Search results

Previous studies have found general differences between non‐lean and lean production systems, but none of them have identified the major factors in supporting operations such as maintenance which are important in shifting the production from a non‐lean to a lean system. The purpose of this paper is to determine the major factors and parameters of maintenance operations that are most effective in enhancing production to a lean system.

A questionnaire is constructed and a direct mail survey is conducted in the greater Cincinnati/tri‐state region. The data collected are analyzed with SAS software using contingency tables with Fisher's exact test and a logistic regression analysis method.

The results show strong correlations between a lean production system and some of the major maintenance variables and parameters such as annual costs of maintenance personnel, parts/materials, and training.

The results of this study can be used as a guideline for engineers, experts and managers in order to monitor the maintenance operation during the transition process from a non‐lean to a lean production system.

The purpose of this chapter is to report on research that examined the perceptions of selected heads of Nigerian libraries about how gossip can assist in the management of libraries of all types. A survey was used to collect data from 40 heads of libraries in the south-west region of Nigeria. The questionnaire contained questions that related to the issues being investigated. The 30 responses (75%) received were processed, analyzed, and the results are presented herein. The study revealed that gossip has indeed helped library management in Nigeria. The heads of libraries reported that they derived some benefits from gossip which helped in decision making. Most respondents agreed that gossip might get out of hand, but said it should be monitored to be used as a positive tool in library management. While the study is limited to 30 libraries, it has applications to similar libraries across Nigeria, and even in other countries. This research provides a better understanding of the reasons why library managers and others should pay attention to gossip and to those behind it because of their influence. This study adds to the body of knowledge about gossip in libraries.

Presents 35 abstracts from the 2001 Employment Research Unit Annual conference held at Cardiff Business School in September 2001. Attempts to explore the theme of changing politics of employment relations beyond and within the nation state, against a background of concern in the developed economies at the erosion of relatively advanced conditions of work and social welfare through increasing competition and international agitation for more effective global labour standards. Divides this concept into two areas, addressing the erosion of employment standards through processes of restructuring and examining attempts by governments, trade unions and agencies to re‐create effective systems of regulation. Gives case examples from areas such as India, Wales, London, Ireland, South Africa, Europe and Japan. Covers subjects such as the Disability Discrimination Act, minimum wage, training, contract workers and managing change.

Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and shows that these are in many, differing, areas across management research from: retail finance; precarious jobs and decisions; methodological lessons from feminism; call centre experience and disability discrimination. These and all points east and west are covered and laid out in a simple, abstract style, including, where applicable, references, endnotes and bibliography in an easy‐to‐follow manner. Summarizes each paper and also gives conclusions where needed, in a comfortable modern format.

By the mid‐1990's it is becoming apparent that production techniques such as Just‐in‐Time, Total Quality Management and Continuous Improvement and human resource/industrial relations strategies such as single status and Performance Related Pay, have become increasingly prevalent in the British manufacturing sector. So much so that these expressions have become commonplace within management literature and the diffusion of the techniques within British industry can be described as a ‘mature area’. A move towards these manufacturing methods is due in part to the influence of Japanese establishments operating both in Japan and Britain, (see for example Oliver and Wilkinson, 1992; Mitton and McLoughlin, 1994).

This article examines teamworking in a call centre and how this is shaped for the employees by an increase in technical control, the dynamics of emotional labour and gender politics. The research is based on a case study of call centre work organisation in different sectors, and this paper draws specifically on ethnographic research on two teams and their managers in broadcasting. Drawing on theoretical insights, it suggests that teamworking results in a fundamental contradiction involving a “soft” discourse versus a regime of increasing managerial control. Participation is measured against Thompson and Wallace’s three‐dimensional notion of participation, showing that employees have little discretion over the way work is organised. The normative aspect of team organisation accommodates managerial coping strategies in conditions of staff shortage via numerical flexibility. However, management’s efforts to disguise control are resisted by employees who transform workplace discourses into an oppositional politics, shattering the illusion of unity promoted by the pundits of team organisation.

This paper aims to examine the evolution of the advertising agency and its offices in Australia over the course of the twentieth century. Historical accounts of advertising have paid scant attention to agencies’ attempts to organise and manage their offices, as well as the impact that these efforts has had on the work undertaken by agency staff.

This study draws on reports in the advertising industry press, as well as oral history testimony to examine the agencies’ changing layout and interior design. It identifies three distinct periods, which reveal the impact of modernist and post-industrialist ideas on the organisation and functions of the advertising agency’s offices and, indeed, their impact on the agency’s outputs.

This examination of the office space within the agency setting not only offers a new perspective of the advertising agency business as a whole but also demonstrates the importance of material culture for historians working across management, business and marketing fields.

The originality of this study lies in its use of material culture and space as a tool for examining management history and understanding its impact on everyday work practices. By charting the changes reflected in advertising agency office spaces, this study also offers a unique overview of the ways that management practices have historically interacted with business work spaces.