It Ain't What You do, it's the Way that You do it: Production Organisation and Skill Utilisation in Commercial Vehicles

Abstract

New paradigms of work organisation espousing a radical break in production systems assert a natural identity between advanced manufacturing and utilisation of skilled labour. Using findings from a comparative project on the commercial vehicle industry in Sweden, Austria and the UK, the paper aims to unpack the theory and practice of new forms of production. It does identify common tendencies within advanced manufacturing, notably a growth in cognitive and extra-functional abilities, normally within a team working context. But this remains distinct from any version of craft or professional labour and there are marked national differences in managerial preferences of the type of labour perceived to be necessary for more flexible work organisation. The emphasis is on varied routes to the creation of skilled labour, with an extended view of skill formation that focuses on what firms do in the labour process as well as what the state does in education and training.