Much is stated and written about the new world of work but how much do we know about the contemporary workplace? What influence have Japanese management techniques (Just-in-Time Production and Total Quality Management, for example) had on the way work is organized in `transplants', and more broadly in other firms and sectors? Have the systems and mechanisms of control changed radically in recent years, or are they much the same as they have always been? Rick Delbridge sought an answer to these questions at first hand by working on the shopfloor in a Japanese consumer electronics transplant and a European automotive components supplier in order to witness and experience life on the line in contemporary manufacturing. His book is in a long tradition of ethnographic research in industrial sociology and management/labour studies. Not only does he offer rich empirical data on the lived reality of work and a management practice that may share little in common with that found in the textbooks; he also raises a number of important issues about the best ways to understand the complex and changing nature of work. The book will be essential reading for those wishing to understand the reality of the contemporary workplace, the diffusion of Japanese management practices, and the various influences brought to bear on the organization of work.

Examining the UK's manufacturing sector, this book features contributions from specialists in business, management, economics, organizational behaviour and economic geography. Subjects covered include: the nature of change in the management of manufacturing organizations; the significance of manufacturing in the mature economies of the 21st century; the impact of Japanese companies and methods; the implications of de-industrialization; comparative analysis of British, Japanese and American electronics manufacturers; the regional political economy of manufacturing; the changing nature of buyer-supplier relations; and the prospects for manufacturing renewal in the UK. Detailed and topical, this book should be of interest to business students, researchers and public policy makers.

Examining the UK's manufacturing sector, this book features contributions from specialists in business, management, economics, organizational behaviour and economic geography. Subjects covered include: the nature of change in the management of manufacturing organizations; the significance of manufacturing in the mature economies of the 21st century; the impact of Japanese companies and methods; the implications of de-industrialization; comparative analysis of British, Japanese and American electronics manufacturers; the regional political economy of manufacturing; the changing nature of buyer-supplier relations; and the prospects for manufacturing renewal in the UK. Detailed and topical, this book should be of interest to business students, researchers and public policy makers.

Most businesses face the choice of either competing on the 'low road' of cost, or the 'high road' of innovation and value. Much the same goes for national economies and the UK is no exception. But how do businesses - and the people who manage them - go beyond the policy prescription and the easy exhortation to make that shift, to manage change and go well beyond business as usual? This ground-breaking book - the combined insight of some of the best minds in management, grouped together in the Advanced Institute of Management Research - does just that. It presents a clear and crisp analysis of the context and the challenge; and offers managers a range of ideas on how to develop the competences, practices and values that can make a difference. It is essential reading for policy makers, analysts, academics, and managers to be who want to make a different future.

In recent years there has been a weight of evidence suggesting that engagement has a significantly positive impact on productivity, performance and organisational advocacy, as well as individual wellbeing, and a significantly negative impact on intent to quit and absenteeism from the work place. This comprehensive new book is unique as it brings together, for the first time, psychological and critical HRM perspectives on engagement as well as their practical application. Employee Engagement in Theory and Practice will familiarise readers with the concepts and core themes that have been explored in research and their application in a business context via a set of carefully chosen and highly relevant original and case studies, some of which are co-authored by invited practitioners. Written in an accessible manner, this book will be essential reading for scholars in the field, students studying at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as practitioners interested in finding out more about the theoretical underpinnings of engagement alongside its practical application.

Presenting cutting-edge ethnographic research on contemporary worlds of work and the experiences of workers from a range of contexts, Volume 35 of Research in the Sociology of Work offers fine-grained, exploratory ethnographic data to provide insights unmatched by other research methods. Conscious of the social and economic upheaval that continues to transform the contemporary workplace and the wider landscape for workers across the globe, Ethnographies of Work, the first of two parts, features analyses of working from home, the gig economy, the food delivery sector, digital nomadism, workplace inequalities, the hospitality industry, and an alternative community. Rooted in ethnographic research, chapters also include ethnographers’ reflections on their experiences in careers outside of academia, as well as their personal feelings of precarity both within and beyond the field to create an enriched volume that makes the most of ethnographic through its representation in a variety of written forms.

In recent years there has been a weight of evidence suggesting that engagement has a significantly positive impact on productivity, performance and organisational advocacy, as well as individual wellbeing, and a significantly negative impact on intent to quit and absenteeism from the work place. This comprehensive new book is unique as it brings together, for the first time, psychological and critical HRM perspectives on engagement as well as their practical application. Employee Engagement in Theory and Practice will familiarise readers with the concepts and core themes that have been explored in research and their application in a business context via a set of carefully chosen and highly relevant original and case studies, some of which are co-authored by invited practitioners. Written in an accessible manner, this book will be essential reading for scholars in the field, students studying at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as practitioners interested in finding out more about the theoretical underpinnings of engagement alongside its practical application.

Most businesses face the choice of either competing on the 'low road' of cost, or the 'high road' of innovation and value. Much the same goes for national economies and the UK is no exception. But how do businesses - and the people who manage them - go beyond the policy prescription and the easy exhortation to make that shift, to manage change and go well beyond business as usual?
This ground-breaking book - the combined insight of some of the best minds in management, grouped together in the Advanced Institute of Management Research - does just that. It presents a clear and crisp analysis of the context and the challenge; and offers managers a range of ideas on how to develop the competences, practices and values that can make a difference. It is essential reading for policy makers, analysts, academics, and managers to be who want to make a different future.

What influence have Japanese management techniques (Just-in Time-Production and Total Quality Management, for example) had on the way work is organized in `transplants', and more broadly in other firms and sectors? Rick Delbridge sought an answer to these questions by working on the shopfloor in a Japanese consumer electronics transplant and a European automotive components supplier in order to witness and experience life on the line in contemporary manufacturing. He offers rich empirical data on the lived reality of work and a management practice that may share little in common with that found in the textbooks; he also raises a number of important issues about the best ways to understand the complex and changing nature of work.