Strategies of Organization of Production and Management of Labor

The "Lean" system

• Developed at Toyota from the 50's on
• Emphasis on quality
• Continuous improvement in the production process, but in quality and efficiency
• Requires tight integration of the production team -- see TQM
• Intensifies labor-result of increases in efficiency
• Not very flexible in response to varying demand and production schedule
• Tends to demand overtime on short notice
• May require substantial inventory of manufactured products and of parts in order to "even out" production in the face of varying demand

Total Quality Management (TQM):

• This is a set of organizational and management practices that were developed to go along with the Lean system
• Demming's ideas: workers know the most about the production process, must reduce social distance and conflict between workers and management in order to get the workers to give up their information and be committed to a quality product. Poor quality is always the management's fault, workers almost always do the best they can. Physical distance and income difference between labor and management should be small.
• "Quality Circles" are groups of workers that meet regularly to work out improvements in production, particularly in quality.

The "Agile" system"

• Developed by U. S. manufacturers and management theorists in the '90s, implement in various places, e. g., auto plants in Brazil
• Similar to the "just in time" system in apparel manufacture: No inventory, products only made just before they are to be delivered. Homely example: In 'n Out burgers.
• Requires great flexibility among workers, either overtime or a workforce divided into permanent vs. temporary and part-time. These latter only work when needed.
• "Outsourcing"-contracting out stages of production to smaller independent firms. Part-time workers may be concentrated in these firms.
• Tightly integrated teams of the Lean system cannot work here
• Company may promote union to try to get workers to cooperate. Example: Levi-Strauss
• Continues trend to improve production continuously, as in the lean system. Intensifies labor by removing any place that workers can relax.
• Obviously, promotes insecurity for many workers

Skilled workers:

• Pain in the neck for employers, because they are hard to replace, and therefore have some power over the way that a job is done. Example: construction crane operator
• Capitalists seek technological improvements to get rid of skilled workers-e.g., automated computer programs, automated machine tools.
• Capitalist seek alternate supplies of skilled workers at lower cost. E. g., computer programming outsourced to India

CONCLUSION: Within the framework of capitalist relatonship at work, workers are in for less and less power over there work.