The Managerial Limits to Japanization: A Manufacturing Case Study

Geoffrey Broad, who is Lecturer in Comparative Industrial Relations in the Department of Business and Management Studies, University of Salford, reports on his detailed longitudinal study of the views of British and Japanese managers introducing a ‘high-involvement management’(HIM) strategy in a Japanese electronics plant in Wales. He suggest that the formal arrangements for activating such a strategy – extensive information sharing, team briefing, consultation and quality improvement teams – raised fundamental issues for power sharing and control between the two groups, as well as having significant implications for shop floor relations. In particular, the employee involvement actively encouraged by Japanese managers contrasted markedly with the preferred ‘traditional’ prerogatives of the British managers. In the circumstances, he challenges the popular stereotype of ‘Japanisation’ and points to a range of implications for management development in such initiatives.     

JOB SATISFACTION AND LABOUR TURNOVER AMONGST WOMEN WORKERS

Two hundred and ninety female shop floor workers and sixty-five female shop floor ex-workers of a large electrical/electronic engineering company were given a multiple choice questionnaire and unstructured interview. Thirty per cent of the total sample expressed general dissatisfaction with their job. An analysis of their responses indicated the over-riding importance of the work itself as a determinant of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. An analysis of reasons for leaving the company indicated that ‘voluntary’ labour turnover resulted mainly from dissatisfaction with the work. No evidence was gained to support Herzberg's principle of duality, although the practical implications from the study are very similar to those evident in the motivation/hygiene theory.     

High involvement work system,work–family conflict,and expatriate performance – examining Taiwanese expatriates in China

This study explores the effects of multinational companies (MNC) implementation of a high involvement work system (HIWS) for their expatriates on both expatriate work–family conflict (WFC) and their performance. We surveyed 174 Taiwanese expatriates stationed in China. Data were collected on: (1) perceived human resource management (HRM) practices concerning ‘high involvement work system’; (2) perceived work–family conflict; (3) job satisfaction; and (4) supervisor ratings of expatriate job performance. Structural modeling techniques helped us examine in one model the interdependent relationships among high involvement work system, work–family conflict, and expatriate performance in their host country. Our results show that a high involvement work system is positively related to expatriate satisfaction and performance. However, a high involvement work system is also positively related to expatriate work-family conflict, which in turn is negatively related to expatriate satisfaction and performance. Our findings remind managers that a high involvement work system may produce multiple effects on various dimensions of employee work life, and not all of these effects may be positive.     

Innovation in work practices: a practice perspective

Dynamic capability theory argues that organizations' internal capabilities enable sustained competitive advantage. Innovations in work practices (commonly termed ‘high performance’, ‘high commitment’ or ‘high involvement’ practices) are an important source of these internal capabilities but research evidence shows low levels of penetration. Using a practice perspective, case study analysis of 7 establishments in the aerospace sector identifies three themes that are under-attended to in current research on innovations in work practices: industry and production context; distributed nature of management activity, and social embeddedness. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Service specification in pre-tender phase of public procurement - A triadic model of meaningful involvement

The purpose of this research is to define the actor roles and collaborative practices that are central to service specification co-development in relation to the pre-tender phase of public procurement. We propose a new model of meaningful stakeholder involvement in the context of public service specification as a triadic setting. In addition to the theoretical value, the proposed model guides public procurement units on how to define their roles as intermediaries and to design a service specification process involving internal customers and providers of a service. The approach adopted highlights the meaningfulness of involvement by referring to the types of cooperative roles and practices that are both suitable for the situation and well understood and implemented by the cooperative parties. Service specification co-development is defined as a triadic setting involving buyers, service providers, and internal customers. This study consists of two longitudinal empirical public procurement cases viewed with the aid of a theoretical framework drawn from the general involvement and public-sector-specific involvement literature. Managerial implications relate to involving stakeholders early in the process, focusing on value creating activities, and sharing relevant information throughout the pre-tender phase.     

Charity shops in sectoral contexts: the view from the boardroom

Charity shops seem inherently contradictory in many ways. This paper unravels some of the contradictions by analysing charity shops in their ‘sectoral contexts’. First it puts forward different meanings of ‘sector’ and introduces notions of ‘sector values’. Then it presents results from empirical research into UK charity shop organisations, to show how senior managers of charity shop chains deal with ‘sectoral contradictions’. Finally, it asks how the sectoral contexts influence the management philosophies and marketing strategies (in the broadest sense) of these senior managers. Copyright © 2000 Henry Stewart Publications     

Paradise postponed: dilemmas facing shop stewards in the new South Africa—accommodation orresistance?

