Global Japanization? The transnational transformation of the labour process

Global Japaniziation? Brings together research from North America, Japan, Europe and Latin America to analyse the influence of Japanese manufacturing investment and Japanese working practices across the global economy. The editors present original case studies of work reorganization and workers' experiences within both Japanese companies and those of their competitors in diverse sectors and national settings. These studies provide a wide-ranging critique of conventional accounts of Japanese models of management and production, and their implications for employees. They offer new evidence and fresh perspectives on the role of "transplants" in disseminating manufacturing innovations, and on the responses of non-Japanese firm in reorganizing production operations and industrial relations.

Industrial relations in the road passenger transport industry-a political-economic analysis.

This thesis examines the British Bus and Tram Industry from 1889 to 1988. The first determinant of the pattern of industrial relations is the development of the labour-process. The labour process changes with the introduction of new technology (electrified trams and mechanised buses), the concentration and centralisation of ownership, the decline of competition, changing market position, municipal and state regulation, ownership and control. The tram industry, as a consequence of electrification, is almost wholly municipally owned and the history of the labour process from horse-trams to the decline of the industry is examined. The bus industry has a less unified structure and is examined by sector; London, Municipal, and Territorial/Provincial. The small independent sector is largely ignored. The labour process is examined from the horse-bus to the present day. The development of resistance in the labour process is discussed both as a theoretical problematic (the `Braverman Debate') and through the process of unionisation, the centralisation and bureaucratisation of the unions, the development of national bargaining structures (National Joint Industrial Council and the National Council for the Omnibus Industry), and the development of resistance to those processes. This resistance takes either a syndicalist form, or under Communist Party leadership the form of rank and file movements, or simply unofficial organisations of branch officials. The process of centralisation of the unions, bureaucratisation and the institutionalisation of bargaining and the relationship between this process and the role of the Unions in the Labour Party is examined. Neo-corporatism, that is the increasing integration of the leadership of the main Union, the T.G.W.U.with the Labour Party and with the State is discussed. In theoretical terms, this thesis considers the debate around the notion of `labour process', the relationship between labour process and labour politics and between labour process and labour history. These relationships are placed within a discussion of class consciousness.

Multiple paradigms and organisational research: an analysis of work behaviour in the fire service

The thesis examines Kuhn's (1962, 1970) concept of paradigm, assesses how it is employed for mapping intellectual terrain in the social sciences, and evaluates it's use in research based on multiple theory positions. In so doing it rejects both the theses of total paradigm 'incommensurability' (Kuhn, 1962), and also of liberal 'translation' (Popper, 1970), in favour of a middle ground through the 'language-game of everyday life' (Wittgenstein, 1953). The thesis ultimately argues for the possibility of being 'trained-into' new paradigms, given the premise that 'unorganised experience cannot order perception' (Phillips, 1977). In conducting multiple paradigm research the analysis uses the Burrell and Morgan (1979) model for examining the work organisation of a large provincial fire Service. This analysis accounts for firstly, a 'functionalist' assessment of work design, demonstrating inter alia the decrease in reported motivation with length of service; secondly, an 'interpretive' portrayal of the daily accomplishment of task routines, highlighting the discretionary and negotiated nature of the day's events; thirdly, a 'radical humanist' analysis of workplace ideology, demonstrating the hegemonic role of officer training practices; and finally, a 'radical structuralist' description of the labour process, focusing on the establishment of a 'normal working day'. Although the argument is made for the possibility of conducting multiple paradigm research, the conclusion stresses the many institutional pressures serving to offset development.

The effects of new technology on employment structures in the service sector

This thesis explores the interrelationships between the labour process, the development of technology and patterns of gender differentiation. The introduction of front office terminals into building society branches forms the focus of the research. Case studies were carried out in nine branches, three each from three building societies. Statistical data for the whole movement and a survey of ten of the top thirty societies provided the context for the studies. In the process of the research it became clear that it was not technology itself but the way that it was used, that was the main factor in determining outcomes. The introduction of new technologies is occurring at a rapid pace, facilitated by continuing high growth rates, although front office technology could seldom be cost justified. There was great variety between societies in their operating philosophies and their reasons for and approach to computerisation, but all societies foresaw an ultimate saving in staff. Computerisation has resulted in the deskilling of the cashiering role and increased control over work at all stages. Some branch managers experienced a decrease in autonomy and an increase in control over their work. Subsequent to this deskilling there has been a greatly increased use of part time staff which has enabled costs to be reduced. There has also been a polarisation between career and non-career staff which, like the use of part time staff, has occurred along gender lines. There is considerable evidence that societies' policies, structures and managerial attitudes continue to directly and indirectly discriminate against women. It is these practices which confine women to lower grades and ensure their dependence on the family and which create the pool of cheap skilled labour that societies so willingly exploit by increasing part time work. Gender strategies enter management strategies throughout the operations of the organisation.

Controlling system uncertainty in sport and work

An applied psychological framework for coping with performance uncertainty in sport and work systems is presented. The theme of personal control serves to integrate ideas prevalent in industrial and organisational psychology, the stress literature and labour process theory. These commonly focus on the promotion of tacit knowledge and learned resourcefulness in individual performers. Finally, data from an empirical evaluation of a development training programme to facilitate self-regulation skills in professional athletes are briefly highlighted.

