Stephen Procter

British Manufacturing Organization and Workplace Industrial Relations: Some Attributes of the New Flexible Firm

AbstractThe characteristics of the largest British manufacturing firms are analysed inorder to argue that the form of organization adopted at corporate and plantlevel by such firms is distinctive. The first part of the paper looks at thecharacteristic kinds and types of productive activities that the largest Britishfirms undertake. It is then suggested that there is a distinctive pattern oforganization for production at plant level, described as the ‘new flexible firm’,the features of which are formally set out. The new flexible firm has some keyfeatures which help to make sense of an emerging pattern of workplaceindustrial relations in manufacturing. The way this new form of organizationat plant level utilizes labour contradicts rather than supports the expectationsof some analysts about the importance of human resource management.1. IntroductionBy the mid-1990s, it wasbecomingmoreandmoreobviousthatsincethelate1970s industrial relations in the UK had been transformed. Until the end ofthe 1980s, the view that emphasis should be placed on continuity rather thanchange had retained considerable appeal (Batstone 1988; Gospel andPalmer 1993; MacInnes 1987; Marchington and Parker 1990). As interpreta-tions of the evidence from the 1984 Workplace Industrial Relations Survey(WIRS) gave way to work on its 1990 counterpart, however, the oppositeviewpoint began toassert itself. That important changes hadtakenplace wascertainly the position taken by the WIRS researchers themselves (Millwardet al. 1992). Other interpretations based on their data went along with thisview (Brown 1993). Purcell (1993: 10) argued that what we were seeing was

Computer‐integrated operations: the introduction of a hospital information support system

Study of the integration of operations through the application of computer technologies has focused on the manufacturing sector. In looking at the difficulties found in operating these technologies, increasing emphasis is being placed on their organizational aspects. These have been examined in depth by Ebers and Lieb, who concentrate on the social processes in implementation and the effects of reducing organizational slack. Applies this framework to the integration of information systems in a UK hospital. Examines the effects of integration: the new system is circumvented and organizational slack is redistributed as well as removed. Shows the importance of the cultural differences underlying the social processes between those introducing and those using the system, as well as within each of these groups. The framework of analysis provided by Ebers and Lieb thus proves to be quite robust. Concludes that our concern should not be computer‐integrated manufacturing but computer‐integrated operations.

Floating convertibility: The emergence of the robot plan, 1951–52

Robot was a plan to make sterling convertible. Its implementation would have had fundamental consequences for the British economy and economic policy. Though the importance of Robot has meant that it has been the subject of a great deal of comment, accounts of the episode have tended to concentrate on the question of who was responsible for the plans rejection. The emergence of Robot has received nothing like as much attention. Accounts of Robot that have dealt with its emergence are deficient in two respects. First, they have failed to explain why Robot emerged at the precise time it did. The Conservative government at first tried to deal with the balance of payments crisis of 1951–52 by implementing direct reductions in imports and expenditure. By the end of January 1952 these appeared to have been largely ineffective. At the same time, though the Commonwealth finance ministers’ conference set balance of payments targets for the Sterling Area as a whole, these were not to be enforced until the second h...

CIM and the process of innovation: Integrating the organization of production

Abstract The relationships between computer integrated manufacturing (CIM), corporate strategy and organization are assessed, and various periodizations for analysing the process of innovation are considered. The periodization selected consists of concept, translation, commissioning and operation, and this is then used to structure a case study, based on in-depth interviews, of the introduction of CIM in a medium sized UK manufacturer of electrical components for the automotive industry.

Against Japanization: understanding the reorganization of British manufacturing

In the late 1980s, the idea of Japanization dominated debates about the restructuring of production, work and industrial relations in this country. There was, of course, some evidence to support the Japanization thesis; yet, even at the time of the strongest influence, there were indications that it did not describe what was happening very well. It now seems much more plausible to argue that British manufacturing companies were on a distinctive trajectory of development, which has only passing similarities to Japanese patterns of organization.

The extent of just‐in‐time manufacturing in the UK

Current evidence on the extent of JIT is based mainly on questionnaire surveys, and can give only a partial picture. Uses evidence from official statistics on stock levels, the rationale being that even if the motivation behind JIT is not to reduce stocks, its use should still have this effect. The figures show a substantial reduction in the overall stock ratio in the period since the early 1980s. However, account must be taken of the relationship between the stock ratio and the level of output. There is little evidence of a new relationship having been established. Moreover, stock trends in the vehicle manufacturing industry have been less marked than in manufacturing as a whole. If reductions in stock ratios had been due to the adoption of JIT, we would expect the opposite to be the case. Evidence drawn from aggregate stock data thus provides little support for the idea that the adoption of JIT has been widespread in the UK.

Just‐in‐time Manufacturing:

Current evidence on the extent of just‐in‐time (JIT) is based mainly on questionnaire surveys, and can give only a partial picture. Uses evidence from official statistics on stock levels, the rationale being that even if the motivation behind JIT is not to reduce stocks, its use should still have this effect. The figures show a substantial reduction in the overall stock ratio in the period since the early 1980s. However, account must be taken of the relationship between the stock ratio and the level of output. There is little evidence of a new relationship having been established. Moreover, stock trends in the vehicle manufacturing industry have been less marked than in manufacturing as a whole. If reductions in stock ratios had been due to the adoption of JIT, we would expect the opposite to be the case. Evidence drawn from aggregate stock data thus provides little support for the idea that the adoption of JIT has been widespread in the UK.