Work Organizational Reforms and Employment Relations in the Automotive Industry General Motors (GM)’s attempt to adapt the renowned Toyota production system for its own automotive manufacturing plants had historically produced disappointing results. Why was it not sufficiently successful? This book aims to shed insights into GM’s failed attempt through the analysis of work organization reforms and labor–management relations on production- system efficiency. The book examines collective bargaining agreements between automakers and the United Auto Workers union and the arbitration rulings in retrospect to illuminate the critical role continuous improvement activities initiated by production workers would play in enhancing performance management. It also looks at the impact of the meritocratic system in Japanese auto plants on performance success. As GM begins operations at its new electric vehicle assembly plant, Factory Zero, the book analyses the challenges of such production for both employment relations and workforce deployment. The book will be a useful reference for those interested in a comparative study of management styles and a better understanding of Japanese manufacturing practices. Kenichi Shinohara is Professor at the Division of Business Administration, Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan. Routledge Focus on Business and Management The fields of business and management have grown exponentially as areas of research and education. This growth presents challenges for readers trying to keep up with the latest important insights. Routledge Focus on Business and Management presents small books on big topics and how they intersect with the world of business research. Individually, each title in the series provides coverage of a key academic topic, whilst collectively, the series forms a comprehensive collection across the business disciplines. The Multiple Case Study Design Methodology and Application for Management Education Daphne Halkias, Michael Neubert, Paul W. Thurman and Nicholas Harkiolakis Organizations, Strategic Risk Management and Resilience The Impact of Covid-19 on Tourism Patrizia Gazzola, Enrica Pavione and Ilaria Pessina Organizations and Complex Adaptive Systems Masha Fidanboy Managing Complexity in Healthcare Lesley Kuhn and Kieran Le Plastrier Work Organizational Reforms and Employment Relations in the Automotive Industry American Employment Relations in Transition Kenichi Shinohara For more information about this series, please visit: www. routledge. com/ Routledge- Focus- on- Business- and- Management/ book- series/ FBM Work Organizational Reforms and Employment Relations in the Automotive Industry American Employment Relations in Transition Kenichi Shinohara First published 2022 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2022 Kenichi Shinohara The right of Kenichi Shinohara to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Shinohara, Kenichi, author. Title: Work organizational reforms and employment relations in the automotive industry : American employment relations in transition / Kenichi Shinohara. Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2023. | Series: Routledge focus on business & management | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2022009044 (print) | LCCN 2022009045 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032252704 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032252728 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003282426 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Automobile industry workers--United States. | Automobile industry workers--Japan. | Automobile industry and trade--United States--Personnel management. | Automobile industry and trade--Japan--Personnel management. | General Motors Corporation--Personnel management. | Toyota Jidōsha Kabushiki Kaisha--Personnel management. Classification: LCC HD8039.A82 U765 2023 (print) | LCC HD8039.A82 (ebook) | DDC 331.7/62920973--dc23/eng/20220222 LC record available at https://lccn. loc .gov /2022009044 LC ebook record available at https://lccn. loc .gov /2022009045 ISBN: 9781032252704 (hbk) ISBN: 9781032252728 (pbk) ISBN: 9781003282426 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003282426 Typeset in Times New Roman by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India Contents List of figures vi List of tables vii Preface viii Acknowledgments xii 1 Achievements and challenges of work organization reform in the US auto industry: An overview of the research 1 2 The development of seniority rights and establishment of rules for job transfer and promotion in the United States: General Motors Corporation 22 3 Work organization reform (1): The case of General Motors Plant A 37 4 Work organization reform at General Motors (2) 51 5 GM’s Global Manufacturing System (GMS) and the Union 69 6 Conclusion 86 Index 93 Figures 3.1 Relationship among occupation groups in body department and representative hourly wage rate and worker numbers for each (1993) 41 3.2 Relationship among occupation groups in body department and representative hourly wage rate and worker numbers for each (1990) 43 3.3 Occupational groups in body department (bold type), job classifications within each group (in parentheses), and hourly wage rates (1993) 44 4.1 The continuous improvement cycle in Japanese automakers. 