9600525 Buechtemann This research project uses the opportunity of a new projection facility in the United States by Mercedes-Benz to examine questions of the basic skills and aptitudes of the US labor force for manufacturing jobs and the role of the systematic worker selection for high performance manufacturing. It examines the role of the formal workforce training and apprenticeship school and business partnerships in generating the human capital pre requisites and technical skills base for modern production systems. Also it examines the transferability of elements of the German "dual" apprenticeship system for high level technical training to the US and the need for their adaptation to the specific US social environment; and the selection of workforce for highly technical training. The analysis will be conducted between 1996 and 1998 and will involve collection of quantitative and qualitative empirical information of the new production site in Alabama and from regional education providers and also from comparable sites of the parent company in Germany. Thus, the analysis plan is longitudinal (follows teams) and cross-national comparative. This project is part of a large research effort to study the technological, organizational, and human resources of the creation of a local capability base for high performance manufacturing work settings. ***
