Against Japanization: understanding the reorganization of British manufacturing
| Date | 01 June 1998 |
| Pages | 237-247 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425459810228306 |
| Published date | 01 June 1998 |
| Author | Stephen Procter,Stephen Ackroyd |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
Against
Japanization
237
Against Japanization:
understanding the
reorganization of British
manufacturing
Stephen Procter
School of Management and Finance, University of Nottingham, UK,
and
Stephen Ackroyd
Management School, University of Lancaster, UK
Introduction
The conviction that there is a workable new pattern for manufacturing
originated by the Japanese which can and should be adopted in other countries,
has been taken seriously by many people in this country for more than ten
years. The Japanization thesis, as this mixture of ideas and exhortations is often
called, links together some related questions concerning British manufacturing
and proposes some simple answers to them. More effective means of
manufacture are needed: why else is British manufacture unprofitable and in
decline? The Japanese have manifestly developed such means: why else are our
markets crowded with cheap but good quality Japanese goods? Japanese
production methods clearly contain some novel and effective features: why
should we not import, or, in some cases, re-import them? For these reasons, it
seems obvious that British industry can and should adopt Japanese production
methods. Given the economy and simplicity of this argument, it is hardly
surprising that there should be some convinced exponents of Japanization,
especially amongst management practitioners (Wickens, 1993).
Amongst the academic community, however, whole-hearted supporters of
the idea of the Japanization of British industry have been few. Perhaps the best
known supporters are Oliver and Wilkinson (1988, 1992), who argued that
British manufacturing was increasingly adopting Japanese production
techniques; so much so that Japanization was, by the late 1980s, a reality for
sections of British industry. For others, the adoption of Japanese manufacturing
techniques was not so much an accomplished fact as an imperative. Chief
exponents of this committed argument were the researchers whose work
became associated with the idea of “lean production”. Here the emphasis was
placed on the lack of Japanization rather than its presence. According to this
group (see especially Womack et al., 1990), a new pattern for the production of
cars pioneered by the Japanese is so effective that failure to adopt it will be fatal
for car manufacturing in many countries. Employee Relations,
Vol. 20 No. 3, 1998, pp. 237-247,
© MCBUniversity Press, 0142-5455
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