Table Of ContentWork Organizational Reforms
and Employment Relations in
the Automotive Industry
General Motors (GM)’s attempt to adapt the renowned Toyota production
system for its own automotive manufacturing plants had historically
produced disappointing results. Why was it not sufficiently successful? This
book aims to shed insights into GM’s failed attempt through the analysis of
work organization reforms and labor–management relations on production-
system efficiency.
The book examines collective bargaining agreements between automakers
and the United Auto Workers union and the arbitration rulings in retrospect
to illuminate the critical role continuous improvement activities initiated
by production workers would play in enhancing performance management.
It also looks at the impact of the meritocratic system in Japanese auto
plants on performance success. As GM begins operations at its new electric
vehicle assembly plant, Factory Zero, the book analyses the challenges of
such production for both employment relations and workforce deployment.
The book will be a useful reference for those interested in a comparative
study of management styles and a better understanding of Japanese
manufacturing practices.
Kenichi Shinohara is Professor at the Division of Business Administration,
Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan.
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Work Organizational Reforms and Employment Relations in the
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Work Organizational Reforms
and Employment Relations in
the Automotive Industry
American Employment Relations
in Transition
Kenichi Shinohara
First published 2022
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
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© 2022 Kenichi Shinohara
The right of Kenichi Shinohara to be identified as author of this work has been
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Shinohara, Kenichi, author.
Title: Work organizational reforms and employment relations in the
automotive industry : American employment relations in transition /
Kenichi Shinohara.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2023.
| Series: Routledge focus on business & management | Includes
bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2022009044 (print) | LCCN 2022009045 (ebook) | ISBN
9781032252704 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032252728 (paperback) | ISBN
9781003282426 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Automobile industry workers--United States. | Automobile
industry workers--Japan. | Automobile industry and trade--United
States--Personnel management. | Automobile industry and
trade--Japan--Personnel management. | General Motors
Corporation--Personnel management. | Toyota Jidōsha Kabushiki
Kaisha--Personnel management.
Classification: LCC HD8039.A82 U765 2023 (print) | LCC HD8039.A82
(ebook)
| DDC 331.7/62920973--dc23/eng/20220222
LC record available at https://lccn. loc .gov /2022009044
LC ebook record available at https://lccn. loc .gov /2022009045
ISBN: 9781032252704 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781032252728 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003282426 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003282426
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Contents
List of figures vi
List of tables vii
Preface viii
Acknowledgments xii
1 Achievements and challenges of work organization reform in
the US auto industry: An overview of the research 1
2 The development of seniority rights and establishment of
rules for job transfer and promotion in the United States:
General Motors Corporation 22
3 Work organization reform (1): The case of General Motors
Plant A 37
4 Work organization reform at General Motors (2) 51
5 GM’s Global Manufacturing System (GMS) and the Union 69
6 Conclusion 86
Index 93
Figures
3.1 Relationship among occupation groups in body
department and representative hourly wage rate and
worker numbers for each (1993) 41
3.2 Relationship among occupation groups in body
department and representative hourly wage rate and
worker numbers for each (1990) 43
3.3 Occupational groups in body department (bold type), job
classifications within each group (in parentheses), and
hourly wage rates (1993) 44
4.1 The continuous improvement cycle in Japanese
automakers. 1. Merit system in the workplace makes it
possible to conduct kaizen activities. 2. Kaizen activities
led to a reduction in man-hours. 3. Reduced man-hours
leads to a reduction in necessary personnel. 4. Reduced
personnel does not mean layoffs, as excellent operators
can now get promoted. 5. Promotion reinforces the merit
system 54
4.2 Simplified organizational chart of GM 59
4.3 Quality control: Verification stations 66
5.1 Conceptual diagram of the basic criteria for BIQ Level 3
certification under GMS 74
5.2 Multiple verification stations added to the quality
control process 76
5.3 Policy focus of union and management 80
Tables
1.1 Framework for analyzing the union’s roles in governance
and management at GM Saturn 11
2.1 Changes made to Article 63 in the 16 National Agreements
(1940 to 1979) and related arbitration cases and awards 27
5.1 Overview of Quality Control Metrics at BIQ Level 3 75
5.2 Built-in-quality Level III Absolutes 75
5.3 New UAW–GM council structure (2015–) 79
5.4 Changes in the influence of different functions and positions 80
Preface
This book describes work organization reform and labor–management
relationships in the US auto industry, focusing on the auto plants of General
Motors, which has used Toyota as a benchmark. The book is based on
research of primary sources and personal interviews.
GM began making efforts to apply the Toyota production system in its
plants in the 1980s, but labor–management relationships were unhealthy
and reforms were less than successful, and in 2009 GM declared bankruptcy.
Following this, reforms in the production system were further accelerated,
but improvements in employment relations have been insufficient. In sum,
GM’s performance management system is not functioning well compared
to that of Toyota.
Unlike Toyota, which has a robust internal promotion system—Toyota’s
current vice president is a former production worker—GM has been unable
to bridge the labor–management gap. With the potential work improvement
contributions of production workers not being fully utilized, GM plants do
not operate smoothly.
Discussion of work organization reform increased in the United States
starting in the 1980s, and the “team concept,” which is a prominent feature
of the Japanese workplace, has attracted much attention. GM has tried to
introduce teams modeled on the Toyota production system. The objective
of this book is to show why work organization reform has not progressed in
the US auto industry as much as hoped for.
Existing research studies on this topic are lacking with regard to the
following points:
1) The viewpoint of “performance management” in work organization
reform
2) Accurate understanding of work organization in Japan, such as the
roles of continuous improvement activities (kaizen) and meritocracy
for rank-and-file workers
Preface ix
This book considers and explores these points, based on an analysis of primary
sources (e.g., labor contracts and arbitration records) and personal interviews.
Existing books in English have focused on how “team collaboration”
and “autonomy” of production workers can improve factory production
efficiency. However, the fact that workers’ continuous improvement
activities are the basis of “performance management” of the entire plant,
and the critical role played by meritocracy in Japanese auto plants, has not
been revealed or explained in any English book.
As production workers are key to the success of any manufacturing
system based on the Japanese model, cooperative labor–management
relations are critical. To understand labor–management relationships in the
US auto industry, it is necessary to examine and understand the background
behind collective bargaining agreements between the automakers and the
United Auto Workers union, as well as arbitration rulings that have helped
shape those agreements. This book is the first to describe those agreements
and the disputes and discussions that accompany them.
Most of the research activities for this study have been conducted in
Michigan. The periods when direct interviews were conducted are noted
in the footnotes of each chapter. Outside of the interview period described
above, I occasionally visited Michigan to gather materials and information.
In addition, I have already written books on this subject in Japanese, but this
book is a new version of those books with significant changes, additions,
and corrections.
Chapter 1: Achievements and challenges of work
organization reform in the US auto industry: An overview
of the research
This chapter reviews previous research studies on US work organization
reform. Many of these studies focus on Japanese work organization
characteristics, such as the “team concept” at Japanese auto plants. However,
examinations of performance management in the United States are lacking.
This book builds on survey and field research in order to fill the gap left by
other studies and elucidate the current state of work organization reform in
the US auto industry.
Chapter 2: The development of seniority rights and
establishment of rules for job transfer and promotion in
the United States: General Motors Corporation
This chapter traces the historical evolution of seniority rights and rules for
job transfer and promotion at US auto plants through the 1980s. Traditional
