Supervision in Manufacturing Organizations

See for example, Schonberger, R.J. , Japanese Manufacturing Techniques: Nine Hidden Lessons in Simplicity, New York: The Free Press, 1982.

See for example, Edwards, G.A.B. , Readings in Group Technology, Brighton: Machinery Publishing Company, 1971,p.54.

Reduction in the number of levels in management hierarchies in the British engineering industry has often been partly the result of the fact that most firms employ substantially fewer people than they did a few years ago.

Lowe J. ‘Manufacturing Reform and the Changing Role of the Production Supervisor: the case of the automobile industry’, Journal of Management Studies, Vol.30, No. 6, November 1993.

Prais S.J. and Wagner K. ‘Productivity and Management: The Training of Foremen in Britain and Germany’, National Institute Economic Review, February 1988.

Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft, 1988, Industriemeister: Neues Anforderungsprofil, Informationsdienst des Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft, Vol.14, No. 11, 17 March 1988, pp. 6–7, cited in Rose, R. and Wignanek, G., Training without Trainers: How Germany avoids Britain's supply-side bottleneck, London: Anglo-German Foundation, 1990,p.76.

Taylor M.E. Education and Work in the Federal Republic of Germany, London: Anglo-German Foundation, 1981, pp. 212–13.

There are two categories of Meister: Handwerkmeister and Industriemeister. Anyone who wishes to go into business in craft trades such as baker, electrician or house painter must first acquire a Handwerkmeister qualification (Rose and Wignanek, op. cit., pp. 74 and 75). This article is concerned only with the Industriemeister qualification, which is normally required for industrial supervisory posts.

Wagner K. ‘Training Efforts and Industrial Efficiency in West Germany’, in Stevens, J. and Mackay, R. , (eds.), Training and Competitiveness, London: Kogan Page, 1991, pp. 132–49.

Steedman H. and Wagner K. ‘A Second Look at Productivity, Machinery and Skills in Britain and Germany’, National Institute Economic Review, No. 122, 1987.

Wagner , op. cit.

Consulting Andersen , The Lean Enterprise Benchmarking Project Report, 1993.

Senker P . et al., Manufacturing Supervision: Consultations with Employers, Watford: Engineering Training Authority, March 1993.

In this plant, the ‘team leader’ position is equivalent to what is referred to later in this article as an ‘apprentice supervisor’ post. In other companies where this job title is used, team leaders are supervisors rather than assistants to them.

Senker et al., op. cit.

NEDC Engineering Skills Working Party, What Makes a Supervisor World Class?, London: National Economic Development Office, 1991.

Senker et al., op. cit.

Callender C. and Toye J. Evaluation of the Technician Engineer Scholarship Scheme (TESS), Final report to the Training Agency, Brighton: Institute of Manpower Studies, September 1990,pp. 46 and 127.

NEDC Engineering Skills Working Party, op. cit., pp. 29–30.

Rose and Wignanek , op. cit., p. 79.