The growth of the shop stewards movement in South Africa prior to majority rule represented a challenge to the institutionalised managerial prerogative and cemented the position of black trade unions in the workplace, posing a threat to both Apartheid’s cheap labour system and also to the political control of the Apartheid regime. With the advent of majority rule in 1994, shop stewards are now expected to comply with, and co-operate in, the implementation of workplace changes which they would have traditionally opposed. This, plus the move towards Japanese-style ‘lean’ work practices, is creating farreaching challenges for the ‘New’ South African shop steward movement.     

WHY EUROPE? A CRITIQUE OF INSTITUTIONALIST AND CULTURALIST ECONOMICS

Abstract Economists have recently started to discuss the roles of institutions and cultural beliefs in explaining the performance of civilizations. This paper investigates two views, ‘institutionalist economics’ and ‘culturalist economics’, with regard to the question of why Europe rose economically a few centuries ago, while other regions of the world lagged behind. These two views share a common platform raised on two pillars. First, both regard institutions/beliefs as extra‐economic – as primordial entities that ultimately stand independent of economic performance. Second, both regard economic performance as fully determined by institutions/beliefs – i.e. normative causality in the sense that institutions/beliefs determine performance. Douglass North's (2005) analysis of economic performance, for example, is based on both pillars. Concerning the primordial pillar, he attributes ‘the mystery’ of the rise of Europe to primordial beliefs, viz. ‘Christian dogma’ and English ‘individualism’. Concerning the normative pillar, he presumes that such beliefs have almost one‐to‐one correspondence with economic performance. This paper, though, maintains that the two pillars (primordial analysis and normative causality) are rather fragile: Advocates of the first pillar fail to recognize that institutions/beliefs are endogenous. Advocates of the second pillar fail to recognize that institutions/beliefs can give rise to diverse economic performances.     

A ‘PARTNERSHIP’ ROUTE TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT?*

Collaborative relationships between firms have been growing in importance, including ‘partnerships’ between customers and suppliers. Institutional economists and sociologists have different views on the origins, character and consequences of partnership, and the nature of this debate is outlined, as well as the implications for the reality of ‘partnership’ and its role in the diffusion of business practice. Against this background we use case study and survey evidence to explore the transition within the supply chain relationship, from a customer ‘demands’ model and hence to ‘supplier development’. Supplier development can be seen as an aid to risk reduction, particularly where it involves management control system development in the supply organization. The partnership implications for the human resource management (HRM) function are explored. Supply-side partners are likely to be involved increasingly with activities that will underpin the alliance (for example, training, cultural change and removal of industrial relations obstacles to change). These indirect effects may be supplemented by direct involvement by the HRM specialists in the customer organization, especially where partnership development places strong reliance on the human resource dimensions of the two organizations. Examples of this form of development are discussed. This evidence is assessed in terms of the different disciplinary approaches discussed at the outset. What emerges most strongly is that although ‘partnership’ is used to describe many inter-firm relationships, many of these are very unequal and are recognized to be so, but in other cases evolutionary steps can be taken to reduce the risks involved and lead to apparently equitable alliances. Within this risk reduction process, the role of human resources appears to be of varying importance.     

Stepping into the kitchen: lay clients as co-producers of a professional service

This study examines the implications for service organizations and their staff of clients’ involvement as co-producers of a professional service. Two female infertility clinics were analysed, one using micro-surgery (MS) and the other in-vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques. These differed on the dimension of patients’ involvement in the delivery of treatment. In the MS clinic patients were ‘passive’ recipients of treatment, whereas in the IVF clinic patients were required to partake as co-producers in the delivery of the medical service. Thus, reflected here are two different forms of client–provider interface, which the results show to have different implications. Bringing the clients, as co-producers, ‘into the kitchen’ where service is prepared (IVF) was found to involve issues associated with the lay client–professional provider work interactions, like perceptions of performance, functional work behaviour (conflicts, poor co-ordination, etc.), lower work/service satisfaction of staff and clients, and coping with service uncertainty. These and other implications for front-line service are examined and discussed.     