The Japanisation process in Malaysia

This thesis examines the empirical evidence for the transferability of Japanese soft technology (JST) or Japanese work organisation within two government-initiated, Malaysian-Japanese strategic alliances: PROTON and PERNEC. The government, through its Look East Policy (LEP) began in 1982, taking Japan (and South Korea) as models and partners in Malaysian economic and industrial development process, and expected these alliances to learn the good aspects of Japanese work organisations and management styles in order for them to become independent companies, both technologically and economically. The thesis found that the alliances have been successfully taking and utilising Japanese parts, components, tools, robots and machines; i.e. the 'ready-made hard technology'. [Whereas the important element of soft technology has been ignored]. The soft technology has been slowly and marginally transferred because neither local parties nor their Japanese counterparts within the alliances consider the acquisition or transfer of soft technology to be the main concern or a part of business plan. Although many factors influence management transfer, the thesis has focused on the eagerness and the capability of Malaysian managerial teams to acquire and, to a lesser extent, the readiness of the Japanese to transfer the technology. It was found that there is a lack of demand on technology acquisition by Malaysian managers and lack of responsibility to transfer the technology among Japanese experts. However, the political and social pressures on these alliances, the industrial climate and labour market, leaderships and management system of alliances, and Japanese MNCs regional and global corporate strategies have contributed to the high level of transfer of JST at PROTON compared to PERNEC. The research also found that Malaysian industrial and investment policies have favoured foreign investment but there is a lack of strategies for nurturing indigenous technological development.On the other hand the Japanese MNCs and public agencies have been operating in Malaysia and guided by their regional and global corporate strategies and less concerned with Malaysian technological development. In conclusion, empirically, the JST transfer is minimal. The transfer has been influenced by internal contingency factors of organisation; external industrial, political and cultural environmental factors; and last but not least the Japanese MNCs' global and regional corporate strategies. The transfer of Japanese management in this research is inclined towards core-periphery transfer model, it is also related to organisational and national technological capability.

New dimensions on the economics of the entrepreneurial process

This thesis examines the transition of employees into entrepreneurship, with particular emphasis on the role of workplace characteristics in influencing this movement. The first main chapter examines whether the determinants of becoming an intrapreneur differ from those that support transitions into independent entrepreneurship. The results show that intrapreneurs resemble employees rather than entrepreneurs, contrary to what the entrepreneurship theory would suggest. Yet it shows that those intrapreneurs that expect to acquire an ownership stake in the business, unlike the rest of intrapreneurs, possess traditional entrepreneurial traits. Chapter 3 investigates how workers’ degree of specialisation determines their decision to found a firm. It shows that entrepreneurs emerging from small firms, i.e. generalists, transfer knowledge from more diverse aspects of the business and create firms more related to the main activity of their last employer. Workers in large firms, however, benefit from higher returns to human capital that increase their opportunity costs to switch to entrepreneurship. Since becoming an entrepreneur would make part of their specialised skills unutilised, the minimum quality of the idea at which they would be willing to leave will be higher and, therefore, entrepreneurs emerging from large firms will be of highest quality. Chapter 4 analyses whether the reason to terminate an employment contract is associated with the fact that the majority of entrepreneurs appear to set up their business after having worked for a small firm. Moreover, it studies how this pattern varies as the labour market conditions worsen. The effect of layoffs turns out to be a key driver in the entry to entrepreneurship and it is found to exert a greater effect the smaller the firm workers are dismissed from. This has been reflected in an overall larger flow of employees from small firms moving into entrepreneurship over the recession.

Auto plant closures, policy responses and labour market outcomes:a comparison of MG Rover in the UK and Mitsubishi in Australia

This paper provides a preliminary comparative longitudinal analysis of the impact on workers made redundant due to the closure of the Mitsubishi plant in Adelaide and the MG Rover plant in Birmingham. Longitudinal surveys of ex-workers from both firms were undertaken over a 12-month period in order to assess the process of labour market adjustment. In the Mitsubishi case, given the skills shortage the state of Adelaide was facing, together with the considerable growth in mining and defence industries, it would have been more appropriate if policy intervention had been redirected to further training or re-skilling opportunities for redundant workers. This opportunity was effectively missed and as a result more workers left the workforce, most notably for retirement, than could have otherwise been the case. The MG Rover case was seen as a more successful example of policy intervention, with greater funding assistance available and targeted support available, and with more emphasis on re-training needs to assist adjustment. However, despite the assistance offered and the rhetoric of successful adjustment in both cases, the majority of workers have nevertheless experienced deterioration in their circumstances particularly in the Australian case where casual and part-time work were often the only work that could be obtained. Even in the UK case, where more funding assistance was offered, a majority of workers reported a decline in earnings and a rise in job insecurity. This suggests that a reliance on the flexible labour market is insufficient to promote adjustment, and that more active policy intervention is needed especially in regard to further up-skilling.

Political performance and leadership persona:the UK Labour Party Conference of 2012

This article is a contribution to an emerging scholarship on the role of rhetoric, persona and celebrity, and the effects of performance on the political process. We analyse party leader Ed Miliband at the UK Labour Party Conference in Manchester in 2012. Our analysis identifies how, through performance of himself and the beginnings of the deployment of an alternative party narrative centred on One Nation, Ed Miliband began to revise his received persona. By using a range of rhetorical and other techniques, Miliband began to adapt the Labour narrative to the personalized political. The article sets out the theoretical framework for the analysis and returns to the implications for the theory of leadership performance in its conclusion.

The best days of your life? Youth, policy and Blair's New Labour

Since the election of New Labour in 1997, young people's relationship to work and to the labour market has been the subject of intense scrutiny and policy activity. By equipping young workers with the qualifications and skills they are held to need in the knowledge economy, the government hopes to reconcile its quest for economic progress with the commitment to social justice for young people. However, as this article argues, the importance invested in this area of 'youth policy' overlays a more fundamental process of disengagement in which New Labour is presiding over the withdrawal of those traditional sources of support it has held out to the young. For this reason, the article concludes by suggesting that the importance that New Labour attaches to policy for young workers tells us more about the needs of government than it does about the needs of young people.