The impact of NC machinery upon manufacturing industry

The changing face of industry due to the adoption of `New Technology' is briefly discussed, as are the corresponding structural changes in the workforce. The adoption of NC machinery is identified as one of the major innovations affecting the structure of industry. The development of NC machinery, and of relevant programming techniques are reviewed, and the problems arising from its initial sponsorship by the aerospace industry are highlighted. The process of its subsequent diffusion into industry is reviewed. Skill levels adopted for NC use in Britain and Germany are discussed, and analysed to create a structural pattern. These classifications of skill levels are then used to examine the organisational structures adopted by companies utilising NC machines. The greater use made of higher level shop floor skills by German companies is discussed. The results of two surveys of the use made of NC by companies in the North East of England are presented. Effective company organisation for NC use is described, and lack of foresight is shown to lead to vulnerability problems where skills can become concentrated in a few key people. This led to closure of a company in one instance. It is shown that small sub-contract companies have adopted a highly skilled shop floor workforce, and that they have survived in the present hostile economic environment, whilst companies who have used NC to de-skill the shop floor contracted dramatically in the same period. The lack of awareness of the potential for reviewing the product design in relation to the flexibility of NC, so leading to reductions in work in progress levels, is highlighted. Recommendations for skill structures appropriate to various sized companies and suitable training programs are presented to ensure that the full potential of NC machinery is achieved.

A social psychological analysis of strikes

A participant observation method was employed :in the study of a 20-week stoppage at Ansells Brewery Limited, a constituent company of Allied Breweries (U.K.). The strike, :involving 1,000 workers, began :in opposition to the implementation of a four-day working week and culminated in the permanent closure of the brewery. The three main phases of the strike's development (i.e., its :initiation, maintenance and termination) were analysed according to a social-cognitive approach, based on the psychological imagery, beliefs, values and perceptions underlying the employees' behaviour. Previous psychological treatments of strikes have tended to ignore many of the aspects of social definition, planning and coordination that are an integral part of industrial action. The present study is, therefore, unique in concentrating on the thought processes by which striking workers .make sense of their current situation and collectively formulate an appropriate response. The Ansells strike provides an especially vivid illustration of the ways in which the seminal insights of a small number of individuals are developed, via processes of communication and:influence, into a consensual interpretation of reality. By adopting a historical perspective, it has been possible to demonstrate how contemporary definitions are shaped by the prior history of union-management relations, particularly with regard to: (a) the way that previous events were subjectively interpreted, and (b) the lessons that were learned on the basis of that experience. The present approach is psychological insofar as it deals with the cognitive elements of strike action. However, to the extent that it draws from relevant sections of the industrial relations, organizational behaviour, sociology, anthropology and linguistics literatures, it can claim to be truly interdisciplinary.

A tale of two regions:comparative versus competitive approaches to economic restructuring

In April 2004 Mitsubishi announced the closure of its Lonsdale plant in South Australia. Almost a year later, MG Rover went into administration, resulting in the immediate closure of its Longbridge plant just outside Birmingham, England. Both closures were expected to have a considerable impact on their regional economies through the loss of employment and associated economic activity. However, governments in Australia and England responded in significantly different ways: in England the focus was on competitive advantage through the modernisation of the auto cluster and the diversification of the regional economy into new, high-technology industries. In Australia, the national and state governments introduced policy responses based on the pursuit of comparative advantage. This paper compares and contrasts the two sets of government responses and examines the capacity of each to deliver long-term benefits to their affected communities.

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.

The JNR Property and the Borel Structure of a Banach Space

Research partially supported by a grant of Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo.

P-Sequential Spaces and Cleavability

∗ Supported by the Serbian Scientific Foundation, grant No 04M01

Pseudoradial Spaces: Finite Products and an Example From CH

∗ The first named author’s research was partially supported by GAUK grant no. 350, partially by the Italian CNR. Both supports are gratefully acknowledged. The second author was supported by funds of Italian Ministery of University and by funds of the University of Trieste (40% and 60%).

On the Range of the Fourier Transform Associated with the Spherical Mean Operator

We characterize the range of some spaces of functions by the Fourier transform associated with the spherical mean operator R and we give a new description of the Schwartz spaces. Next, we prove a Paley-Wiener and a Paley-Wiener-Schawrtz theorems.

Upper and Lower Bounds in Relator Spaces

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 06A06, 54E15

Weak Compatibility and Common Fixed Point Theorems for A-Contractive and E-expansive Maps in Uniform Spaces

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 47H10, 54E15.

A Note On Quasi-Lindelöf Spaces

Петра Г. Стайнова - Квази-линдельофовите пространства са въведени от Архангелски като усилване на слабо-линдельофовите. В тази статия се разглеждат няколко свойства на квази-линдельофовите пространства и се правят сравнения със съответни ре- зултати за линдельофовите и слабо-линдельофовите пространства. Дадени са няколко примера, включително на слабо-линдельофово пространство, което не е квази-линдельофово; на пространство, което е топологично произведение на две линдельофови, но не е дори квази-линдельофово, и на пространство, което е квази-линдельофово, но не Суслиново. Накрая са поставени няколко отворени въпроси.

Nonlinear Estimates in Anisotropic Gevrey Spaces

2002 Mathematics Subject Classification: 35G20, 47H30

Moduli stacks of polarized K3 surfaces in mixed characteristic

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 14J28, 14D22.

Weakly Compact Generating and Shrinking Markusevic Bases

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 46B30, 46B03.

Predegree Polynomials of Plane Configurations in Projective Space

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 14N10, 14C17.