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The Role of Social Agency in the Application of New Organisation and Management Strategies Employee Responses to HRM Packages in Three UK Automotive Companies

The Role of Social Agency in the Application of New Organisation and Management Strategies... Management Research News Volume 15 Number 5/6 1992 13 of maturity. In the British owned company, the new man­ The Role of Social Agency in the agement strategies have existed for a number of years. Application of New Organisation Recently, the company has decided to implement a full range of HRM initiatives under the heading of Japanisation. and Management Strategies: Of the two US companies, the first is the world leader and Employee Responses to HRM has introduced new management strategies with a distinc­ Packages in Three UK Automotive tive pattern of union adaptation. The second US company Companies has utilised new management strategies piecemeal after significant union opposition. In both of these companies, Philip Garrahan (Teeside Polytechnic) and Paul Stewart union and shopfloor employee responses will be con­ (Cardiff Business School) sidered. Current debates about new management strategies The paper is an interim report on research of in-depth exhibit a marked tendency to regard economic, political interviews and questionnaire data which builds upon the and social changes largely as though they amount to the three existing plant-based studies, emphasising the need end of an old era and the beginning of something new. New for understanding the local specification in a general trend production arrangements have been envisaged before, towards new management techniques. The local context usually with reference to the transitionary period of indus­ will be interpreted as a key mediating feature in the im­ trial development around the late 1960s and early 1970s. plementation of new management strategies and will fur­ Others have described current transitions to new manage­ ther develop the social consequences approach. ment arrangements variously as part of Post Fordism, of Japanisation, of Lean Production, or of Toyotaism. References Fucini, J. and Fucini S. (1990), Working for the Japanese, These paradigms make assumptions about new Free Press. management strategies with varying degrees of certainty about their success. Even where they differ over the Garrahan, P. and Stewart, P. (1992), The Nissan engima perceived wisdom of this success, they assume the con­ vergence to one form of organisational arrangements Jurgens, U. (1989), "The transfer of Japanese manage­ together with an associated package of HRM strategies. ment concepts in the international automobile industry", in Whilst each of these approaches, particularly Toyotaism, S. Wood (ed.), The transformation of work?, Unwin and indicates a social attribute to new management strategies, Hyman. this assumes the role of dependent requisite rather than relatively independent agency. Jurgens et al (1989) per­ Parker, M. and Slaughter, J. (1988), Choosing sides, Labor ceive the importance of social agency, but they neverthe­ Notes. less imply a degree of technical superiority in the conditions for success. However, this allows for the possi­ bility of a social consequences approach. Yet again, the problem with the social consequences approach is that it omits a proper estimation of the char­ acter of new management strategies' adaptations through local configurations. In the context of the social conse­ quences approach to new management strategies in the international automotive industry, there have been three attempts to respond to the weaknesses of global generali­ sation (Parker and Slaughter, 1989; Fucini and Fucini, 1990; and Garrahan and Stewart, 1992). Whatever the particular merits of these responses, their weakness derives precisely from being rooted in the study of one plant. The social consequences perspective needs to recognise the diversity of new management strategies even within the same company. The aim of this paper is to provide an inter-company comparison of the social responses to the implementation and development of new management strategies within the automative sector. Three companies (one British, two US) are reported on, where new management strategies and their associated HRM packages are in varying stages http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Management Research News Emerald Publishing

The Role of Social Agency in the Application of New Organisation and Management Strategies Employee Responses to HRM Packages in Three UK Automotive Companies

Garrahan, Philip; Stewart, Paul
Management Research News , Volume 15 (5/6): 1 – May 1, 1992
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Emerald Publishing
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Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN
0140-9174
DOI
10.1108/eb028209
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Abstract

Management Research News Volume 15 Number 5/6 1992 13 of maturity. In the British owned company, the new man­ The Role of Social Agency in the agement strategies have existed for a number of years. Application of New Organisation Recently, the company has decided to implement a full range of HRM initiatives under the heading of Japanisation. and Management Strategies: Of the two US companies, the first is the world leader and Employee Responses to HRM has introduced new management strategies with a distinc­ Packages in Three UK Automotive tive pattern of union adaptation. The second US company Companies has utilised new management strategies piecemeal after significant union opposition. In both of these companies, Philip Garrahan (Teeside Polytechnic) and Paul Stewart union and shopfloor employee responses will be con­ (Cardiff Business School) sidered. Current debates about new management strategies The paper is an interim report on research of in-depth exhibit a marked tendency to regard economic, political interviews and questionnaire data which builds upon the and social changes largely as though they amount to the three existing plant-based studies, emphasising the need end of an old era and the beginning of something new. New for understanding the local specification in a general trend production arrangements have been envisaged before, towards new management techniques. The local context usually with reference to the transitionary period of indus­ will be interpreted as a key mediating feature in the im­ trial development around the late 1960s and early 1970s. plementation of new management strategies and will fur­ Others have described current transitions to new manage­ ther develop the social consequences approach. ment arrangements variously as part of Post Fordism, of Japanisation, of Lean Production, or of Toyotaism. References Fucini, J. and Fucini S. (1990), Working for the Japanese, These paradigms make assumptions about new Free Press. management strategies with varying degrees of certainty about their success. Even where they differ over the Garrahan, P. and Stewart, P. (1992), The Nissan engima perceived wisdom of this success, they assume the con­ vergence to one form of organisational arrangements Jurgens, U. (1989), "The transfer of Japanese manage­ together with an associated package of HRM strategies. ment concepts in the international automobile industry", in Whilst each of these approaches, particularly Toyotaism, S. Wood (ed.), The transformation of work?, Unwin and indicates a social attribute to new management strategies, Hyman. this assumes the role of dependent requisite rather than relatively independent agency. Jurgens et al (1989) per­ Parker, M. and Slaughter, J. (1988), Choosing sides, Labor ceive the importance of social agency, but they neverthe­ Notes. less imply a degree of technical superiority in the conditions for success. However, this allows for the possi­ bility of a social consequences approach. Yet again, the problem with the social consequences approach is that it omits a proper estimation of the char­ acter of new management strategies' adaptations through local configurations. In the context of the social conse­ quences approach to new management strategies in the international automotive industry, there have been three attempts to respond to the weaknesses of global generali­ sation (Parker and Slaughter, 1989; Fucini and Fucini, 1990; and Garrahan and Stewart, 1992). Whatever the particular merits of these responses, their weakness derives precisely from being rooted in the study of one plant. The social consequences perspective needs to recognise the diversity of new management strategies even within the same company. The aim of this paper is to provide an inter-company comparison of the social responses to the implementation and development of new management strategies within the automative sector. Three companies (one British, two US) are reported on, where new management strategies and their associated HRM packages are in varying stages

Journal

Management Research News – Emerald Publishing

Published: May 1, 1992

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