via AlterNet:
Progressive Populist /
By Joseph B. Atkins Is Toyota's Brakes Disaster Tied to How It Treats Workers Like Profit-Oriented Robots?
Toyota's boasts about having a workplace democracy, but its production model seems more interested in worker control. March 24, 2010 |
A century ago, Frederick W. Taylor, the mechanical engineer whose book The Principles of Scientific Management influenced generations of business owners and managers, had this to say about American working people:
"Underworking constitutes the greatest evil with which the working people are now afflicted. Instead of using every effort to turn out the largest possible amount of work, (a worker) deliberately plans to do as little as he safely can, to turn out far less work than he is well able to do; in many instances to do not more than one-third to one-half of a proper day's work."With that contemptuous attitude at a time of sweatshop abuse and rampant child labor, Taylor proceeded to propose that every second and every movement at the workplace be monitored and scientifically managed to eliminate waste, inefficiency, and labor costs in the cause of high productivity and company profits.
Proponents of the so-called "Toyota Way" -- the production philosophy employed by the same Japanese giant now reeling from the recall of 8.5 million cars since November -- say it's a "democratic Taylorism" that values workers even as it pushes them constantly toward "continuous improvement," known in Toyota-speak as kaizen. .........(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.alternet.org/economy/146126/is_toyota%27s_brakes_disaster_tied_to_how_it_treats_workers_like_profit-oriented_robots_
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