Research on organisational learning is limited in three ways; in terms of the type of organisation and the type of employees which are seen to benefit from a learning culture; and in terms of the consensual assumptions made about the nature of learning within the workplace, assumptions which...

This article is concerned with exploring changes in the organisation of work in the graphical industry. The aim is to examine the link between employer attempts to restructure work and resilience of the prevailing machinery of collective regulation within the sector. It is structured around...

Gauges of the extent of the managerial hierarchy drawn from occupational classifications appear to promise a comprehensive and precise overview of cross‐national comparative developments in work organisation. This paper considers the plausibility of the national historical shifts apparent from...

Natural workgroups are an important if rarely acknowledged aspect of job design; their distinctive features reflect a radical notion of worker choice and task structuring based on “natural” work methods, i.e. common‐sense understandings of how tasks should be accomplished. The article...

Creating a more responsive organisation and securing flexible access to skill is becoming a critical success requirement. Large bureaucratic organisations are becoming aware of the vulnerability of size where it is not accompanied by responsiveness and flexibility. Skill shortages have become a...

Organizations are being forced to contend with an increasingly diverse range of influential factors which have implications for their efficiency and effectiveness. Such factors are likely to create a cumulative spiral of pressures for organization members and render them susceptible to the...

This article is concerned with three key approaches to the implications of Japanese involvement in the UK. It is argued that the paradigms of the so‐called Japanization and lean production schools are inadequate to the task of resolving the sociological implications of Japanese investment and...

Contrasts theories of the “Japanization” of British industry with empirical evidence from established car producers in that industry. Suggests that while the UK car industry has been heavily influenced by Japanese methods, established producers follow policies marked by indigenous influences...

This paper reports the findings of a study into 12 UK and nine Japanese automotive component plants. Compared to the UK plants, the Japanese plants showed a 60 per cent superiority on productivity and a 9:1 superiority in quality. Detailed examination of work structures on the shopfloor revealed...

Examines the reform of NHS employment practices focusing on managerial attempts to alter pay and working practices within NHS Trusts. It draws on case study evidence to illustrate the difficulties that have confronted managers in making radical changes in employment practices. It is argued that,...