Transformation of work organization in time-based production management: The case of three finnish electronics plants†

This article examines new rationalization policies and working patterns in the Finnish electronics industry. Starting out with the assumption that management of time is becoming a more important source of competitive advantage for companies, the author outlines implications of the shift in strategy for manufacturing organization, skill demands, and workplace relations. The empirical material focuses on the prospects of teamwork, the status of supervisors, and the effects of new technologies on labor deployment in three plants. The author concludes that many of the firms' efforts to overcome the limits of Taylorism are stuck halfway due to insufficient training of the workers, lack of support in the middle- and lower-level management, and selective utilization of the new organizational practices in the production management.