Manufacturing Advantage
Subtitle: Why High-Performance Work Systems Pay Off (ILR Press Books)
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: January 6, 2000
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9780801437656
Subjects: Labour economics; Manufacturing; Employee Training And Development; Personnel And Human Resources Management; Performance standards; Business & Economics; Business / Economics / Finance; Management; Business/Economics; Labor; Human Resources & Personnel Management; United States; Industrial management; Manufacturing industries
Description: "Based on their visits to 44 plants and surveys of more than 4,000 employees, Eileen Appelbaum, Thomas Bailey, Peter Berg, and Arne L. Kalleberg concluded that companies are indeed more successful when managers share knowledge and power with workers and when workers assume increased responsibility and discretion." "The study of steel, apparel, and medical electronics and imaging plants revealed much. In self-directed teams, workers were able to eliminate bottlenecks and coordinate the work process. In task forces created to improve quality, they communicated with individuals outside their own work groups and were able to solve problems. Expensive equipment in steel mills operated with fewer interruptions, turnaround and labor costs were cut in apparel factories, and costly inventories of components and medical equipment were reduced." "Manufacturing Advantage provides the best assessment available of the effectiveness of high-performance work systems. Freestanding chapters near the end of the book provide full documentation of research data without interrupting the narrative flow."--Jacket.