Documents industrial management 19 results

"Unter dem Schlagwort „Industrie 4.0“ werden derzeit geradezu spektakuläre Veränderungen der industriellen Produktion diskutiert: Die umfassende Digitalisierung und Informatisierung von Produktionsabläufen in der smarten Fabrik. Die Debatte weist einerseits alle Merkmale eines „Hypes“ auf, verweist aber andererseits mit diesem Schlagwort auf durchaus reale Entwicklungsperspektiven. Der vorliegende Band eröffnet dem Leser/der Leserin einen Blickwinkel, der sich auf die möglichen Folgen von Industrie 4.0 für Industriearbeit richtet. Namhafte Experten aus den Sozial- und den Ingenieurwissenschaften unternehmen den Versuch, eine erste fundierte Einschätzung über die Konsequenzen für Industriearbeit und Qualifikationsanforderungen zu geben. Die Beiträge fragen nach den Anwendungsfeldern und Einsatzbereichen digitaler Technologien, nach den Alternativen der Arbeitsgestaltung und nach gesellschaftlichen Entwicklungsperspektiven. Ihr gemeinsamer Ausgangspunkt ist eine ganzheitliche Sicht auf die neuen Technologien, die sich auf das sozio-technische Gesamtsystem der Produktion richtet."

"Paper or plastic? Neither, say William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Why settle for the least harmful alternative when we could have something that is better--say, edible grocery bags! In Cradle to Cradle, the authors present a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution, one that would render both traditional manufacturing and traditional environmentalism obsolete. Recycling, for instance, is actually "downcycling," creating hybrids of biological and technical "nutrients" which are then unrecoverable and unusable. The authors, an architect and a chemist, want to eliminate the concept of waste altogether, while preserving commerce and allowing for human nature. They offer several compelling examples of corporations that are not just doing less harm--they're actually doing some good for the environment and their neighborhoods, and making more money in the process. Cradle to Cradle is a refreshing change from the intractable environmental conflicts that dominate headlines. It's a handbook for 21st-century innovation and should be required reading for business hotshots and environmental activists."

"The shift from manufacturing- to service-based economies has often been accompanied by the expansion of low-wage and insecure employment. Many consider the effects of this shift inevitable. In Disintegrating Democracy at Work, Virginia Doellgast contends that high pay and good working conditions are possible even for marginal service jobs. This outcome, however, depends on strong unions and encompassing collective bargaining institutions, which are necessary to give workers a voice in the decisions that affect the design of their jobs and the distribution of productivity gains.

Doellgast's conclusions are based on a comparative study of the changes that occurred in the organization of call center jobs in the United States and Germany following the liberalization of telecommunications markets. Based on survey data and interviews with workers, managers, and union representatives, she found that German managers more often took the "high road" than those in the United States, investing in skills and giving employees more control over their work. Doellgast traces the difference to stronger institutional supports for workplace democracy in Germany. However, these democratic structures were increasingly precarious, as managers in both countries used outsourcing strategies to move jobs to workplaces with lower pay and weaker or no union representation. Doellgast's comparative findings show the importance of policy choices in closing off these escape routes, promoting broad access to good jobs in expanding service industries."

"When used in conjunction with corporations, the term “public” is misleading. Anyone can purchase shares of stock, but public corporations themselves are uninhibited by a sense of societal obligation or strict public oversight. In fact, managers of most large firms are prohibited by law from taking into account the interests of the public in decision making, if doing so hurts shareholders. But this has not always been the case, as until the beginning of the twentieth century, public corporations were deemed to have important civic responsibilities.

With The Failure of Corporate Law, Kent Greenfield hopes to return corporate law to a system in which the public has a greater say in how firms are governed. Greenfield maintains that the laws controlling firms should be much more protective of the public interest and of the corporation's various stakeholders, such as employees. Only when the law of corporations is evaluated as a branch of public law—as with constitutional law or environmental law—will it be clear what types of changes can be made in corporate governance to improve the common good. Greenfield proposes changes in corporate governance that would enable corporations to meet the progressive goal of creating wealth for society as a whole rather than merely for shareholders and executives."