WORK ORGANIZATION IN LEAN PRODUCTION AND TRADITIONAL PLANTS - WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES

Proposes a framework (developed from an analysis of the existing liter ature) which will be useful to research the linkages between work orga nization and lean production practices. The framework considers two ty pes of work organization practices: type (a) which is directly linked to lean production practices such as JIT/TQM (worker autonomy, multifu nctional employees, feedback to workers, etc.) and type (b) which infl uences the setting up and the maintenance of type (a) practices (train ing, compensation, etc.). Tests hypotheses concerning the practices wh ich can be said to be directly linked to JIT/TQM on data collected on 43 manufacturing plants through valid and reliable measurement instrum ents. The results show that lean production plants seem to use more te ams for problem solving, to take employees' suggestions more seriously , to rely more heavily on quality feedback both for workers and superv isors, to document production procedures more carefully and to have em ployees able to perform a greater variety of tasks including statistic al process control. Lean production plants, however, show almost no di fferences with regard to aspects of work organization which involve hi erarchy.