How Does Labour Work Now? A Quantitative Survey of Labour Practices in Japanese Multinationals Post 1996 Workplace Relations Act (Commonwealth)

Bayari, Celal (2001): How Does Labour Work Now? A Quantitative Survey of Labour Practices in Japanese Multinationals Post 1996 Workplace Relations Act (Commonwealth). Published in: Proceedings of the 2001 Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference No. 2001 (1 December 2001): pp. 1-14.

Abstract

The focus of this paper is the labour practices that are identified with Japanese management style and their functioning in Australian subsidiaries of Japanese MNEs. The context of their functioning is the changes in labour and management relations in Australia. The data used in this paper was collected, across Australia, in the period between February and July 2001; approximately four years after the 1996 Workplace Relations Act came into effect. The data was collected from fifty-one companies, seventeen each from the sectors of manufacture and assembly, service, and marketing and sales. The survey questionnaires were aimed at the management and asked them to rate the functioning of specific labour practices. These were crosstabulated with the union presence variable at the companies. The results are discussed along with the theoretical framework and the literature review.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Australian economy, Japanese multinational corporations, Japanese management system, Toyota Production System
• Subjects: E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E0 - General; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E0 - General > E02 - Institutions and the Macroeconomy; F - International Economics > F1 - Trade; F - International Economics > F1 - Trade > F14 - Empirical Studies of Trade; F - International Economics > F1 - Trade > F15 - Economic Integration; F - International Economics > F1 - Trade > F18 - Trade and Environment; F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business; F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F21 - International Investment ; Long-Term Capital Movements; F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F23 - Multinational Firms ; International Business; F - International Economics > F3 - International Finance; F - International Economics > F3 - International Finance > F36 - Financial Aspects of Economic Integration; F - International Economics > F6 - Economic Impacts of Globalization; F - International Economics > F6 - Economic Impacts of Globalization > F63 - Economic Development; F - International Economics > F6 - Economic Impacts of Globalization > F66 - Labor; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J21 - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J23 - Labor Demand; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J28 - Safety ; Job Satisfaction ; Related Public Policy; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J5 - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J5 - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining > J51 - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J5 - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining > J53 - Labor-Management Relations ; Industrial Jurisprudence; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J8 - Labor Standards: National and International; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J8 - Labor Standards: National and International > J82 - Labor Force Composition; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J8 - Labor Standards: National and International > J83 - Workers' Rights; K - Law and Economics > K0 - General; K - Law and Economics > K2 - Regulation and Business Law > K20 - General; K - Law and Economics > K4 - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior; L - Industrial Organization > L1 - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance > L11 - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure ; Size Distribution of Firms; L - Industrial Organization > L1 - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance > L16 - Industrial Organization and Macroeconomics: Industrial Structure and Structural Change ; Industrial Price Indices; L - Industrial Organization > L2 - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior > L22 - Firm Organization and Market Structure; L - Industrial Organization > L5 - Regulation and Industrial Policy; L - Industrial Organization > L6 - Industry Studies: Manufacturing > L62 - Automobiles ; Other Transportation Equipment ; Related Parts and Equipment; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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