Competence development on the shop floor and industrial upgrading: case studies of auto makers in China

Industrial upgrading in China is rapidly increasing the competence requirements for employees on the shop floor. The institutional environment in China, however, does not seem very supportive: the quality of vocational education is often low and Chinese labor law provides strong incentives for companies to use temporary labor. This paper examines the competence development practices for blue-collar workers in automobile companies in China. Against expectations, automobile companies in China do not pursue ‘low road’ strategies but have designed intensive internal training programs and long-term career paths for blue-collar workers. Different theoretical explanations for the competence development approaches are discussed: human capital theory, high-commitment work systems theory, production systems theories, industrial relations and institutionalist theories. The paper is based on qualitative case studies of German, Japanese and domestic automobile manufacturers in China.     

Order review/release in the absence of adherence to formal scheduling policies

In many plants, the performance of shop floor workers is measured by accounting-based productivity criteria. Such systems encourage workers to maximize their individual performance, often at the expense of total shop performance. One such company, Union Switch & Signal, a manufacturer of railroad equipment, has decided to increase finished goods inventory in an effort to counteract poor due date performance. Management at Union Switch & Signal feel that workers not following priorities contribute significantly to this poor performance. It has been suggested that the controlled release of jobs into the shop, i.e., Order Review/Release (ORR), may provide the operations manager a vehicle for enforcing job priorities when formal dispatching rules are not strictly followed by workers. In this study, two ORR methodologies are studied in regards to their ability to offset the dysfunctional behavior by workers who seek to maximize their own individual productivity. This type of behavior was captured by simulating the phenomenon of `cherry picking'. Cherry picking occurs when a job is selected for processing based not on its formal priority but on the difference in standard allowable processing time and actual processing time. Results suggest that at least one ORR methodology is able to reduce the difference in resulting labor productivity while improving overall shop performance.     

The Impact of Company Resources and Capabilities on Global New Product Program Performance

Product innovation and the trend to globalization are two important and interrelated dimensions driving business today. In this article, the results of five published research articles on the topic of global new product development (NPD) are summarized to provide an integrated overview of the factors that impact global NPD program performance. The overall conceptual framework is based on three types of literature—NPD, globalization, and organization. The main theoretical approach for establishing relationships between factors is the dynamic capability/resource‐based view. Accordingly, factors linked to outcome are seen as operating on different organizational levels, with more actionable initiatives or ‘capabilities’ largely mediating the softer and longer term background ‘resources’ of the firm. The analyses are based on a broad cross‐industry sample of 467 firms (North America, Europe, B2B, goods/services). Three global NPD‐related background resources (global innovation culture, resource commitment, and senior management involvement), labeled the ‘behavioral environment’ of the firm, are identified and shown to be linked to global NPD program performance via the mediated effect of four specific NPD capabilities (NPD process, strategy, team, and IT/communication). A qualitative synthesis of the findings is provided, along with recommended management initiatives with which firms can enhance their performance in the global NPD effort. Both sets of factors are found to be essential and highly interrelated, but it is the strength of the behavioral environment resources that distinguish the best performing firms, setting the stage for success in global NPD.     

Sensemaking on the Shop Floor: Narratives of Knowledge in Organizations*

ABSTRACT This paper explores the role of narratives in organizational inquiry and knowledge work. Following the tenets of the phenomenological method, the paper digs into the ‘life world’ of organizations in order to capture the taken for granted stream of everyday routines, interaction, and events that constitute both individual and social practices. An empirical case study examines the narrative‐based processes of sensemaking and knowledge acquisition in the setting of a traditional pressing plant at Fiat Auto, Italy. The focus of analysis is on how a best performing team engages in the resolution of disruptive occurrences on the shop floor. Through the deconstruction of narratives underlying problem‐solving activities, the case identifies a distinctive mode of investigation conceptualized as ‘detective stories’. The detective's method highlights the interplay between time and narrative in shaping the interconnected processes of organizational knowledge creation, utilization, and institutionalization. More generally, the findings of the paper stress the importance of conjectural knowledge and common‐sensical wisdom in the everyday life of organizations.     

