rdf-syntax-grammar
mods:
  schema location: http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
  title info:
    title: Explaining Productivity Differences
    sub title: Comparative Analysis of Automotive Plants in Japan, the United States, Thailand and China
  name:
    name part: Shibata, Hiromichi.
    role:
      role term: creator
    role:
      role term: author.
  name:
    name part: SpringerLink (Online service)
  type of resource: text
  origin info:
    place:
      place term: si
    date issued: 2016
    issuance: monographic
  language:
    language term: eng
  physical description:
    form: electronic
    form: electronic resource
    reformatting quality: access
    form: remote
    extent: XI, 59 p. 1 illus. online resource.
  abstract: This book, in contrast with previous research and popular discussions that focus on the productivity of workers, identifies the critical influence of supervisors and engineers as key drivers of productivity differentials. To do so, it analyzes productivity at a Japanese car component plant and its three offshoot plants located in the United States, Thailand, and China and how productivity evolved at these plants from the mid-1990s to the early 2010s. The author’s participatory observation approach reveals that productivity and work practices converged to a limited degree over the years at all four plants. Particularly influential are the persistent differences at these plants in the extent to which workers learn how to combine and integrate their production skills with troubleshooting skills. Supervisors play a key role in developing this integration in Japan, while worker skills remain separated in the other countries. Integrated skill development is promoted in Japan through the trusting relationships that first-line supervisors enjoy with their workforce. In the plants abroad, in contrast, the persistence of workers’ control over their individual skill development and careers impedes the development of integrated skills. Manufacturing engineers at the Japanese mother plant also play key linking roles, thereby enhancing communications and problem-solving on the shop floor, whereas manufacturing engineers at the US, Thai, and Chinese plants play more limited and compartmentalized roles. As a result, productivity remains high in Japan and lags in the other plants. Surprisingly, Japanese managers remain reluctant to introduce these more productive work practices in the offshoot plants.
  table of contents: 1. Introduction -- 2. The Mother Plant in Japan and Its Transplants in the United States -- 3. The Transplants in Thailand and China -- 4. Conclusion.
  note: by Hiromichi Shibata.
  subject:
    topic: Business
  subject:
    topic: Leadership
  subject:
    topic: Production management
  subject:
    topic: International business enterprises
  subject:
    topic: Automobile industry and trade
  subject:
    topic: Labor economics
  subject:
    topic: Business and Management
  subject:
    topic: Production
  subject:
    topic: International Business
  subject:
    topic: Automotive Industry
  subject:
    topic: Labor Economics
  subject:
    topic: Business Strategy/Leadership
  classification: TS155-TS194
  classification: 658.5
  related item:
    title info:
      title: Springer eBooks
  related item:
    title info:
      title: SpringerBriefs in Business
  identifier: 9789811019593
  identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1959-3
  record info:
    record creation date: 160726
    record change date: 20160726140431.0
    record identifier: 978-981-10-1959-3