Labour–management relations and employee involvement in lean production systems in different national contexts : A comparison of French and Swedish aerospace companies

Högskolan Dalarna, Arbetsvetenskap Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France 2022

Existing research has found heterogeneity in the implementation of Lean and its outcomes in terms of employee involvement across countries. This article explores the potential role of labour–management relations. It relies on in-depth company case studies carried out in the aerospace industry in France and Sweden. The study finds significant variations in employee involvement – higher in the Swedish than in the French cases. Managerial orientations did play a role, as the ‘technocratic’ form of Lean in France echoed a more unilateral top-down conception of management, while Swedish managers appeared more receptive to the ‘involvement-enhancing’ paradigm. But the attitudes and behaviours of unions were also a crucial factor, as Swedish unions were very effective in impinging on the implementation of Lean at workplace level, while their French counterparts, often divided, adopted a more defensive stance, lacking expertise and implication in the promotion of high-involvement work organisations.

Employee involvement; France; labour–management relations; lean; Sweden; Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology); Sociologi (exklusive socialt arbete, socialpsykologi och socialantropologi); Work Sciences; Arbetslivsstudier; Article in journal; info:eu-repo/semantics/article; text

10.1177.0143831X221101427

application/pdf
English

UPE oai:DiVA.org:du-41743
0000-0002-9970-7545
0000-0002-5562-8271
doi:10.1177/0143831X221101427
1337383474

UPPSALA UNIV LIBR
From OAIster®, provided by the OCLC Cooperative.

edsoai.on1337383474