Management Practice or Structural Factors: The Case of America Versus Japan in the Car Industry
- 1 February 1995
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Economic and Industrial Democracy
- Vol. 16 (1) , 9-37
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831x9501600102
Abstract
This article analyses the determinants of Japanese success against America in the car industry. It examines the physical productive performance gap between the national sectors in terms of hours to build, and the financial performance of major companies in terms of value added and cash flow. It then outlines the pertinent structural variables before demonstrating their relevance to the competitive outcome in this case. The conclusion is that management action may be relevant to competition within national settlements, but structural variables are likely to be decisive in competition between social settlements where structural variables like wages and hours worked have different values.Keywords
This publication has 4 references indexed in Scilit:
- Deconstructing car assembler productivityInternational Journal of Production Economics, 1994
- The Myth of the Line: Ford's Production of the Model T at Highland Park, 1909–16Business History, 1993
- Ford versus `Fordism': The Beginning of Mass Production?Work, Employment & Society, 1992
- Against lean productionEconomy and Society, 1992