Premium
Employment Practices and Semiconductor Manufacturing Performance
Author(s) -
Appleyard Melissa M.,
Brown Clair
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
industrial relations: a journal of economy and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.61
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1468-232X
pISSN - 0019-8676
DOI - 10.1111/0019-8676.00219
Subject(s) - key (lock) , quality (philosophy) , industrial organization , business , semiconductor industry , production (economics) , manufacturing , high tech , marketing , manufacturing engineering , economics , engineering , computer science , political science , microeconomics , philosophy , computer security , epistemology , law
This article analyzes the factors contributing to superior manufacturing performance in the semiconductor industry. Through an analysis of firm‐level data from the United States, Asia, and Europe, we explore the relationship between firm performance along quality and quantity dimensions and three components of the employment system: skill development, employee participation in problem solving, and employee collaboration. We find that manufacturing success is related to the introduction of new production technology and the involvement of all occupations in problem solving under the leadership of engineers, who play a key (and growing) role in this high‐tech industry. We find that the operators and technicians play a smaller role in creating high‐performing semiconductor factories than has been found in studies of more traditional factories, such as automobiles and steel.