The similarities between the Group Technology (GT) Cell system and flow-line production are explored, with particular reference to the nature of the production systems, and worker organization. Several factors are identified which not only distinguish flow-line and GT cell design, but also give...

A small and simple questionnaire survey of UK production managers was undertaken in 1983. The objective was to collect information to help in curriculum design. The summary results presented may be of interest to those who teach this subject. Data were collected from 45 production managers (and...

Engineering is important to the UK economy, and engineering education is ipso facto important. There has been a lot of debate over the last few years, but little action has resulted. In a series of articles, Professor Ray Wild, Director of the Brunei University/Henley Administrative Staff...

In this second article, Ray Wild talks about one scheme which is tackling the problem of producing better engineers. He gives some of the background and details of the collaboration in which he is personally involved.

Readers will already know the broad basis of the so‐called ‘elitist’ engineering programmes, and have considered the views of the various parties on their value. In this article I propose to give some details of the Special Engineering Programme (SEP) of Brunel University in conjunction...

The principal hypothesis of this article is that because of changes taking place in the nature of manufacture in industry, the type of engineers and managers required for such work will also change.

This paper presents a review and classification of reported experiments in job design. The study is confined, in the main, to published experiments directed towards the improvement of the motivational content of blue‐collar jobs, and is intended principally to provide a reference source to...

Most of us have read and thought about job enlargement, job enrichment, job design and restructuring. Much has been said and written on these subjects, and perhaps we may now be forgiven if we are somewhat confused by the differences in methodology, terminology, perspectives, etc presented by...

The research group is collaborating with several industrial organizations in an action research programme aimed at examining the potential for improvements in the quality of the working life of shop‐floor employees and developing change programmes where appropriate.

The phenomenon of withdrawal from work has been the subject of numerous research studies, many of which have produced conflicting results. The variety of disciplines which have contributed to these studies has resulted in the lack of a common conceptual framework which makes it difficult to...