Model specification tests: A simultaneous approach

In econometrics, specification tests have been constructed to verify the validity of one specification at a time. It is argued that most of these tests are not, in general, robust in the presence of other misspecifications, so their application may result in misleading conclusions. Using the Lagrange Multiplier principle we develop efficient test procedures that are capable of testing a number of specifications simultaneously. These tests will ‘confirm’ the validity (or invalidity) of a general model requiring the estimates of the restricted model only. Through an extensive Monte Carlo experiment we study the performance of these tests and some commonly used one-directional tests. We also suggest a Multiple Comparison Procedure, to identify different sources of errors. This, we hope, will lead to a better specification of econometric models.     

Research and theory on high‐performance work systems: progressing the high‐involvement stream

The notion of a high‐performance work system (HPWS) constitutes a claim that there exists a system of work practices for core workers in an organisation that leads in some way to superior performance. In this article, we dissect this fuzzy notion and examine its companion terminology: high‐involvement work systems and high‐commitment management. We argue that a focus on the high‐involvement stream usefully grounds HPWS studies in an important area of workplace change in the current context and takes us away from eclectic and contentious selections of ‘best practices’. We review research models and findings in this stream. The path to better research lies in examining the underpinning processes experienced by workers when management seeks to pursue high‐involvement systems, and charting their links to employee and operational outcomes.     

Transitions In the Psychological Contract: Some Evidence From the Banking Sector

This study examines the psychological contract in a sample of 107 employees in a retail bank. Deregulation, market-entry by non-traditional suppliers, and the introduction of advanced technology have changed the security of and rules implicit in the employment contract in the UK banking sector, which is one of the leading contenders for downsizing and delayering. Many banks are experiencing increased employee cynicism. New structures and technology, demanding levels of customer service, and new competitors have produced heightened attention towards performance and are associated with the need for employees to develop new competencies, such as relationship-handling and sales skills. Regardless of whether banks pursue high performance management systems or control-based HR strategies, the requirement for committed and engaged employees able to develop new competencies is an assumed constant. Demographic factors such as age, service and sex are found to be partial predictors of some attitudinal items. However, these proxy measures of attachment to the old employment deal are not related to items that consider commitment or satisfaction. the psychological contracts in the bank are highly fragmented. Seven underlying constructs are revealed: ‘frustratedly disengaged’, ‘still ambitious’, ‘passively flexible’, ‘guidance seekers’, ‘buy me outers’, ‘don't push me too fast’ and ‘just pay me more’. Implications of the research for HRM, the management of new internal labour markets in the banks and future directions of research on the psychological contract are discussed. It is concluded that a new set of internal labour markets are being created within the banks, the dynamics of which clearly revolve around a wide range of individual factors. Accepted wisdom about participative management practices will be challenged in the HR strategies of the late 1990s.     

Do jobs follow people or people follow jobs? A meta-analysis of Carlino–Mills studies

Do jobs follow people or people follow jobs? A meta-analysis of Carlino–Mills studies. Spatial Economic Analysis. This study examines the classic question as to whether ‘jobs follow people’ or ‘people follow jobs’ by performing a meta-analysis of 321 results from 64 Carlino–Mills studies. It is found that the results are highly divergent, but that more results point towards ‘jobs following people’ than towards ‘people following jobs’. When it comes to the reasons for the variation in results, we find that the results are mostly shaped by the geographical location, spatial resolution, and population and employment characteristics present in the data, as well as by the model’s specification, its functional form and the spatial weight matrix specification.     

Tensions and variations in call centre management strategies

Management strategies in call centres face a series of tensions stemming from conflicts between achieving efficiency and providing a quality service to the customer. Recent research suggests high commitment management (HCM) techniques are being applied in call centres in a paradoxical strategy of ‘low discretion, high commitment’(LDHC). This article presents case findings on four British call centres that confirm the LDHC model but suggest that it operates in a variety of forms. By characterising the research sites according to the combined dimensions of HCM orientation and job design implementation, a typology of LDHC approaches is proposed. These are containment, alleviation, structured employee development and involvement. In essence, the LDHC model is an attempt to reconcile the costs of control with the levers of commitment. However, an examination of the realities of LDHC in action reveals a varied but persistent pull towards control. Fundamentally this exposes LDHC as a substitute for, rather than a reflection of, commitment.