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dissertation entitled

A Comparative Study of Japanese and U.S.
Training Processes, Strategies and Outcomes
in Automobile Industry Suppliers

presented by
Randall J. Lewis

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Ph.D. degreein A.C.._E_.__

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MSU Is An Affirmative Action/EM Opponunlty lm

A COMPARATIVE STUDY
OF JAPANESE AND U.S. TRAINING
PROCESSES. STRATEGIES AND OUTCOMES
IN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS

By
Randall Jon Lewis

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to Michigan State Un
In partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

 

 

ABSTRACT

.A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF JAPANESE AND U.S. TRAINING PROCESSES,
STRATEGIES AND OUTCOMES IN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS

BY

Randall Jon Lewis

An enormous amount of literature is available on
management training. Management training has had more
attention because companies have allocated training
resources to this perceived area of need. Few case studies
have been attempted in the area of production employee
training. Even fewer have compared Japanese production
training to U.S. production training.

The purpose of this research was to identify
similarities and differences in processes, strategies and
outcomes of U.S. located Japanese and American automobile
industry suppliers. There are many preconceived notions
about the Japanese and their views on manufacturing,
quality, service and training. Many people are unaware of
the unprecedented change occurring in American factories.
The problem is that we seldom go to the source to discover
the reality of our preconceptions. There is little
understanding as to how training really affects an
organization.

This research descriptively examined the production

training of six companies in the Midwest. Managers,

trainers and production workers were questioned to find out
how training is conducted, why it is important, and what
benefits accrue to the organization.

The face-to~face interviews and questionnaires were
examined to discover that, when compared to American firms,
longer orientations and ongoing training are typical for
Japanese companies. Additionally, they put more of their
resources into screening potential production employees.
Implications for further research include comparing answers
to training questions among different employee ranks. There
are significant differences in perception of the benefits of
training programs among managers, trainers and trainees.
These differences seem to hold true regardless of the

country of origin.

IKJOKIHIHXIDIHTI

I wish to acknowledge Dr. Cas Heilman for his patience,
support, encouragement and guidance. Also, I wish to thank
Drs. Howard Hickey, William Cole and John Beck for their
support and advice during the past year. Dr. Hickey deserves
particular mention for stepping in when Dr. Heilman became
ill. I have an enormous amount of respect for his
willingness to take on a large role during retirement.

I would also like to thank the people at General
Motors, especially Jim Logan and Stan Simona, who arranged
for the company visitations. Although, I am unable to
mention the companies or their employees, I wish to thank
all the contact people and their generous co-workers.

Spring Arbor College deserves much of the credit for
this study, providing needed financial and moral support.
Specifically, Dr. Allen Carden, Dr. Mark Sargent and Betty
Videto deserve honorable mention. Other faculty and staff
also contributed to my completion of this study.

I had several friends who were very supportive and who
prayed without ceasing during some very troubling times.
They are Jaime Hartges, Graham Shipley and Richard Jacobson.

iMy father, Ronald Lewis, and mother, Margaret Lewis,
deserve special mention because of the time they spent

reading, re-reading, editing and typing. They were a

constant encouragement, never ready to give up on my
ambitions.

My ”in-laws", Harold and Helen Beam, and family, were a
source of humorous prodding and motivation. They were
always ready with a smile when the repeated answer to their
question, ”How much longer?” was ”Only two more years".

My wife Helga was the single greatest contributor to
this research because of her constant love, support and
assistance. My son Jonathan, although distracting at times,
kept my spirits high through laughter and gave me the desire
to keep going.

Nane of these peOple could have done anything had it
not been for the Lord Jesus Christ who held my hand and even
carried me through the difficult situations that I

encountered which included cancer and a very busy schedule.

LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . .
BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM . . . . .
Quality: Products and Services
Firms Driven by Technology . .
Putting The Customer First . .
Foreign Presence in the U.S. .
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM . . . . . .
The Manufacturing Sector . . .
The Automobile Industry . . . .
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY . . . . . . . .
RESEARCH QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . .
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY . . . . .
DELIMITATIONS OF STUDY . . . . . . .
DEFINITION OF TERMS . . . . . . . .

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE . . . .
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . .
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN TRAINING . . . .
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES . . . . . . . .

JAPANESE COMPANIES IN THE U.S.

O O O O

O O O O O O O O

O C O C I C

CONTRASTS BETWEEN JAPANESE AND AMERICAN TRAINING
HISTORY OF JAPANESE VS U.S. MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS .

