On the Line at Subaru-Isuzu: The Japanese Model and the American Worker (ILR Press books) (Paperback)

by Laurie Graham (Author) "The American automobile industry has become the focus of a debate concerning current changes in industrial relations..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, Operating Committee, General Motors (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Graham (sociology, Purdue Univ.) worked in the Subaru-Isuzu nonunion plant near Lafayette, Indiana, for six months, keeping covert records of her experiences and those of her co-workers. Her book explains Japanese management strategies, which center production on work teams and emphasize output; it also takes on U.S. worker responses, worker/management cooperation, and coersion vs. consent. The work's seven chapters address topics such as the Japanese model debate, worker selection, orientation and training, the work setting, thinking like an associate, and working like a worker and depicts voices from the floor?reporting what some of Graham's co-workers reported. A scholarly account that is particularly recommended for students and academics of contemporary labor and industrial relations.?Joseph W. Leonard, Miami Univ., Oxford, Ohio
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 169 pages
• Publisher: ILR Press (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875463460
• ISBN-13: 978-0875463469
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #957,667 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very enlightening book concerning Japanese transplants., August 20, 1999

By A Customer

This book is a very good account of the process a person had to go through in order to gain employment at the Subaru-Isuzu and the working conditions that were present at the plant at the time the author worked there. There continue to be problems at the plant with them being cited by IOSHA (Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration) on August 20,1998 for not recording all safety and health violations present at the plant. The company did not document approximately 567 Manpower employees who had recordable injuries and/or illness during the years 1995 - 1997. The company also did not provide a copy of the OSHA Log 200 in its entirety for employees for the years 1995 - 1997. The reader from Lafayette needs to get the facts straight before making statements about the low OSHA statistics. The use of "temporary"workers to keep OSHA numbers down is only one way the company has manipulated, and continues to manipiulate, the system and the workers. Laurie Graham has been, and continues to be, open to imput from workers from Subaru-Isuzu and the conditions that exist there. She welcomes workers to contact her with both positive and negative information, seeking updates on the changing atmosphere and attitudes that exist as a plant grows and changes.

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant first person account of Japanese transplant, May 16, 1996

By A Customer

This book is a first person account of working in a Japanese transplant auto assembly facility. Author Laurie Graham worked "undercover" in the Subaru-Isuzu plant in Lafayette, Indiana when it opened up. She finds that the fabled "Japanese system" cannot live up to its promises to the worker in the absence of a labor union. The book is very well written: clear, substantial, and full of insights into work life and the techniques used to maintain control over the workers. I recommend it very highly. --Bruce Nissen [e-mail]

6 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fiction??, August 2, 1998

By A Customer

I have read this book.. What a work of fiction! I work at the same auto plant 'Laurie Graham' worked (worked??) and wrote about.. This book seems to have been written with a pre-determined opinion.. She had it in her mind before she worked in the plant to knock the SIA work place. She writes about a few months that she worked at SIA.. Well after most of us have worked at SIA (5-9yrs Union Free) Zero layoffs. Low OSHA's comparied to other autoplants and great pay and benifits! This book seems to give most of us at SIA a good laugh! Try Reading Ben Hampers 'Rivet Head'.. Good for a laugh also.. but much more accurate.