1. Merit system in the workplace makes it possible to conduct kaizen activities. 2. Kaizen activities led to a reduction in man-hours. 3. Reduced man-hours leads to a reduction in necessary personnel. 4. Reduced personnel does not mean layoffs, as excellent operators can now get promoted. 5. Promotion reinforces the merit system 54 4.2 Simplified organizational chart of GM 59 4.3 Quality control: Verification stations 66 5.1 Conceptual diagram of the basic criteria for BIQ Level 3 certification under GMS 74 5.2 Multiple verification stations added to the quality control process 76 5.3 Policy focus of union and management 80 Tables 1.1 Framework for analyzing the union’s roles in governance and management at GM Saturn 11 2.1 Changes made to Article 63 in the 16 National Agreements (1940 to 1979) and related arbitration cases and awards 27 5.1 Overview of Quality Control Metrics at BIQ Level 3 75 5.2 Built-in-quality Level III Absolutes 75 5.3 New UAW–GM council structure (2015–) 79 5.4 Changes in the influence of different functions and positions 80 Preface This book describes work organization reform and labor–management relationships in the US auto industry, focusing on the auto plants of General Motors, which has used Toyota as a benchmark. The book is based on research of primary sources and personal interviews. GM began making efforts to apply the Toyota production system in its plants in the 1980s, but labor–management relationships were unhealthy and reforms were less than successful, and in 2009 GM declared bankruptcy. Following this, reforms in the production system were further accelerated, but improvements in employment relations have been insufficient. In sum, GM’s performance management system is not functioning well compared to that of Toyota. Unlike Toyota, which has a robust internal promotion system—Toyota’s current vice president is a former production worker—GM has been unable to bridge the labor–management gap. With the potential work improvement contributions of production workers not being fully utilized, GM plants do not operate smoothly. Discussion of work organization reform increased in the United States starting in the 1980s, and the “team concept,” which is a prominent feature of the Japanese workplace, has attracted much attention. GM has tried to introduce teams modeled on the Toyota production system. The objective of this book is to show why work organization reform has not progressed in the US auto industry as much as hoped for. Existing research studies on this topic are lacking with regard to the following points: 1) The viewpoint of “performance management” in work organization reform 2) Accurate understanding of work organization in Japan, such as the roles of continuous improvement activities (kaizen) and meritocracy for rank-and-file workers Preface ix This book considers and explores these points, based on an analysis of primary sources (e.g., labor contracts and arbitration records) and personal interviews. Existing books in English have focused on how “team collaboration” and “autonomy” of production workers can improve factory production efficiency. However, the fact that workers’ continuous improvement activities are the basis of “performance management” of the entire plant, and the critical role played by meritocracy in Japanese auto plants, has not been revealed or explained in any English book. As production workers are key to the success of any manufacturing system based on the Japanese model, cooperative labor–management relations are critical. To understand labor–management relationships in the US auto industry, it is necessary to examine and understand the background behind collective bargaining agreements between the automakers and the United Auto Workers union, as well as arbitration rulings that have helped shape those agreements. This book is the first to describe those agreements and the disputes and discussions that accompany them. Most of the research activities for this study have been conducted in Michigan. The periods when direct interviews were conducted are noted in the footnotes of each chapter. Outside of the interview period described above, I occasionally visited Michigan to gather materials and information. In addition, I have already written books on this subject in Japanese, but this book is a new version of those books with significant changes, additions, and corrections. Chapter 1: Achievements and challenges of work organization reform in the US auto industry: An overview of the research This chapter reviews previous research studies on US work organization reform. Many of these studies focus on Japanese work organization characteristics, such as the “team concept” at Japanese auto plants. However, examinations of performance management in the United States are lacking. This book builds on survey and field research in order to fill the gap left by other studies and elucidate the current state of work organization reform in the US auto industry. Chapter 2: The development of seniority rights and establishment of rules for job transfer and promotion in the United States: General Motors Corporation This chapter traces the historical evolution of seniority rights and rules for job transfer and promotion at US auto plants through the 1980s. Traditional