Building on the work of labor historians, industrial relations scholars, and institutional labor economists, this book offers not only a comprehensive analysis of the changing nature of shopfloor labor-management relations in the large manufacturing firms of this century, it also supplies empirical evidence of the effect of these institutional changes on labor productivity growth and injury rates. No other study has dealt with the broad sweep of shopfloor governence during the twentieth century, paid as careful attention to the process by which shopfloor institutional arrangements changed...

This volume examines processes by which technological change has been assimilated into capitalist workplaces since the Industrial Revolution. Contributors present theoretical propositions, drawing arguments from neo-classical, Marxist, evolutionary and transaction cost economics, the sociology of Anthony Giddens and Max Weber, and network analysis. These are coupled with historical case studies, including: the growth of the factory system during the industrial revolution in Britain; the German chemical industry and German family firms before World War I; the American automobile industry in...

This collection of essays addresses questions of the theory of the firm and international business. The first section deals with theoretical issues underpinning multinational enterprise. These are the issues of information, re-engineering and change management and international trade. The second section concentrates on the inter-firm relationships of multinationals, assessing the interplay of co-operation and adversarial behaviour. The third section deals with applications of the principles presented in the first two sections. The applications concern the defence equipment industry the world...

What has been the impact of deregulation and a rapidly changing socio-economic environment on the professions? The cross-disciplinary contributions to this volume examine the changing role of the professions.

Offers an analysis of the relations and interplay between the internal activities of firms, their changing boundaries, and increasing reliance on networks and alliances with other firms. The contributors to the text offer a blend of theoretical and empirical studies based on a set of related perspectives in modern economics, including: transaction cost economics; competence and resource-based theories of the firm; evolutionary economics and the theories of foreign direct investments and the multinational enterprise.

The work of G.B. Richardson has given insights into key issues and debates such as markets versus hierarchies, price stability, the economics of information and the concept of competition based upon differentiated firms.
This collection encourages further development of Richardson's themes. It will make excellent reading for students looking at the capability or competence approach to the firm, and for all those wishing to familiarise themselves with the work of this important economist.

This work examines the governance of large technical systems (LTS) at firm, imdustry and state levels and the interactions between the systems and society. In particular, international contributors explore the implications of major technological, economic and social changes during the last twenty years for traditional forms of LTS governance. Their research is centred around the following themes:
* traditional forms of governance
* new regulatory challenges
* the governability of complex technologies
* conceptual issues related to the governance of inter-organizational...

This volume examines the nature of interfirm networks and their role in promoting industrial competitiveness. Where previous work in this area has tended to be descriptive, the distinguished contributors to this volume present a balanced theoretical and empirical approach to interfirm networking drawing on a variety of international case studies. Issues covered include:
* The role of networks in regulating conflict and producing co-operation
* The role of networks in developing knowledge and competences
* Network governance and conflict intensive networks

This text addresses the nature of shifts in professional and managerial knowledge and practice, particularly in relation to power and accountability.

How do firms live through and experience change? The authors examine four high-technology firms, providing a rich analysis of their routines, and illustrating how people are continually engaged with change. The book develops a broader concept of routine, and identifies the persistence of routine practices at a strategic level.