Teamwork in the automotive industry varies significantly from plant to plant. This article compares teamwork in four automobile plants in Germany and Britain, and addresses two questions: (1) Do different models of teamwork fit into a bi-polar model of teamwork, being either innovative or...

This paper presents and discusses two case studies in the Portuguese motor vehicle industry – Salvador Caetano’s Ovar Industrial Division (SCOID), a ‘Brownfield site’ with minority Toyota ownership; and Autoeuropa, a ‘Greenfield site’ wholly owned by Volkswagen. Basically, it...

The applicability of lean principles and practices to industrialized housing in Sweden are examined, taking the production culture into consideration. The factory production of industrialized housing shows apparent similarities to manufacturing, but areas related to fully integrated lean...

This paper reports the findings of a longitudinal study into manufacturing performance, lean production principles and buyer supplier relations in the Japanese, US and UK automotive industries. A total of 26 first tier component makers in the three countries were subject to detailed benchmarking...

En ny städningskultur inom komplexa företagsstrukturer relateras till kontextuella förhållanden mellan institutionella ägare och företagsledningars finansiella aktieägarperspektiv. Begreppen "Lean production och Lean company" får innebörd av att gå mot ett produktionsperspektiv där...

Over the past few decades there has been extensive reorganization of the construction industry in many developed countries including removal of head contractor companies from direct operational construction, elongation of the subcontracting chain, rising self-employment, casualization of work...

This paper examines the effect of product variety on manufacturing performance, defined here as total labor productivity and consumer-perceived product quality. Using data from the International Motor Vehicle Program (M.I.T.) study of 70 assembly plants worldwide, the paper examines three...

The transition to lean production is difficult. Creating and sustaining an organizational culture where learning and continuous improvement are a priority is a challenge. Assa Abloy is a multinational organization that focuses on quality and employee empowerment. In the last few years Assa Abloy...