MODERN JAPANESE PRODUCTION METHODS .
TRAINING AS KNOWLEDGE . . . . . . .
SWY O O O C O O O O U C O O O 0

CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . .
INTRODUC T I ON I O O O O O O O O O O 0

RESEARCH QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . .
SELECTION OF RESEARCH SITES . . . .
CRITERIA . . . . . . . . .

RECRUITMENT OF AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLIERS
VERIFICATION PROCESS . . . . . . . .
SUPPLIER APPROVAL . . . . . . . .
POPULATION AND SAMPLE- INTERVIEWEES .
THE INTERVIEW PROCESS . . . . . . .
DATA ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . .
CONFIDENTIALITY . . . . . . . . . .

O O O O O 0 O O

O

0

O O O O O O O 0 O

0 O O Q

0 O O O O 0 O O O

O O O O O O D O O O O 0

xi

25
25
25
27
29
30
33
34
37
38

39
39
39
43
43
44
44
45
45
46
48
49

CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
COMPANY A; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . 51
PROCESS FOR RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING . . . . . 52
Recruitment and Selection Process . . . . 52
Training Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
STRATEGIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
New Hire Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Orientation/ New Hire Training Strategies 56
Ongoing Training Strategies . . . . . . 57
Miscellaneous Strategies . . . . . . . . . 58
OUTCOMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Benchmarking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
.Attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Quantitative Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . 60
Miscellaneous Outcomes . . . . . . . . . 61
SUMMARY OF COMPANY A FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . 61
COMPANY B: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . 62
PROCESS FOR RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING . . . . . 63
Recruitment and Selection Process . . . . 63
Orientation and Training Process . . 64
STRATEGIES FOR HIRING, ORIENTATION AND TRAINING 66
New Hire Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Orientation/New Hire Training Strategies . 67
Ongoing Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Miscellaneous Strategies . . . . . . . . . 7O
OUTCOMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Benchmarking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
.Attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Quantitative Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . 73
SUMMARY OF COMPANY B FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . 74
COMPANY C: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . 76
PROCESS FOR RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING . . . . . 77
Recruitment and Selection Process . . . . 77
Orientation and Training Process . . . . . 78
STRATEGIES FOR HIRING, ORIENTATION.AND TRAININ NG 81
New Hire Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Orientation/New Hire Training Strategies . 81
Ongoing Training Strategies . . . . . . . 83
OUTCOMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Benchmarking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
.Attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Quantitative Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . 88
Miscellaneous Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . 89

SUMMARY OF COMPANY C FINDINGS . . . .
COMPANY D: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
INTRODUCTION . . . . .

PROCESS FOR RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING
Recruitment and Selection Process
Orientation and Training Process

STRATEGIES FOR HIRING, ORIENTATION AND TRAININ

New Hire Strategies . . . . . .

O
O
O
O

O

O
O
O
O
D
O

O

O

Orientation/New Hire Training Strategies

0

Ongoing Training Strategies
OUTCOMES . . . . . . . . . .
Benchmarking . . . . . .
.Attitudes . . . . . . .
Quantitative Outcomes .
SUMMARY OF COMPANY D FINDINGS
COMPANY E: . . . . . . . . . . .
INTRODUCTION . . . . .
PROCESS FOR RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING
Recruitment and Selection Process
Orientation and Training Process

0 O O O O O

O O O O O O C
0 I C O O I O

O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
C

O O O U 6 O

O O O O O O O O .

G

89
91
91
93
93
95
98
98
99
100
102
102
103
106
108
110
110
110
110
111

STRATEGIES FOR HIRING, ORIENTATION AND TRAINING113

New Hire Strategies . . . . . .

Orientation/New Hire Training Strategies

Ongoing Training . . . . . .
OUTCOMES . . . . . . . . . .
Benchmarking . . . . . .
.Attitudes . . . . . . .
Quantitative Outcomes .
SUMMARY OF COMPANY E FINDINGS
COMPANY F: . . . . . . . . . . .
INTRODUCTION . . . . . .
PROCESS FOR RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING
Recruitment and Selection Process
Orientation and Training Process
TRAINING . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
New Hire Strategies . . . . . .

. O O O O O
O O O
O O O O O O O
O

Orientation/New Hire Training Strat

Ongoing Training Strategies . .
OUTCOMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Benchmarking . . . . . . . . . .
.Attitudes . . . . . . . . .
Quantitative/Measurable Outcomes
SUMMARY OF COMPANY F FINDINGS .
SURVEY FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . .
SURVEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
STATISTICAL METHODS . . . . . . .
SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . .

