WORKERS AND FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS - 3 INSTALLATIONS COMPARED

This paper presents and compares case studies of three Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMSs). Interviews, observation and questionnaire data from two installations are compared to data presented in previous studies of a third installation. Whereas the previous research found that FMS workers suffered from a lack of autonomy and control, this does not characterize work on the two new installations. While in one of the new cases, the difference may have been due to its semi‐autonomous team organization, the other new installation was organized along rather conventional lines. Despite its conventional organization, workers in this latter FMS expressed high levels of satisfaction and motivation and their system operated at a very high level of efficiency. This result suggests that future research might fruitfully reconsider whether the relevant factor of satisfaction and motivation is autonomy or efficacy. Copyright © 1991 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.