Since the 'Crisis of Taylorism' in the 1970s, 'new forms of work organization' have been developed that were intended to contain better, if not 'good', work characterized by factors such as vocational qualification, personnel development, participation, and so forth. It is precisely these factors which are endangered by the prevailing strategies of 'systemic rationalization'. In pursuing these strategies, dominant companies aim to reorganize production and value creation chains in order to harness heterogeneous company situations within the production networks so as to increase total productivity. The results consist of either the stabilization or progressive polarization of employee working conditions and new problems regarding in-company interest representation and interest representation by unions. The material and descriptions presented are based on empirical findings gathered from the German automotive industry.
The future of work organization and the role of workers in manufacturing has provoked a considerable amount of debate in light of the rapid technological developments of recent years. German industry in particular is a central focus for studying technical and organizational changes in industry due to its pivotal position in international markets, its technological sophistication and its well-established training systems.This study brings together contributions which contain both theoretical approaches and extensive empirical studies, on the manix factoring industry in Germany, including comparisons to other European countries. It looks at the developments of new technology, identifying trends in rationalization and the influences they have on organizational behaviour. It also analyses the consequences of such changes on the work-force asking whether they will become more or less skilled. As it discusses the relationships between technology and the work-force it includes discussions o>» flexible specialization, labour processes, union relations, small and larger firms and training processes. The studies show that optimistic assessments on the future of industrial work should be viewed with some scepticism showing that managers and economists should be wary of being optimistic when assessing the future of industrial work.This book would be of particular interest to all those involved with new technology, industrial sociology and organizational behaviour.
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