The objective of this project is to develop an understanding of the ways in which industries differ in the use and effectiveness of quality practices. Previous studies have tended to overlook industry differences in the use and effectiveness of quality-related work and production practices, focusing instead on overall trends across industries or on single industry case studies. The study will provide the first empirical analysis of the ways the transformation to quality practice differs across U.S. manufacturing industries. To examine this issue, the study will use survey data from a 1994 study of the entire population of Japanese affiliated manufacturing plants in the United States, and a 1992 sample of a size-stratified sample of U.S. manufacturing establishments generally. These samples contain detailed information on the production and work organization, quality practices, labor force, customer-supplier relations and performance of plants in a wide variety of manufacturing industries. Analysis of survey data will permit identification of technological and organizational factors that are associated with industry differences in the adoption and implementation of a range of quality practices. The study also will include an analysis of the performance impacts of quality practices by industry. f8 + _ Ûª? ÑOh ª' +'ª?0 à + ] $ H l + ¢ ? D h + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ R:WWUSERTEMPLATENORMAL.DOT
