Routledge Global Japanization?: The Transnational Transformation of the Labour Process (Routledge Library Editions: Japan)

Product Description Global Japaniziation? Brings together research from North America, Japan, Europe and Latin America to analyse the influence of Japanese manufacturing investment and Japanese working practices across the global economy. The editors present original case studies of work reorganization and workers’ experiences within both Japanese companies and those of their competitors in diverse sectors and national settings. These studies provide a wide-ranging critique of conventional accounts of Japanese models of management and production, and their implications for employees. They offer new evidence and fresh perspectives on the role of "transplants" in disseminating manufacturing innovations, and on the responses of non-Japanese firm in reorganizing production operations and industrial relations. From the Back Cover Global Japanization? brings together a collection of articles exploring the impact of Japanese manufacturing investment and the adoption of Japanese working practices on a cross-national basis. Key issues are explored through a range of national and sectoral studies of work reorganization and work experience within Japanese companies and their competitors. Original case studies are employed to support a wide-ranging critique of the established view of the 'Japanese model' of work organization. Alternative models, as in the Swedish and Italian cases, are discussed in depth. Drawing on international research, this volume sheds new light on an important and often controversial debate centring on Japanese working practices. It will be of great interest to students and researchers in the sociology of work, organizational sociology and international business.