Lean Production and Beyond: the System,Its Critics and the Future

Peter Wickens, who is Director of Personnel and Information Systems of the Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd, puts ‘lean production’ in its historical context, examines some of the criticisms of the system and considers some of the changes taking place in Japan. He goes on to suggest possible ways forward and makes the case for a system of ‘lean production’ managed by people who care about people.     

Labour hoarding in a disequilibrium model of the Dutch labour market

Summary This paper presents a method to integrate labour hoarding into a disequilibrium model of the labour market. Disequilibrium indicators for the labour market that include labour hoarding are constructed. These indicators, being important determinants of policy multipliers with respect to employment, are found to be less volatile than the corresponding disequilibrium indicators for the goods market which are available from business surveys. The lower volatility reflects the role of labour hoarding as a buffer between actual and efficient employment levels. Our results indicate that labour hoarding in Dutch enterprises ranges from a minimum of 0.5 per cent of employment in early 1985 to a maximum of 7.0 per cent in 1975. Furthermore, the paper pays special attention to the modelling of mismatch unemployment and to the simulation results of an empirical disequilibrium macromodel of the Dutch economy.The authors thank M.M.G. Fase and two anonymous referees for their useful comments.     

Identity, intended image, construed image, and gnreputation: An interdisciplinary framework and suggested terminology

Many scholars across various academic disciplines are investigating the following questions: What do individuals know or believe about an organization? How does a focal organization (and/or other interested entity) develop, use, and/or change this information? and How do individuals respond to what they know or believe about an organization? Cross-disciplinary research that centers on these questions is desirable and could be enhanced if researchers identify and develop consistent terminology for framing these questions. The authors work toward that end by identifying four central ‘viewpoints’ of an organization and proposing labels to represent each of these viewpoints:identity, intended image, construed image, andreputation.     

Creating the experience of social change

This paper discusses how the social change theory of P.R. Sarkar is introduced to students of the Australian Foresight Institute's Masters in Strategic Foresight program through an action learning process. Through action learning, the student can come to appreciate the qualitative difference in understanding that can be obtained through taking an ‘integral’ or meta-perspective on social change processes. Such a perspective increases the efficacy and scope of all social interventions.     

Explaining the Relative Decline of Agriculture: A Supply-Side Analysis for Indonesia

The relative decline of agriculture in growing economies isa central feature of economic development and a major influenceon agricultural policies. The literature on the causes of thisdecline has focused on the relative price effects arising fromdemand factors, especially Engel's law, rather than on supply-sideinfluences, such as changes in relative factor endowments anddifferential rates of technical change. This article developsa simple structural model of the transformation of the Indonesianeconomy, applying an error correction mechanism to capture thedynamics resulting from disequilibria and the costs of adjustment.The decline in agriculture's share of gross domestic productis found to be caused much less by the relative price effectstypically emphasized in the literature than by capital accumulationand rapid technical change in agriculture.     

Women and part-time work

This article reports some of the results of a new and large survey which focuses on women and work. In relation to part-time work the survey confirms that the traditional factors explaining the demand for such work continue to be important but that current trends in the economy are not favourable to female employees seeking part-time work.