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113
114
115
118
118
119
120
122
124
124
125
125
125
127
127
129
131
135
135
136
137
139

-141

142
143
145

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND

O O O O O O O O 0

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS .
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN . .
UNION VERSUS NON~UNION .
PLANT AGE . . . . . .
AVERAGE AGE OF PRODUCTION EMPLOY
NUMBER OF PRODUCTION WORKERS
HIGH SCHOOL OR GED REQUIREMENT
BASIC SKILLS TEST
DEPARTMENT CLASSROOM TRAINING
ON-THE-JOB TRAINING . .
ONGOING CLASSES OFFERED .
USE OF TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES
TRAINING COMMITTEES
EMPLOYEE TURNOVER
CROSS TRAINING

CONCLUSIONS .

OTHER CONCLUSIONS .

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUDING

REFLECTIONS

O O O O O

O

O 0 O O

O 0 O O

O O 0 O O O

O O O O O O O O

APPENDIX.A
U.S. TRANSPLANT FACTS

APPENDIX B
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS .

APPENDIX C
CLASSIFICATION OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

APPENDIX D
CONFIRMATION LETTER

APPENDIX E

BASIC COMPANY QUESTIONS .
APPENDIX E

MANAGERS INTERVIEW GUIDE .
APPENDIX G

TRAINERS INTERVIEW GUIDE .
APPENDIX H

TRAINEES INTERVIEW GUIDE

RECOMMENDATIONS

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146
146
148
148
148
148
149
149
150
150
151
152
153
153
154
155
156
158
160
162

165

166

168

169

170

171

174

177

APPENDIX I
QUESTIONNAIRE . .

4APPENDIX J
STATISTICAL OUTPUT

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . .

2.1

4.1

LIST OF TABLES

Different Patterns in U.S. and Japanese
Management Styles

Statistical Results by Country

Comparative Training Data

28

144

147

CHAPTER]:

INTRODUCTION

Our world today is much more complex than the world our
parents knew. World trade was much less developed and
exchange rates were not flexible as they are today. The
value of world exports in 1994 was over 4 trillion U.S.
dollars. Export trade grew at an annual rate of
approximately 12% during the 19805 and 19903 . However,
export trade is only a part of global business. The figures
are staggering when you include foreign direct investment
and local subsidiary sales of multinational companies
(Thorelli, Cavusgil, 1990).

In the United States, international trade is only about
7‘11% of gross national product (GNP), but the US is one of
the largest trading partners in the world. Belgium, Holland
and South Korea export about half of their gross national
products. Meat industrialized nations export about 20% of
their GNP. In recent years, the triad (Japan, Western
Europe and the United States) have become extremely
important markets for any globally oriented business
(Thorelli, Cavusgil, 1990). When a multinational business
moves its operations to a foreign country they bring a rich

culture which shapes its management, marketing and

2

production techniques. These distinctive characteristics

are at the heart of this research.

BACKGROUND OF’TBI PROBLENE

In the period immediately following World War II, the
U.S. was virtually alone in its ability to mass produce
products and provide services to its own citizens and the
rest of the globe. More than thirty years after Germany and
Japan began to rebuild their crumbled, war ravaged
infrastructures, the U.S. awoke to a world of globally
competitive products and services. This globally
competitive environment continues to grow and challenges
U.S. economic dominance at an ever increasing pace. Some
major trends directly linked to global competition are:
1. Continued emphasis on quality driven products and
services.
2. Increases in technology dependent products and services.
3. Growing emphasis on improving customer satisfaction.
4. The movement of foreign owned businesses to the U.S.

Quality: Products and Services

As a direct result of global readiness to compete,
quality driven products and services have become the driving
force for increased market share, sales and profitability.

After holding a substantial market share in numerous

3
industries in the 19505 and 19605, the U.S. had become
complacent. In the 19705 and 19805, the U.S. began to lose
credibility in the production and delivery of dependable,
high quality products and services. During this time
period, the perceived quality of U.S. products was lower and
prices were higher than other world competitors, especially
Japan. Recent efforts to improve this credibility problem
have been thoroughly documented, but the consumer is
unforgiving, especially in the short run. It would be
simple to blame unions or government regulation for quality
setbacks but many foreign firms have been quite successful
in the U.S. despite these perceived problems.

