Open AccessProductivity and Skills in Industry and Services—A Britain-German Comparison (Distinguished Lecture)
Author(s) -
Karin Wagner
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
pakistan development review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.154
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 0030-9729
DOI - 10.30541/v44i4ipp.411-438
Subject(s) - german , apprenticeship , productivity , vocational education , flexibility (engineering) , strengths and weaknesses , quality (philosophy) , order (exchange) , business , marketing , industrial organization , economics , economic growth , management , finance , geography , psychology , social psychology , philosophy , archaeology , epistemology
It is widely accepted that the vocational and professionaltraining system has a major impact on national competitiveness. In thispaper a number of German-British studies in manufacturing and servicesare examined in order to show how skill systems have affected thecomparative strengths and weaknesses of the two countries’ productivityperformances. The studies have been conducted since the end of the 1980sto 2003 and have revealed specific links between vocational training,products and competitiveness on the basis of matched plant comparisons.The comparison between Britain and Germany has been chosen as thesecountries have very different national VET systems. The findings suggestthat higher levels of apprenticeship training in German companies givethem an advantage over their British counterparts with respect toflexibility to changes in markets, technology, quality and supplychains. The paper closes with a short discussion.