The New Division of Labor as Lean Production

Janoski, Thomas

doi:10.1080/00207659.2015.1061848

Cited by 37 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Developing a more detailed categorisation of work regimes is only worthwhile if it enhances our understanding of the effects of this variety of forms of work organisation. Therefore, the second stage of the analysis examines how these regimes are linked to a range of important outcomes for workers, addressing Janoski's (2015) concern that we still have insufficient understanding of whether Lean, and by implication other workplace regimes, are beneficial for workers. It is particularly important to assess the outcomes associated with different regimes given the reconfiguration of aspects of work and employment into new workplace regimes with potentially ambiguous or conflicting sets of outcomes.…”

Section: Regimes and Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the variation in workplace regimes and the likelihood that various important worker outcomes are associated with that variation, it is important to assess the distribution of those regimes over time and space and by economic and social position. Recently, Janoski and colleagues (Janoski, 2015; Janoski and Lepadatu, 2021) have reviewed the prevalence of various work regimes and argued that ‘Lean Production’ is the core of the new division of labour – essentially driving a process of at least partial convergence across different countries. They note that there is a need for further research on whether Lean (or another regime) is now the dominant form of work and the extent to which Lean has spread beyond its origins in manufacturing in the United States and Japan.…”

Section: Contemporary Workplace Regimesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Workplace regimes in Western Europe, 1995–2015: Implications for intensification, intrusion, income and insecurity

Riain

Healy

2023

Economic and Industrial Democracy

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The article investigates the emergence of ‘new’ forms of working such as ‘lean production’ and ‘learning organisations’ in Western Europe, 1995–2015. First, the article identifies the dominant forms of work organisation (‘workplace regimes’) across Western Europe, including new ‘pressure’ and ‘extreme’ varieties of previously identified regimes. Second, the article analyses the implications of these workplace regimes for various important worker outcomes – insecurity, income, intensity of work and intrusion of work into non-working life – and assesses the ‘trade-offs’ of different outcomes across regimes. Third, the article assesses the changing distribution of these regimes, whether certain forms such as Lean Production are coming to dominate the division of labour, and where and for whom. The shape of the ‘new world of work’ is increasingly Lean, but remains open to political contestation – both in how regimes themselves are organised and in the mix of regimes in particular societies and for particular workers.

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Section: Regimes and Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Contemporary Workplace Regimesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Workplace regimes in Western Europe, 1995–2015: Implications for intensification, intrusion, income and insecurity

Riain

Healy

2023

Economic and Industrial Democracy

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“…Lean is one such control strategy that accentuates the principles of Taylorism with its emphasis on cost-cutting, efficiency and standardization (Janoski, 2015). Derived from the Toyota automobile company’s production line system, Lean’s assumed transferability from the manufacturing to service sector, and from the private to public sphere, is only one of its difficulties (Dunsford and Reimer, 2017; Radnor et al, 2012).…”

Section: Labour Process Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Ameliorating Workplace Harassment among Direct Caregivers in Canada’s Healthcare System: A Theatre-Based Intervention

Quinlan

Robertson

Urban

et al. 2019

Work, Employment and Society

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The article reports on a theatre-based intervention designed to address workplace harassment among direct caregivers in Canada. The study is part of a larger analytical project that relies on labour process theory and critical realist evaluation methodology to understand what interventions work, how, for whom, and under what circumstances. Using Theatre of the Oppressed techniques, the reported intervention addresses workplace harassment by challenging the normative codes governing social interactions in participants’ workplaces. The study’s analysis indicates that the intervention’s Theatre of the Oppressed activities energized the participating caregivers to imagine, enact and collectively assess new social interactions. The caregivers developed strategies to resist the oppressive relations of their employment and became competent contesters of dominant discourses circulating in their workplaces. The solidarity developed through the bodily sculptures and enacted scenarios elicited participants’ deliberative exchange about workplace harassment and awakened a collective will to carry their revelations back to their workplaces.

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“…To introduce it, Wanhua sent a Yantai‐based American HR manager to ‘set up a brainwashing course’ (Yang, : 43). ‘Lean management’, according to Janoski (: 89), combines decisions based on long‐term strategy rather than short‐term profit or cost goals; just‐in‐time inventory; a trusted network of suppliers integrated into planning; continuous improvement based on incremental change; and a protected core of permanent employees working in teams buffered by disposable temporary staff. In other words, it involves a combination of flexible production with long‐term strategic planning and team‐building.…”

Section: East West and ‘Bad Socialism’: Discourses Of Wanhua's Managmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The third, and most controversial, new management technique was the introduction of ‘lean management’ (Ch. jingyi siwei ), an organizational model derived from Japanese manufacturing practices and primarily associated with the Toyota production system, but globally adopted since the 1980s (Janoski, ). To introduce it, Wanhua sent a Yantai‐based American HR manager to ‘set up a brainwashing course’ (Yang, : 43).…”

Section: East West and ‘Bad Socialism’: Discourses Of Wanhua's Managmentioning

confidence: 99%

South–South? Culture Talk and Labour Relations at a Chinese‐owned Factory in Hungary

Nyíri¹,

2017

Development and Change

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In 2011, a large Hungarian chemical factory was acquired by a Chinese competitor. The resulting encounter between Chinese managers and Hungarian staff — which took place in the context of a harsh retrenchment that has curtailed the powers of organized labour in Hungary — highlights the inadequacy of dichotomies such as North/South, East/West and socialist/capitalist. As with other corporate acquisitions in Europe, Chinese managers expected to ‘learn’ from ‘advanced Western management practices’; instead, they found what they interpreted as a backward, ‘socialist’ work culture in need of modernization. For their part, Hungarian staff feared the imposition of a culturally inappropriate ‘Asian labour discipline’, but have come to see at least some of the changes as part of a necessary modernization. ‘Asian’, ‘European’, ‘Western’ and ‘socialist’ are floating signifiers used by both Chinese and Hungarian staff at the factory in various, often contradictory ways to justify management choices, staff resistance or individual preferences. As a result of their analysis, the authors suggest that discussions about the impact of Chinese investment on labour practices should recognize a wider range of contexts, including the presence of precarious socioeconomic environments within the so‐called ‘advanced economies’.

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The New Division of Labor as Lean Production

Cited by 37 publications

References 15 publications

Workplace regimes in Western Europe, 1995–2015: Implications for intensification, intrusion, income and insecurity

Workplace regimes in Western Europe, 1995–2015: Implications for intensification, intrusion, income and insecurity

Ameliorating Workplace Harassment among Direct Caregivers in Canada’s Healthcare System: A Theatre-Based Intervention

South–South? Culture Talk and Labour Relations at a Chinese‐owned Factory in Hungary

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