Breaking from Taylorism: Changing Forms of Work in the Automobile Industry

In this book, the future of one of the world’s most important industries is examined from the perspective of work structures and labour relations policies. The authors examine the restructuring of the world automobile industry in the 1980s, and draw data from an in-depth empirical study of three leading car companies in three different countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. They demonstrate that the different strategies employed by firms and trades unions in industrial relations, and different national characteristics, have had a major impact on the dismantling of Taylorism and Fordism and the introduction of new structures of work. This book is an important contribution to the study of change in mass production industries throughout the world. It will be of interest to students of industrial relations and industrial sociology, as well as specialists in government and business.