Just Another Car Factory?: Lean Production and Its Discontents (Ilr Press Books) [Paperback]

James Rinehart (Author), Christopher Huxley (Author), David Robertson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0801484073 | ISBN-13: 978-0801484070 | Publication Date: June 1997

This study of CAMI Automotive, a unionized joint venture between General Motors and Suzuki, is the most comprehensive ever undertaken of a lean production plant. James Rinehart, Christopher Huxley, and David Robertson address a topic that has inspired fierce debate in industrial relations, sociology, labor studies, and human resource management. Heralded as a model of lean production when it opened in 1989, CAMI promised workers something different from traditional plants--a humane environment, empowerment, and cooperative labor-management relations. However, the enthusiasm workers felt during the orientation and early phases of production steadily declined, as did their involvement in participatory activities. Workers came to describe CAMI as "just another car factory." Union challenges and shopfloor resistance to key elements of the lean system grew, capped by a five-week strike in 1992. The authors attribute workers' disillusionment to lean production itself rather than to North American managers' inadequate implementation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Ilr Pr (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801484073
• ISBN-13: 978-0801484070
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #623,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Union Entitlement vs Earning a Living, November 25, 1999

By 

Micheal Gardner - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Another Car Factory?: Lean Production and Its Discontents (Ilr Press Books) (Paperback)

Prejudiced and unobjective account of the CAMI joint venture in Ontario. The authors, (two sociology professors and a union bureaucrat) are guilty of sloppy research and pro-union bias. Their much emphasized "unlimited access to the shop floor" was apparently wasted. This book is a golden example of a wasted opportunity. Still, it serves as an example of why transplants usually stay non-union.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear impact study of newer production management technics, December 1, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Another Car Factory?: Lean Production and Its Discontents (ILR Press books) (Hardcover)

Excellent book, very informative and readable consideration of CAMI Automotive and the implementation of "Japanese" style management. Clearly considers the worker responses over several years while describing the basics of the management approaches used. This is a a very solid and informative work.