WORK LINKS - SYSTEMIC RATIONALIZATION OF INTERCOMPANY PRODUCTION PROCESSES

A comprehensive reorganization of company processes and inter-company cooperation is accompanying the current process of change taking place in industrial production. These ''systemic rationalization'' strategi es are oriented toward the entire value-added process with the goal of increasing flexibility and effectiveness. This, in turn, leads to the disintegration and decentralization of company structures. Company fu nctions are reorganized in autonomous segments and are then subjected to actual or fictive market forces. New (objective) forms of control a re developed to secure the reintegration of these segments in the prod uction chain. ''Autonomy'' and ''Control'' or ''Market'' and ''Hierarc hy'' are linked together in a new coordination and control mechanism i n the newly emergent production networks. Hetereogeneous production fo rms, that is differing uses of technology and workers, are utilized an d reinforced in the course of the reorganization of the production cha in. Although skilled production work is found in automated areas and h ighly skilled work at key production network interfaces, traditional T aylorized forms of work and the low level of skills and restrictive la bor that go along with it continue to exist to a considerable extent. All workers, however, are subjected to more extensive and objectified forms of control.