It Ain't What You Do, it's the Way that You Do it: Production Organisation and Skill Utilisation in Commercial Vehicles

Thompson, Paul; Wallace, Terry C.; Flecker, Jörg; Ahlstrand, Roland

doi:10.1177/0950017095009004006

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Case-study evidence also exists of an association between high-involvement work practices and changing demands for several generic skills. Examples include Thompson et al (1995), Kelley (1989), and Ashton and Sung (2002), the emphasis of which was typically on the use of communication, team-work, and problem-solving skills. Sometimes this association is revealed through the difficulties of introducing new work practices in which these skills are scarce in the workforce (Bishop et al 2008;Cheng et al 2004;De Vilbiss and Leonard 2000).…”

Section: The Role Of Employee Involvementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employee Involvement, Technology and Evolution in Job Skills: A Task-Based Analysis

Green¹

2012

ILR Review

116

134

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The author investigates the evolution of job skill distribution using task data derived from the U.K. Skills Surveys of 1997Surveys of , 2001Surveys of , and 2006Surveys of , and the 1992 Employment Survey in Britain. He determines the extent to which employee involvement in the workplace and computer technologies promote the use of higher order cognitive and interactive skills. He finds that literacy, other communication tasks, and self-planning skills have grown especially fast. Numerical and problem-solving skills have also become more important, but repetitive physical skills have largely remained unchanged. He finds that employee involvement and computer technologies privilege the use of greater generic skills but substitute for repetitive physical tasks. However, the classification of all tasks as either routine or non-routine is found to be problematic. Finally, the author finds a strong connection between the rising use of more academic skills and the education level required for entry into the labor market.

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Section: The Role Of Employee Involvementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employee Involvement, Technology and Evolution in Job Skills: A Task-Based Analysis

Green¹

2012

ILR Review

116

134

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Steiger's account, while based on research in the USA, also represents key aspects of the trade conception of skill in Britain. Thompson et al (1995), in their study of lorry building plants, draw attention to the shifting boundaries between specialist craft technical skills, the capability to perform a variety of tasks ('multiskilling'), collective or team-based skills and character attributes like 'mental flexibility'. Some plants recognize that, although work may be classed as 'unskilled' because traditional craft skills (involving manual operations requiring dexterity and tool use) are not deployed, it may nevertheless require second order abilities such as co-ordination and problem solving.…”

Section: Changing Concepts Of Occupational Skillmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some plants recognize that, although work may be classed as 'unskilled' because traditional craft skills (involving manual operations requiring dexterity and tool use) are not deployed, it may nevertheless require second order abilities such as co-ordination and problem solving. Both Thompson et al (1995) and Steiger (1993) emphasize the difficulties that craft-based workers have in accepting new boundaries to task repertoires and in recognizing that there is a possible role for them in organizing anything other than their own immediate work in larger scale project configurations. Gallie et al (2004) in turn use qualification as a proxy for 'skill', just as does the influential but now outdated Leitch Review of Skills (2006) and as does Steedman (1993) in her assessment of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs).…”

Section: Changing Concepts Of Occupational Skillmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trade-based skills versus occupational capacity: the example of bricklaying in Europe

Clarke

Winch

Brockmann

2013

Work, Employment and Society

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This article shows why qualifications built on occupational capacity rather than on trade-based skills have more potential to accommodate the aims of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and changes in the labour process, going together with the development of occupational labour markets. The article challenges the distinct Anglo-Saxon notion of 'skill' attached to a tradebased system of vocational education and training (VET), where qualifications have weak labour market currency. This distinctiveness has implications for EQF implementation, built on common understanding of knowledge, skills and competences and intended to establish equivalence between different occupational qualifications. The article focuses on the example of bricklaying in England and Germany, an occupation archetypal of construction and skilled manual work. Clear differences are identified between bricklaying founded on developing occupational capacity through negotiation and regulation by stakeholders, recognized through qualifications, and bricklaying as a demarcated trade, defined by output and with 'skills' distinct from other trades.

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Redesigning production through teamworking

Thompson

Wallace

1996

International Journal of Operations &Amp; Production Management

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There has long been a debate concerning whether the technical division of labour should be structured around the individual or the group. With the developing of lean production and other forms of work organization under advanced manufacturing, teamworking has emerged as a central focus of redesigning production. However, considerable conceptual confusion remains, as well as sharply opposed models drawing on Japanese and Northern European traditions. Provides a framework for understanding the potentially different configurations of teamworking by distinguishing between technical, governance and normative dimensions. Explores these in the context of evidence from case studies of Volvo truck plants in Sweden. The variations observed in different production environments emphasize the point that there is no authentic, linear tradition, or undifferentiated package in theory or in practice.

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It Ain't What You Do, it's the Way that You Do it: Production Organisation and Skill Utilisation in Commercial Vehicles

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Employee Involvement, Technology and Evolution in Job Skills: A Task-Based Analysis

Employee Involvement, Technology and Evolution in Job Skills: A Task-Based Analysis

Trade-based skills versus occupational capacity: the example of bricklaying in Europe

Redesigning production through teamworking

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