IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cbr/cbrwps/wp187.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Creative Work Systems in Destructive Markets

Author

Listed:
  • Sue Konzelmann
  • Robert Forrant

Abstract

In the United States, the past twenty years have been marked by significant restructuring of both financial and physical corporate assets designed to strengthen firms' relative market position either voluntarily or in response to the threat of take-over. Firms have also restructured work systems in an effort to improve production efficiency, product quality and flexibility. While most studies find that these new workplace techniques generate substantive productivity and quality gains and financial results that are equal if not superior to those associated with more traditional work systems, in the U.S., they have proven difficult to maintain. Diffusion is slow and not extensive; and even the most promising cases have either failed or come under extreme pressure, both internal and external. Using the productive systems approach, our study examines the inter-relationship between "creative" work systems and "destructive" markets using a sample of U.S. manufacturing firms in the metalworking, jet engine production and steel processing industries.

Suggested Citation

  • Sue Konzelmann & Robert Forrant, 2000. "Creative Work Systems in Destructive Markets," Working Papers wp187, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
  • Handle: RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp187
    Note: PRO-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/cbrwp187/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hart, Oliver, 1995. "Corporate Governance: Some Theory and Implications," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(430), pages 678-689, May.
    2. Jones,Bryn, 1997. "Forcing the Factory of the Future," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521572064, October.
    3. Stephen Hill, 1991. "Why Quality Circles Failed but Total Quality Management Might Succeed," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 29(4), pages 541-568, December.
    4. Beth Almeida, 1997. "Are Good Jobs Flying Away?: U.S. Aircraft Engine Manufacturing and Sustainable Prosperity," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_206, Levy Economics Institute.
    5. Sandra E. Black & Lisa M. Lynch, 2001. "How To Compete: The Impact Of Workplace Practices And Information Technology On Productivity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(3), pages 434-445, August.
    6. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1996. "What Firms Do? Coordination, Identity, and Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(5), pages 502-518, October.
    7. Kathleen R. Conner & C. K. Prahalad, 1996. "A Resource-Based Theory of the Firm: Knowledge Versus Opportunism," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(5), pages 477-501, October.
    8. Peter B. Doeringer & Christine Evans-Klock & David G. Terkla, 1998. "Hybrids or Hodgepodges? Workplace Practices of Japanese and Domestic Startups in the United States," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 51(2), pages 171-186, January.
    9. Wilkinson, Frank, 1983. "Productive Systems," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 7(3-4), pages 413-429, September.
    10. Ichniowski, Casey & Shaw, Kathryn & Prennushi, Giovanna, 1997. "The Effects of Human Resource Management Practices on Productivity: A Study of Steel Finishing Lines," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 291-313, June.
    11. William H. Lazonick & Mary O'Sullivan, 1997. "Corporate Governance and Corporate Employment: Is Prosperity Sustainable in the United States?," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_183, Levy Economics Institute.
    12. Kochan, Thomas A., 1996. "What works at work : overview and assessment," Working papers 3886-96., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Suzanne Konzelmann & Frank Wilkinson & Maria Hudson, 2002. "Partnership in Practice," Working Papers wp239, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    2. S. Deakin & R. Hobbs & S. Konzelmann & F. Wilkinson, 2001. "Partnership, Ownership and Control: The Impact of Corporate Governance on Employment Relations," Working Papers wp200, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Suzanne Konzelmann & Charles Craypo & Rabih Aridi & Frank Wilkinson, 2005. "The national varieties of capitalism: the cases of Wal-mart and Ikea," Working Papers wp314, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    2. W Barnes & Sue Konzelmann, 1999. "The Fragility of Functional Work Systems in American Steel," Working Papers wp137, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    3. Askenazy, Philippe & Caroli, Eve, 2006. "Innovative Work Practices, Information Technologies and Working Conditions: Evidence for France," IZA Discussion Papers 2321, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Derek C. Jones & Takao Kato, 2011. "The Impact of Teams on Output, Quality, and Downtime: An Empirical Analysis Using Individual Panel Data," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(2), pages 215-240, January.
    5. Andries de Grip & Inge Sieben, 2005. "The effects of human resource management on small firms' productivity and employees' wages," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(9), pages 1047-1054.
    6. Doeringer, Peter & Evans-Klock, Christine & Terkla, David, 2004. "What attracts high performance factories? Management culture and regional advantage," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 591-618, September.
    7. Peter Doeringer & Christine Evans-klock & David Terkla, 2005. "Management cultures and regional development: High performance management and the location of new manufacturing plants," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(6), pages 815-830, September.
    8. Carstensen, Vivian, 2002. "The From-Tayloristic-to-Holistic-Organization Model From an Empirical Perspective," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-256, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    9. Bellmann, Lutz & Cornelißen, Thomas & Hübler, Olaf & Pahnke, André, 2008. "Betriebliche Reorganisation, Entlohnung und Beschäftigungsstabilität (Organisational change, wages and job stability)," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 41(2/3), pages 259-285.
    10. Burdin, Gabriel & Kato, Takao, 2021. "Complementarity in Employee Participation Systems: International Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 14694, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Grip,Andries,de & Sieben,Inge, 2004. "The Effects of Human Resource Management on Workers' Wages and Firm Productivity," ROA Research Memorandum 001, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    12. Viete, Steffen & Erdsiek, Daniel, 2018. "Trust-based work time and the productivity effects of mobile information technologies in the workplace," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-013, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    13. Nicholas S. Argyres & Teppo Felin & Nicolai Foss & Todd Zenger, 2012. "Organizational Economics of Capability and Heterogeneity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(5), pages 1213-1226, October.
    14. John T. Addison, 2005. "The Determinants Of Firm Performance: Unions, Works Councils, And Employee Involvement/High‐Performance Work Practices," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 52(3), pages 406-450, July.
    15. Zwick, Thomas, 2003. "Works Councils and the Productivity Impact of Direct Employee Participation," ZEW Discussion Papers 03-47, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. Zwick, Thomas & Wolf, Elke, 2002. "Reassessing the Impact of High Performance Workplaces," ZEW Discussion Papers 02-07, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    17. Viete, Steffen & Erdsiek, Daniel, 2020. "Mobile Information Technologies and Firm Performance: The Role of Employee Autonomy," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    18. Luis Garicano & Yanhui Wu, 2012. "Knowledge, Communication, and Organizational Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(5), pages 1382-1397, October.
    19. Soufiane Mezzourh & Walid A Nakara, 2009. "Governance and innovation : A Knowledge-based approach [La gouvernance de l'innovation : une approche par la connaissance]," Post-Print halshs-01955966, HAL.
    20. Alex Bryson & Lucy Stokes & David Wilkinson, 2023. "Is pupil attainment higher in well-managed schools?," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 129-144, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    globalisation; corporate restructuring; production flexibility; shop-floor participation; steel processing; metalworking; jet engine production;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D29 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Other
    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
    • J58 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Public Policy
    • L61 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Metals and Metal Products; Cement; Glass; Ceramics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp187. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ruth Newman (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.