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25 Sep 2013, 19:19
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After the Second World War, unionism in the Japanese auto industry was company-based, with separate
unions in each auto company. Most company unions played no independent role in bargaining shop-floor
issues or pressing autoworkers' grievances. In a 1981 survey, for example, fewer than 1 percent of workers said they sought union assistance for work-related problems, while 43 percent said they turned to management instead. There was little to distinguish the two in any case: most union officers were foremen or middle-level managers, and the union's role was primarily one of passive support for company goals. Conflict occasionally disrupted this cooperative relationship—one company union's opposition to the productivity campaigns of the early 1980s has been cited as such a case. In 1986, however, a caucus led by the Foreman's Association forced the union's leadership out of office and returned the union's policy to one of passive cooperation. In the United States, the potential for such company unionism grew after 1979, but it had difficulty taking hold in the auto industry, where a single union represented workers from all companies, particularly since federal law prohibited foremen from joining or leading industrial unions.
The Japanese model was often invoked as one in which authority decentralized to the shop floor empowered production workers to make key decisions. What these claims failed to recognize was that the actual delegation of authority was to the foreman, not the workers. The foreman exercised discretion over job assignments, training, transfers, and promotions; worker initiative was limited to suggestions that finetuned a management-controlled production process. Rather than being proactive, Japanese workers were forced to be reactive, the range of their responsibilities being far wider than their span of control. For example, the founder of one production system, Taichi Ohno, routinely gave department managers only 90 percent of the resources needed for production. As soon as workers could meet production goals without working overtime, 10 percent of remaining resources would be removed. Because the "OH! NO!" system continually pushed the production process to the verge of breakdown in an effort to find the minimum resource requirement, critics described it as "management by stress."
1. According to the passage, a foreman in a United States auto company differed from a foreman in a Japanese auto company in that the foreman in the
United States would
(A) not have been a member of an auto workers' union
(B) have been unlikely to support the goals of company management
(C) have been able to control production processes to a large extent
(D) have experienced greater stress
(E) have experienced less conflict with workers
2. The author of the passage mentions the "OH! NO!" system primarily in order to
(A) indicate a way in which the United States industry has become more like the Japanese auto industry
(B) challenge a particular misconception about worker empowerment in the Japanese auto industry
(C) illustrate the kinds of problem-solving techniques encouraged by company unions in Japan
(D) suggest an effective way of minimizing production costs in auto manufacturing
(E) provide an example of the responsibilities assumed by a foreman in the Japanese auto industry
OA will be provided later. please explain you answer options.
unions in each auto company. Most company unions played no independent role in bargaining shop-floor
issues or pressing autoworkers' grievances. In a 1981 survey, for example, fewer than 1 percent of workers said they sought union assistance for work-related problems, while 43 percent said they turned to management instead. There was little to distinguish the two in any case: most union officers were foremen or middle-level managers, and the union's role was primarily one of passive support for company goals. Conflict occasionally disrupted this cooperative relationship—one company union's opposition to the productivity campaigns of the early 1980s has been cited as such a case. In 1986, however, a caucus led by the Foreman's Association forced the union's leadership out of office and returned the union's policy to one of passive cooperation. In the United States, the potential for such company unionism grew after 1979, but it had difficulty taking hold in the auto industry, where a single union represented workers from all companies, particularly since federal law prohibited foremen from joining or leading industrial unions.
The Japanese model was often invoked as one in which authority decentralized to the shop floor empowered production workers to make key decisions. What these claims failed to recognize was that the actual delegation of authority was to the foreman, not the workers. The foreman exercised discretion over job assignments, training, transfers, and promotions; worker initiative was limited to suggestions that finetuned a management-controlled production process. Rather than being proactive, Japanese workers were forced to be reactive, the range of their responsibilities being far wider than their span of control. For example, the founder of one production system, Taichi Ohno, routinely gave department managers only 90 percent of the resources needed for production. As soon as workers could meet production goals without working overtime, 10 percent of remaining resources would be removed. Because the "OH! NO!" system continually pushed the production process to the verge of breakdown in an effort to find the minimum resource requirement, critics described it as "management by stress."
1. According to the passage, a foreman in a United States auto company differed from a foreman in a Japanese auto company in that the foreman in the
United States would
(A) not have been a member of an auto workers' union
(B) have been unlikely to support the goals of company management
(C) have been able to control production processes to a large extent
(D) have experienced greater stress
(E) have experienced less conflict with workers
2. The author of the passage mentions the "OH! NO!" system primarily in order to
(A) indicate a way in which the United States industry has become more like the Japanese auto industry
(B) challenge a particular misconception about worker empowerment in the Japanese auto industry
(C) illustrate the kinds of problem-solving techniques encouraged by company unions in Japan
(D) suggest an effective way of minimizing production costs in auto manufacturing
(E) provide an example of the responsibilities assumed by a foreman in the Japanese auto industry
OA will be provided later. please explain you answer options.
Archived Topic
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This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Reading Comprehension (RC) Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block below for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
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26 Sep 2013, 01:55
Kudos
Bookmarks
1. According to the passage, a foreman in a United States auto company differed from a foreman in a Japanese auto company in that the foreman in the
United States would
(A) not have been a member of an auto workers' union --- Correct. As mentioned in the last line on 1st paragraph.
(B) have been unlikely to support the goals of company management --- Out of scope
(C) have been able to control production processes to a large extent --- Out of scope
(D) have experienced greater stress --- Out of scope
(E) have experienced less conflict with workers --- Out of scope
2. The author of the passage mentions the "OH! NO!" system primarily in order to
(A) indicate a way in which the United States industry has become more like the Japanese auto industry -- Out of scope. No mention
(B) challenge a particular misconception about worker empowerment in the Japanese auto industry -- Not a challenge
(C) illustrate the kinds of problem-solving techniques encouraged by company unions in Japan -- It wasn't a problem solving technique and also passage does not mention that it was encouraged by company Union
(D) suggest an effective way of minimizing production costs in auto manufacturing -- No mention whether it was effective
(E) provide an example of the responsibilities assumed by a foreman in the Japanese auto industry --Correct. Passage mentions "the range of their responsibilities being far wider than their span of control."
United States would
(A) not have been a member of an auto workers' union --- Correct. As mentioned in the last line on 1st paragraph.
(B) have been unlikely to support the goals of company management --- Out of scope
(C) have been able to control production processes to a large extent --- Out of scope
(D) have experienced greater stress --- Out of scope
(E) have experienced less conflict with workers --- Out of scope
2. The author of the passage mentions the "OH! NO!" system primarily in order to
(A) indicate a way in which the United States industry has become more like the Japanese auto industry -- Out of scope. No mention
(B) challenge a particular misconception about worker empowerment in the Japanese auto industry -- Not a challenge
(C) illustrate the kinds of problem-solving techniques encouraged by company unions in Japan -- It wasn't a problem solving technique and also passage does not mention that it was encouraged by company Union
(D) suggest an effective way of minimizing production costs in auto manufacturing -- No mention whether it was effective
(E) provide an example of the responsibilities assumed by a foreman in the Japanese auto industry --Correct. Passage mentions "the range of their responsibilities being far wider than their span of control."
Archived Topic
Hi there,
This topic has been closed and archived due to inactivity or violation of community quality standards. No more replies are possible here.
Where to now? Join ongoing discussions on thousands of quality questions in our Reading Comprehension (RC) Forum
Still interested in this question? Check out the "Best Topics" block above for a better discussion on this exact question, as well as several more related questions.
Thank you for understanding, and happy exploring!
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