Urban Future 21 or After Lean Production

Urban Future 21: A Global Agenda for 21st-Century Cities

Author: Sir Peter Hall

Urban Future 21 is an entirely new and comprehensive review of the state of world urban development at the millennium and a forecast of the main issues that will dominate urban debates in the next 25 years. Prepared for the World Commission on on 21st Century Urbanization conference, it is the most significant book on cities and city planning problems to appear for many years.

Booknews

A collection of material prepared for the July 2000 international conference in Berlin to provide background information to the World Commission on 21st-Century Urbanization established by the German government. It analyzes various aspects of the globalization process and projections of how they will impact cities throughout the world over the next quarter century. The report of the conference itself is shorter and more accessible. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

New interesting textbook: Retail Loss Prevention Officer or Development Economics

After Lean Production: Evolving Employment Practices in the World Auto Industry

Author: Thomas A Kochan

Nearly every country that produces cars views the automobile industry as strategically important because of its direct economic significance and because it serves as a bell-weather for innovation in employment conditions. In this book, industrial relations experts from eleven countries consider the state of the industry worldwide. They are particularly interested in assessing whether the loudly heralded model of lean production initiated by Toyota has become pervasive.

The contributors focus on employment practices: the way work is organized, how workers and managers interact, the way worker representatives respond to lean production strategies, and the nature of the adaptation and innovation process itself. Global competition and changing technological possibilities are pressuring other industries to transform their employment practices and the auto industry may be an important harbinger of what is to come.

Table of Contents:

	Tables and Figures
	Acknowledgments
Pt. I	An International Perspective on the Auto Industry
1	Introduction	3
2	Changes in Auto Industry Employment Practices: An International Overview	9
Pt. II	Bellwethers of Innovation in the Auto Industry
3	Japan: Beyond the Model for Lean Production	45
4	United States: Variations on a Theme	61
5	Canada: Continuity and Change	85
6	Germany: Implementing Lean Production	109
7	Germany: Labor's Perspective on Lean Production	117
8	United Kingdom: The Reorganization of Production	137
9	Italy: Changing the Workplace in the Auto Industry	155
10	Spain, France, and Italy: Mediterranean Lean Production	177
11	Sweden: The Volvo and Saab Road beyond Lean Production	191
12	Australia: Restructuring for Survival	205
Pt. III	Emerging Economies and Lean Production
13	South Africa: The Struggle for Human Resource Development	231
14	Brazil: The Diffusion of a New Pattern of Industrial Relations Practices	255
15	Korea: Recent Developments and Policy Options	273
Pt. IV	After Lean Production
16	Conclusion: After Lean Production?	303
	References	325
	Contributors	337
	Index	343