THE JAPANISATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRY? A CASE STUDY OF QUALITY CIRCLES IN THE CARPET INDUSTRY

Abstract

This article reports on a new strategy for labour control in a British carpet factory, brought about under the pressure of the recession. The key characteristics of this approach have a number of similarities with the Japanese model of labour relations. Quality circles are the only overtly Japanese feature at the company, although the new economic and political conditions within Britain may have created the conditions for the absorption of Japanese values and ideas.