Benchmarking is a topic which is currently attracting considerable interest among both academics and practitioners in the manufacturing community. Yet little has been written about the assumptions which lie behind benchmarking. As a process, benchmarking remains poorly understood. Describes a...

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...

The Japanization debate in the UK has moved considerably since first mooted in 1987. On the one hand academics ‐ advocates as well as sceptics ‐ have questioned its continued usefulness as an analytical framework. On the other, there has been greater sophistication, refinement and clarity on...

The message from James Lowe's presentation at the FMF Conference came through loud and clear: the UK's performance in comparison with other EEC countries is grim. We are 7th in terms of comparative consumer spending; by 1976 our national income per head will be 7th (with only Italy and Ireland...

The management practices of three organisations in the computer industry, one North American, one Japanese and one British owned are described. Although operating in similar marketplaces, markedly different management styles and practices were apparent, with the British company showing much less...