Managing culture and the manipulation of difference: a case study of second-generation transplant

This contribution studies the processes and tensions involved in the introduction of management techniques, largely inspired by the Japanese example, into a non-Japanese manufacturing firm in the North East of England. In treating culture as something an organization has rather than something an organization is, management were able to introduce a new approach by actively using divisions existing among workers, particularly those along the axes of age and gender and skill. While successful in the short term the changes appear as brittle in the longer term context of skill deficits and the fluctuating demand for labour within the firm.