In the post World War II period, the late W. Edward
Deming, after being rejected by American firms, brought a
system of quality management to Japan. In 1950, he taught
the theory of total quality management to the Union of
Japanese Scientists and Engineers. Japan's economic success
is rooted in quality; Japanese quality is rooted in W.
Edward Deming (Rienzo, 1993)..According to Deming's
teachings (Lorine, 1990), quality is the predictable absence
of error. It is a customer-oriented result achieved only
when management decides to work out system bound flaws in
production and services rather than blame employees for poor

workmanship and delivery of services. It is a never-ending

4
process of continuous improvement that he believed would
lower costs and improve productivity and, finally,
profitability.

Another quality ”guru” responsible for the worldwide
attention to quality is Joseph M. Juran (Quality Control
Handbook, 1951). The Japanese invited Juran to deliver
lectures on quality a few years after Deming. Juran defined
quality as "fitness for use" and his writings set the stage
for today's concept of total-quality management (TQM).

In 1987, Juran served on the original board of
directors for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
(Gordon, 1994). When J. M. Juran was interviewed in
February 1994, he stated that the let century will be the
'century of quality" compared to the 20th century which is
the “century of productivity”.

J. W. Juran is very enthusiastic about quality in the
U.S. but states, ”There have been a lot of false starts."
Despite those who have missed the target in the 19805, he
believes many U.S. companies have achieved world-class
quality. There are some examples of U.S. companies that
have pushed toward a high quality benchmark and have been
quite successful. John Deere's factories in Davenport and
Dubuque, Iowa were registered to the ISO 9001 standard in

Japan by the Japanese Machinery and Metal Inspection

5
Institute. The ISO 9000 series is recognized as a standard
of factory quality performance in more than 90 countries
(Lawson, 1994).

Another example of a U.S. firm serious about quality is
the Ceclor division of Corning Inc. Their Blacksburg plant
has received national recognition for its successful
implementation of quality performance teamwork. A.self-
managed work team.evolves through several stages of
development which involve a change in culture, attitude,
level of training, and commitment. These self-managed work
teams are fueled by global competition, new technologies,
shortened product life cycles, and a philosophy of
continuous improvement and higher expectations (Green,
1994). A5 global competition continues to evolve and
consumers increasingly demand higher quality and better
responsiveness from manufacturers, more and more firms are
turning to technology for assistance (Vineyard, Zeltman,
1993).

Fir-s Driven by Technology

Another key in the quest for global business lies in a
country's ability to lead in high technology. This is based
on scientific knowledge and is directly linked to the
portion of dollars allocated to research and development

(RaD). The spread of technology around the world is

6
allowing low~cost producers to challenge major firms'
established positions in many markets. Technology is
forming organizational structures, processes, and products
and services (Chait, 1994).

Once a country experiences wage increases and strength
in their currency, low technology industries are often
relocated to other less developed nations and high
technology industries became the means for future survival.
More than 80% of the top 100 multinational U.S. based
companies make high~value, high-technology products. .The
typical proportion of U.S. high-tech firms to total firms is
around 50%. These high-tech firms derive 44% of their
revenues on average from international sales (Kruytbosch,
1994).

Mbst executives have been exposed to downsizing,
mergers, acquisitions, cost cutting and awesome
technological changes (Sorgenfrei, 1994). The next century
will be the period of information highways, wireless
communication and digitization. Managers are advised to keep
up on these and other technological changes (Vinocur, 1994).

Many business failures have arisen from the wrong
responses to these emerging technologies (de Jager, 1994).
While businesses have been in awe of the technological

changes in the past decade, they have not seen anything

7
comparable to what will be developed in the next few years
(Zavitz, 1994). Technology has become the driving force for
domination of many markets and is certainly linked to
improvements in quality and cost reduction. Technology can
also be beneficial in adapting to a customer-oriented
environment such as computerized mortgage servicing
providing accurate updated loan information without waiting
for a customer service representative. This brings us to
another trend in this globally competitive environment, the
desire to please the customer.
Putting The Gusto-um First

The customer-oriented marketing concept was developed
in the United States. This view, developed in the fifties,
looked at the customers' needs rather than the needs of the
factory. The new standard became “we make what we sell'
instead of ”we sell what we make". This philosophy has
called attention to the simple fact that firms exist to
serve the public. Certainly, this philosOphy has become one
of the cornerstones of marketing research among most
industrialized counties and has been highly developed and
fine tuned since the fifties (Thorelli, Cavusgil, 1990)..

Today, the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) is
the contemporary product of customer-oriented thinking. The

TQM approach assists companies in the pursuit of better

8
employee relations, higher productivity, increased customer
satisfaction, larger market share and an improved bottom
line (Halligan, 1992).

