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Work and Power in Post-Fordist Production: a Case Study of Four Machine Shops

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Work and Power in Post-Fordist Production: a Case Study of Four Machine Shops University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Spring 1994 Work and power in post-Fordist production: A case study of four machine shops Stephen A. Sweet University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Sweet, Stephen A., "Work and power in post-Fordist production: A case study of four machine shops" (1994). Doctoral Dissertations. 1796. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1796 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material bad to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9506431 Work and power in post-Fordist production: A case study of four machine shops Sweet, Stephen A., Ph.D. University of New Hampshire, 1994 UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor. MI 48106 WORK AND POWER IN POST-FORDIST PRODUCTION: A CASE STUDY OF FOUR MACHINE SHOPS BY STEPHEN A. SWEET BA, State University of New York at Potsdam, 1985 MA, University of New Hampshire, 1989 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology May, 1994 This dissertation has been examined and approved. Dissertation Director, Cynthia M. Duncan, Associate Professor of Sociology ~5 L t c Khleif, Professor of Sociology Sally Ward, associate Professor of Sociology Nina Glick-Schiller, Assistant Professor of Anthropology Wiliam Harris, Associate Professor of History Date ii DEDICATION To the best parents any son could wish iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have helped me through the intellectual process and emotional travails involved in writing this dissertation. Cynthia Duncan labored with me through the numerous proposals and chapter rewrites. Without her help at each stage, the quality of this work certainly would have been considerably diminished. Nina Glick-Schiller, William Harris, Bud Khleif, and Sally Ward all were instrumental in guiding me to appropriate literatures and helped rid me of some blinders. Thanks also to The Institute for Policy and Social Science Research for a grant which facilitated field research. Wesley, Dory, and Nelson Rooker provided inestimable support in a pilot study which preceded this research. Jonathan Sweet rekindled my fire by sharing his work experiences and by showing sincere interest at a time when my enthusiasm was lagging. Denise Colbert was one my best sounding boards. Susan Frankel and Marcia Ghidina were both wonderful in guiding me through the final stages of writing and defending this dissertation. Mark Campbell provided a masterful job of proofreading and Deena Peschke was very helpful in bringing this project to completion. But most importantly, I extend my thanks to the men and women of Machinist Valley, who generously shared their time and lives. Of course I am solely responsible for any shortcomings. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION.................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................... iv LIST OF TABLES............................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES.............................................. vii ABSTRACT.................................................... ix CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION................................................ 1 I. FROM FORDISM TO POST-FORDISM.......................... 6 II. METHODOLOGY............................................ 59 III. OPPORTUNITY AND ECONOMIC REWARDS UNDER POST-FORDISM.................................... 84 IV. OWNER CONTROL IN POST-FORDIST PRODUCTION.............. 107 V. WORKER CONTROL IN POST-FORDIST PRODUCTION............. 157 VI. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION.............................. 192 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................ 201 APPENDIX A: WORKER INTERVIEW GUIDE......................... 216 APPENDIX B: EMPLOYER INTERVIEW GUIDE....................... 232 APPENDIX C: CPI ADJUSTMENTS................................. 234 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 Summary of the Differences Between Fordist and Post-Fordist Eras 4 5 Table 2.1 Employment Opportunities for Machinists in Machinist Valley: Changing Size of Machine Shops, 1960-1990....................................... 69 Table 3.1 Number of Machine Industry Establishments in The United States, 1970-1990............................ 86 Table 3.2 Employment Opportunities for Machinists in the United States: Changes in Employment in the Machine Industry........................................ 87 Table 3.3 Employment, Payroll and Yearly Income in the Machining Industries, 1990............................ 91 vi Table 3.4 Average Employee Income in the Machining Industries, 1974-1990.................................. 93 Table 3.5 Percentage of Large and Small Businesses Offering Fringe Benefits, 1986....................... 96 Table 3.6 Property Taxes on a Median Priced Home in the Town of Liston, 1970-1990.............................. 102 Table 5.1 United States Union Membership for Selected Years, 1953-1986.............................. 160 Table 5.2 Percentage of Employees at Different Sized Companies Who are Unionized..................... 161 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Machining Enterprises in Machinist Valley 1960-1990.............................................. 71 Figure 3.1 Employment in the Machining Industry by Enterprise Size, 1970-1990............................. 88 viii ABSTRACT WORK AND POWER IN POST-FORDIST PRODUCTION: A CASE STUDY OF FOUR MACHINE SHOPS by Stephen A. Sweet University of New Hampshire. May, 1994 American industry is shifting to a "post-Fordist" approach to production. The post-Fordist approach includes expanding use of advanced manufacturing technologies, decreasing organizational sizes, decreasing bureaucratization of the work place, and the abandonment of Tayloristic managerial practices in favor of increasing worker participation in decision making processes. This study examines the effects of the post-Fordist approach upon power relations in four work places in the machining industry. Interviews with 44 machinists, employers and community leaders in the case study site "Machinist Valley" show that the shift to post-Fordism is accompanied by declining incomes, fewer employment opportunities, lower benefits, and less job security in comparison to machining work during the Fordist era. While machinists exercise greater skills in the work place, they have less power to determine the pace and pay of their work. Declining worker power primarily results from ix owners' abilities in Machinist Valley to instill and take advantage of the feeling of individual and collective job insecurity that pervades workers' consciousness. These findings point to the need for further evaluation of the shift to "flexible specialization." Findings of this study suggest that the optimistic scenario of craft control theory (Piore & Sable 1984), which asserts that increasing craft skills enhance worker power in the work place, is unlikely to be born out of post-Fordism in the current market conditions. The experiences of workers in Machinist Valley are more consistent with the projections of fragmentation theory (Lash & Urry 1987), which projects decreasing worker power due to declines in workers' class capacities. x INTRODUCTION In the early decades of the 20th century, a new approach to production dramatically changed the shape of American manufacturing work. Huge factories replaced the small craft shops of the 19th century. Highly specialized machines geared for mass production, such as the assembly line, replaced simple craft tools (Hounshell 1984). A bureaucratically organized work place replaced the informal "simple" methods of organizing and controlling work (Edwards 1979). A new method of "scientific management," that separated
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