British factory, Japanese factory and Mexican factory: An international comparison of front-line management and supervision

This paper presents a case study of a Japanese-owned electronics firm, pres enting a comparative analysis of the company's supervisory systems in three of its plants located in different countries - Japan, Mexico and Britain. Comparative analysis is enabled through use of the concept of a supervisory system of control, which allows us to match the relative positions of mana gers, supervisors and workers across the three sites. The case study data e nables us systematically to examine questions of the transferability of a J apanese supervisory system - a central component of Japanese manufacturing - outside of Japan. The results suggest that 'Japanese' supervisory systems have been established with more success in Mexico than in Britain, and the main factors that explain this are varying local labour market conditions, limits to managerial control on the shopfloor, the relationship between th e product market and the organization of production, and local and expatria te management commitment to a Japanese system.