In the search of remedies to the industrial crisis of the Western world, lean production has been promoted as the proper answer to productivity problems. Furthermore, this mode of production is claimed to offer challenging and rewarding work at the level of production, thus fostering the reinvolvement of the rank and file. The arguments put forward in this article speak in favour of the opposite conclusion. This is done by discussing the economic logic behind lean production as well as the technology materializing from this logic that is, the characteristics of the production paradigm itself. According to the conclusion coming from this discussion, lean production will mean loss of autonomy and further intensification of work. Within such a context resistance will appear as a more probable reaction than creative involvement.
References
1.
Abernathy, W.J.
(1978) The Productivity Dilemma. Roadblock to Innovation in the Automobile Industry. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
2.
Berner, B. (1985) Den komplicerade kvalifikationen. Tankar och resultatfrln fransk arbetslivsforskning. Lund: Sociologiska Institutionen.
3.
Best, M.H.
(1990) The New Competition. Institutions of Industrial Restructuring. Cambridge: Polity Press.
4.
Bidaux, J.M. (1983) 'Le Cycle et la chaine: les ouvriers manient le derailleur', Economie et humanisme 269: 8-13.
5.
Bouchut, Y. (1988) 'Technologie et organisation dans la croise du systeme automobile japonais', in C. Mercier (ed.), Japon. Strate;gies industrielles et enjeux sociaux. Lyon: Presses Universitaires de Lyon.
6.
Chandler, A.
(1977) The Visible Hand. The Managerial Revolution in American Business. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
7.
Coriat, B.
(1991) Penser a l'envers. Paris: Christian Bourgois Editeur.
8.
Doshe, K.
, U. Jurgens and T. Malsh (1985) 'From Taylorism to Toyotism? The Social Organization of the Labour Process in the Japanese Automobile Industry', Politics and Society14(2): 115-146.
9.
Eilon, S.
(1962) Elements of Production Planning and Control. London: Macmillan.
10.
Gorz, A.
(1985) Paths to Paradise. London: Pluto Press.
11.
Hyman, R.
(1988) 'Flexible Specialization: Miracle or Myth?' in R. Hyman and W. Streeck (eds), New Technology and Industrial Relations. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
12.
Hyman, R.
and W. Streeck (1988) New Technology and Industrial Relations. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
13.
Imai, M. (1990) Kaizen. La clef de la compdtitivite japonaise. Paris: Eyrolles.
14.
Jacot, J.H. (1990) Du Fordisme au Toyotisme. Les voies de la modernisation du syst6me automobile en France et Japon. Paris: La Documentation Frangaise.
15.
Kawanishi, H.
(1992)Enterprise Unions in Japan. London: Kegan Paul International.
16.
Kumazawa, M.
and J. Yamada (1989) 'Jobs and Skills under the Lifelong Nenko Employment Practice', in S. Wood (ed.), The Transformation of Work?London: Unwin Hyman.
17.
Linhardt, D. (1981) L'appel de la sirene. Paris: Le Sycomore.
18.
Linhardt, D. (1982) 'Au-dela de la norme', Culture technique 8: 91-8.
19.
Lysgaard, S. (1976) Arbeiderkollektivet. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
20.
Maurice, M., F. Sellier and J.J. Silvestre (1982) Politique d'education et organisation industrielle en France et en Allemagne. Paris: PUF.
21.
Milkman, R.
(1992) 'The Impact of Foreign Investment on US Industrial Relations: The Case of California's Japanese-owned Plants', Economic and Industrial Democracy13(2): 151-182.
22.
Monden, Y.
(1983) Toyota Production System. Practical Approach to Production Management. New York: Industrial Engineering and Management Press.
23.
Mueller, F.
and J. Purcell (1992) 'The Europeanization of Manufacturing and the Decentralization of Bargaining: Multinational Management Strategies in the European Automobile Industry', International Journal of Human Resource Management3: 15-34.
24.
Nilssen, T. and E. Skorstad (1994) Just-in-time en produksjonsform for norsk industri? Trondheim: Tapir.
25.
Ohno, T.
(1990) L'esprit Toyota. Paris: Masson.
26.
Roethlisberger, F.J.
and W.J. Dickson (1964) Management and the Worker. New York: Wiley.
27.
Roldan, M.
(1993) 'Industrial Restructuring, Deregulation and New JIT Labour Processes in Argentina: Towards a Gender-aware Perspective', IDS Bulletin24(2): 42-52.
28.
Schonberger, R.
(1986) World Class Manufacturing. The Lessons of Simplicity Applied. New York: Free Press.
29.
Shingo, S. (1984) Den nya Japanske produktionsfilosofin. Liding0/G0teborg: Svenska Managementgruppen/MYSIGMA.
30.
Skorstad, E. (1993) Fra menneske til maskin. Teknologisk utvikling og endringer i arbeidsvilkar. Oslo: Ad Notam Gylendal.
31.
Sorge, A. and M. Warner (1986) Comparative Factory Organization. An AngloGerman Comparison ofManagementandManpowerinManufacturing. Aldershot: Gower.
32.
Thompson, P.
(1989) The Nature of Work. London: Macmillan.
33.
Taylor, F.W.
(1947) Scientific Management. New York and London: Harper & Row.
34.
Voss, C.
and D. Clutterbuck (1989) Just-in-Time. A Global Status Report. Berlin: IFS Publications/Springer-Verlag.
35.
Womack, J.P.
, D.T. Jones and D. Ross (1990) The Machine that Changed the World. New York: Rawson Assocs.
36.
Yamashina, H., A. Arnstrom and P. Grondahl (1982) Japansk tillvirkningsfilosofi och Kanbansystemet. Stockholm: IVF-resultat.
