Systems of Work and Socio-Economic Structures: A Comparison of Germany, Spain, France and Japan

Abstract

This article compares systems of work and production in the German, Spanish, French and Japanese machine-building industries and draws some methodological and conceptual conclusions. The analysis shows a common basic structure of work but with nation-specific variations. France displays a more rigid division of labour than Germany, while Japan shows more functional differentiation. In Spain there is a marked difference between formal and informal organization: a paradoxical mix of `Taylorist' bureaucratic structures and craft elements. In the late 1980s, tight economic constraints initiated a phase of change and experimentation in national models of production and work, and new types of national and regional variation are emerging. The findings of this article support `neo-contingency' theories at the micro (plant and company) level, but `societal effects' seem to be more important at the meso and macro levels (structure of industry and economy).