Inter-firm power relations and working conditions under new production models

Abstract

In investigating recent changes to the automotive industry production process, such as modularisation, our work emphasises the process of fragmentation of production as a configuring element of inter-firm power relationships, and as an explanatory element in working conditions. From a theoretical framework focused on power relations, we analyse by way of a selected case study how the capabilities of companies and their network positions, together with the agency of labour, shape the power relations that influence the evolution of working conditions. The study does indeed find relevant changes to inter-firm relationships, for example, within networks of assemblers and suppliers, but without a consequent re-balancing of power. This finding serves to explain differences in the evolution of working conditions between distinct companies, these conditions being fully functional to a strategy for profitability and thus difficult to reverse. JEL Codes: J31, L14, L62

Impact of Industry 4.0 Technology on International Posting of Workers

“…Industry 4.0 involves, among other things, managing the workflow of integrated activities between various processes, devices, and users (Bellini et al, 2022). When evaluating the literature, it is noticeable that there are many studies and reports about how Industry 4.0 changes and will change the local workforce (Bag et al, 2021; Burgess & Connell, 2021; Gaduena et al, 2022; Paz et al, 2022) and how the above-mentioned practices need to evolve (e.g., Flores et al, 2020). The results show that robots and other assistant systems will not replace human workforce.…”