780195147476
• ISBN10: 0195147472
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-11-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The authors chart the experience of start-up factories in adopting high performance management practices and provide insights into how US manufacturing can improve labor productivity and job quality in the coming years. Based on an extensive study of 48 new branch plants-that began operating between 1978 and 1990, this book explains how best practice manufacturing companies are raising productivity and lowering unit costs by introducing innovative high performance management practices. Start-Up Factories answers six key questions related to high performance management practices in the American workplace and provides criteria for evaluating certain strategies. In doing so, it demonstrates to economists labor management professionals, and policy makers that there is a set of principles about how to rebuild management systems in ways that simultaneously provide higher rates of growth in business productivity and a greater sharing of these productivity gains with workers.

Author Biography

Peter B. Doeringer is a professor in the Department of Economics at Boston University. Christine Evans-Klock is from the International Labour Organization based in Geneva Switzerland. David G. Terkla is from the Department of Economics at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Introduction	1	(14)
New Evidence from Start-Up Factories	4	(2)
Major Themes	6	(3)
New Possibilities for Enhancing U.S. Manufacturing	9	(2)
Plan of the Book	11	(1)
Notes	11	(4)
Part I The Theory of High Performance Management
Theories of High Performance Management	15	(24)
Economic Theories of Market Failure	16	(6)
Social and Psychological Theories of Labor Productivity	22	(5)
Theories of High Performance Management	27	(1)
Theories of Labor Control and Power	28	(3)
Dynamic Efficiency	31	(2)
Recent Challenges to Organizational Sources of Efficiency	33	(1)
Implications for Economic Efficiency, Productivity Growth, and Real Wages	34	(2)
Notes	36	(3)
Part II High Performance Management Strategies
The Management Strategies of Start-Up Factories	39	(20)
The Case Study Sample	40	(7)
An Overview of Start-Up Factories	47	(4)
High-End Start-Ups	51	(4)
Mid-Range Start-Ups	55	(1)
Low-End Start-Ups	56	(1)
Summary	57	(1)
Notes	58	(1)
Hybrid Systems of Management Practices	59	(24)
One Model of High Performance or Many?	65	(2)
Compensation Practices	67	(2)
Recruitment and Selection	69	(3)
Technology and the Organization of Work	72	(1)
Operations Management and Dynamic Efficiency	73	(3)
Evaluation and Reform of High Performance Strategies	76	(1)
High Performance Management ``Systems''	77	(2)
Summary	79	(2)
Notes	81	(2)
High Performance Management and the Quality of Jobs	83	(24)
Job Excellence in Start-Up Factories	84	(11)
Testing the Theories	95	(6)
Summary and Conclusion	101	(1)
Notes	102	(5)
Part III Defining Regional Advantage for High Performance Start-Ups
High Performance and Regional Advantage	107	(32)
Defining ``Core'' Business Location Factors	108	(7)
Core Location Criteria for Japanese Transplants	115	(5)
Evidence from the Case Studies	120	(10)
Regional Advantage for Start-Up Factories	130	(1)
Notes	131	(8)
What Attracts High Performance Factories?	139	(38)
The Location Database	140	(1)
Regional and State Location Patterns	141	(3)
Modeling Location Decisions	144	(6)
Defining the Core Model	150	(2)
Findings from the Core Model	152	(3)
Redefining Regional Advantage: Lessons from the Field Research	155	(4)
Findings from the Field Models	159	(6)
Regional Advantage for High Performance Workplaces	165	(3)
Notes	168	(9)
Part IV Evaluating High Performance Management Strategies
The Bottom Line	177	(30)
Ramp-up Cycles and the Ramp-up Production Function	178	(2)
Ramp-up Production Functions	180	(3)
Testing For Efficiency Gains in the Ramp-up Production Function	183	(1)
The Effects of High Performance Management Practices	184	(6)
Corroborating Evidence from National Data	190	(9)
Competing Explanations of the Effect of Japanese-style Organizational Regimes	199	(3)
Summary	202	(1)
Notes	202	(5)
Conclusions	207	(16)
The High Performance Management Practices of Start-Up Factories	208	(2)
High Performance Practices and Good Jobs	210	(1)
High Performance Management and Regional Location Advantages	211	(1)
High Performance Management Strategies and Business Performance	212	(5)
Implications for Economic Development Policy	217	(3)
High Performance Management and the National Economy	220	(3)
Appendix: Supplementary Tables for Chapter 7	223	(10)
Reference List	233	(18)
The Authors	251	(2)
Cited Author Index	253	(6)
Subject Index	259	(14)
About the Institute	273