Lean Work: Empowerment and Exploitation in the Global Auto Industry.

The twenty-one chapters of this excellent book derive from a 1993 Labor Studies conference at Wayne State University. Many of the twenty-seven authors directly respond to the 1991 best-selling book, The Machine that Changed the World, by Womack, Jones and Roos. In Lean Work, the authors challenge the notion that "lean production is a superior way for humans to make things . . . more challenging and fulfilling for employees . . . the whole world should adopt lean production, and as quickly as possible."

Lean production is most visible in the automobile industry, and Japanese management methods are the source, building upon total quality management, quality circles, work …