Contextualizing Work: The Influence of Workplace History and Perceptions of the Future on Lean Production at Three GM Plants

Rothstein, Jeffrey S.

doi:10.1177/0896920515580176

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…These principles include team work, communication, continuous improvement and the efficient use of human resources (Womack et al ., 1990). The concept of multifunctional teams is core to lean practices and work groups are expected to be fully responsible for their work area and portion of the production process (Ahlstrom, 1998; Rothstein, 2015). Indeed, Womack et al .…”

Section: Introduction and Outlinementioning

confidence: 99%

Power distance in India

Mathew

Taylor

2018

CCSM

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how cultural differentiation can affect the successful transplantation of lean management and production techniques from the parent country to subsidiary countries in the developing world. In particular, the focus will be on car manufacture in India and the role of hierarchy in Indian society, with reflection on how this seeps into workplace and power relations. Design/methodology/approach Lean production techniques have been hailed as revolutionising modern manufacturing, particularly in the automotive sector. In developed world countries, car manufacturers have made significant gains in efficiency and productivity as a result of their implementation. However, as many of these multinational companies (MNCs) have expanded production into rapidly-developing nations to take advantage of both their market and low-labour costs, the introduction of lean production practices have met some resistance. This is because certain underpinning concepts and values of the lean system, such as team work, delegation of authority and upward communication can be considered incompatible with aspects of local culture and employees’ attitude towards work and their superiors. The analysis presented is based on a series of semi-structured interviews with managers and workers from an India-based subsidiary of a MNC car manufacturer and engagement with the existing literature. Findings It concludes that paternal relationships, religious values and group orientation in Indian society have a significant impact on the dynamics of the workplace and result in a brand of power distance that is specific to this national context, raising questions about the suitability of universal implementation of lean production practices. Originality/value “Power distance” has become a catch-all term for cultures with an orientation towards hierarchy and status in society. However, this categorisation masks some of the factors belying the phenomenon and intricacies relating to how it plays out in the workplace. It is simplistic to postulate that high power distance cultures might be incompatible with management approaches that decentralise authority and increase worker participation. Rather than rely on overgeneralisations, the analysis provided has attempted to deconstruct the composition of power distance in the Indian context and document systematically how features of Indian culture conflict with the principles of lean production techniques, using a case study from an Indian subsidiary of a MNC. In particular, the study finds that religion, caste and paternalism create an India-specific power distance that manifests itself in worker behaviour and workplace relationships.

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Section: Introduction and Outlinementioning

confidence: 99%

Power distance in India

Mathew

Taylor

2018

CCSM

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“…Research has shown that new management systems and work practices are often selected and implemented in a way that is shaped by the social and organisational forces surrounding their implementation (Vidal, 2007b). The tension between work standardisation and participation could be viewed as socially constructed, based on the historical context of the workplace (Rothstein, 2016). In China, those established organisational routines that SOEs have maintained may be opposed to the rapid changes in formal rules, giving rise to both opposition norms and structural inertia (Nee, 2005).…”

Section: Employees' Acceptance Of New Management Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ingrained interests and path-dependency

Yang¹,

Yang²

2022

WOLG

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This study is a sociological exploration of changes and interrelationships between production systems, management systems and employment relations through a case study of a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) which has undergone substantial restructuring and reforms in an agriculture-dominated region that has witnessed rapid industrialisation. It draws on data collected through qualitative interviews, focus group discussions and workplace observation and participation. The findings suggest that while market, efficiency and performance have become the dominant discourse in China’s SOEs, various organisational actors have reconstructed their identities, engaged in constant negotiations and continued formal and informal rules that supported their interests.

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“…Elger and Smith (2005), for instance, reconstruct the complex "micropolitical processes" involved in adapting lean production at various Japanese transplants in Great Britain. In a more recent analysis, Rothstein (2016) explains the differences between the production systems at the Mexican and United States (US) plants of an American automotive company as being related to various strategies of local unions and, most importantly, to different levels of industrial experience among the local workforces.…”

Section: Local Labour Control Regimes and Worker Agencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Lean Work and Gender Inequalities: Manufacturing Consent at a Multinational Car Plant in Provincial Russia

Krzywdzinski

Lechowski

Mählmeyer

2019

GLJ

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How do local labour market structures, in tandem with workforce dispositions and attitudes, influence the way multinational companies localise their standardised work and production systems? This article investigates the conflict-ridden factory regime of a lean automotive plant in provincial Russia at which the management was able to secure a relatively high level of consent among its female workers but not among male workers. In order to explain this gendered pattern of worker consent, the plant-internal gender division of labour and two societal factors proved crucial: the gendered segmentation of the local labour market and the workers’ cultural dispositions. At the same time, the analysis points to the transformative effect that the company’s work and production system had on the local labour regime. The case study relies on a combination of quantitative survey data and qualitative interviews. It emphasises the need to reconnect the analysis of branch-plant factory regimes to a nuanced understanding of their embeddedness within local labour markets – also in the case of highly standardised work and production systems. KEY WORDS: labour control regime; labour process; labour market; lean production; gender relations

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Contextualizing Work: The Influence of Workplace History and Perceptions of the Future on Lean Production at Three GM Plants

Cited by 4 publications

References 46 publications

Power distance in India

Power distance in India

Ingrained interests and path-dependency

Lean Work and Gender Inequalities: Manufacturing Consent at a Multinational Car Plant in Provincial Russia

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