Drawing on primary and secondary sources the authors argue that the JIT/TQM manufacturing system intensifies work as a result of increased surveillance and monitoring of workers' activities, heightened responsibility and accountability, the harnessing of peer pressure within ‘teams' and via ‘customers', and the fostering of ‘involvement’ in waste elimination and the continuous improvement of the production process.

This paper documents the adoption of the Japanese model of manufacturing in the U.K. motor industry. Internal developments by the vehicle assemblers and their suppliers are examined. It is argued that the Japanese model involves very high intra-and interorganizational dependencies. Although thk does not cause problems in Japan due to the structure of the Japanese motor i n h t t y , the structure of the UK vehicle industry presents severe obstaclesto the successful use of Japanese methods. Pursuit of the pure Japanese model within the existing industry structure appears to be fraught with problems. Moreover, such an exercke risks sweeping away potential strengths of the exikting structure.

No abstract

Competition from Japanese manufacturers has been particularly fierce in the automotive industry. Consequently, many British manufacturers are now emulating the production and employment policies of their Japanese rivals. But there are limits to such a process, especially in the sphere o f labour-management relations and the control o f work.