Reports the findings of a study into manufacturing performance and practice in 71 auto components plants in eight countries. Documents the performance differences between plants in different countries, and tests the extent to which lean production principles explain variations in performance. As a group, European plants trailed the USA and Japan on productivity and quality. Measures of process discipline and control most consistently discriminated between the high and low‐performing plants. There was no clear link between performance and patterns of work organization or human resource policy.
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