The current U.S. marketing model indicates that the
organization must analyze customer needs and wants, and then
make the product to fill those needs and wants at a profit.
iHarketing in the U.S. is based on a customer orientation,
whereas global firms see customers from the perspective of
market power. The U.S. has lost and is in danger of losing
market power in many competitive areas (Morris, Kimball,
1992).

Service organizations and manufacturing firms have both
been challenged to increase customer satisfaction and
quality. Service organizations have reduced some customer
contact by using manufacturing like operations while
manufacturing firms are placing greater emphasis on the
service they provide (Siferd, Benton, Ritzman, 1992).

Rising business failure rates are the inevitable result
of losing customer attentiveness. Specifically, a key
reason for business failures in the United States is that
companies have not enlarged business plans to include
quality related goals for improving customer satisfaction
(Kobu, Greenwood, 1991). This is one reason for recent

successes achieved in many U.S. located foreign transplants.

9
In many industries, their attention to the customer has
improved perceptions of quality.
Foreign Pretend. in the‘U.8.

Foreign firms have been moving to the United States for
many years. Firms of industrialized countries have
consistently moved operations to the U.S. and beginning in
the 1980's this trend began to increase, especially with
regard to Japanese firms. The trend, having slowed
somewhat, is still alive and well in the 1990's. Foreign
firms have many incentives to move production and direct
investment into the U.S., including the circumvention of
U.S. trade barriers, guarding against adverse movements of
the exchange rate and production costs, linkages to the
world's largest consumer market and exploitation of their
own technological and managerial advantages (Davis, 1993).
The recent decline in the movement of production facilities
and other direct investment, during the early 1990's, is
during a period of lower current account and trade deficits,
a more stable U.S. dollar, and weaker economic activity for
the U.S. and investment source countries (Davis, 1993).

With the rise of foreign ownership in U.S. companies
came the fear that U.S. land, resources and technology would
be controlled by foreigners. The reverse has happened by

allowing small towns to compete in a world economy, expand

10
technologies and find employment. Foreign owned companies
bring money to local markets and bring new ways to manage,
produce, train for and use technology.

In the 1990's, the rate of new investment peaked and is
currently declining. In the 1980's, Japanese plants in
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee
created more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs (Larson, 1992).

It is becoming increasingly difficult to draw a clear
line between what is domestic and what is foreign. The
internationalization of domestic producers has occurred
simultaneously with the domestication of foreign producers
and transplants. Efforts have been made to inform the
consumer of foreign content of such products as automobiles
and trucks. However, trying to discern between what is
foreign and what is American will become even more futile in

the future (Harvey, 1993).

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The‘lanufacturing Sector
To further focus the problem, this research could go in
one of three directions. Its emphasis could be directed to
the service sector, manufacturing sector or both. This
researcher has determined that the manufacturing sector

provides a greater need for study due to its global

ll
importance, technological emphasis, and its relative decline
over the past decades. Also, our relative standard of
living is directly attributable to our ability to compete
globally in manufactured products.

The manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy has been
consistently decreasing in size relative to total gross
domestic product since the 1950's. Many economists argue
that de-industrialization is simply a stage in economic
development. Great Britain has experienced a rapid decline
in its manufacturing base which requires immediate action to
avoid a disaster (Healy, 1994). Healy indicates that such
action by the British government must include:

0 Provision of low inflation and interest rates as well

as stable exchange rates.

0 Increase in government funding for research and
development.

0 Allowance for accelerated depreciation on manufacturing
invesbment.

. Provision of tax relief for vocational training.

. Encouragement of alliances between manufacturing

companies and educational institutions.

Matters (1991) believes that lowering interest rates to

initiate.an economic recovery in the U.S. ignores the

12
importance of the manufacturing sector and fails to call
attention to the depth of its fall. We can look at 1950 and
1992 to illustrate the depth of the falling manufacturing
sector. In 1950, the service sector employed about 50% of
all American workers and in 1992 had increased to 76%. In
1993 the share of manufacturing accounted for only 23% of
gross domestic product (GDP) in the U.S. Carr (1993) uses
a case study to highlight the importance of manufacturing
policies as primary sources of sustainable competitive
advantage.

According to the Economic Report to the President, from
1950 to 1990, Agriculture, Transportation and Manufacturing
have had the highest productivity rates. These sectors have
also had the largest job loss. In the past ten years,
manufacturing payrolls have shrunk by 325,000. It has
become increasingly important for those left in
manufacturing to acquire high skill levels requiring
extensive training.

There is strong evidence that American manufacturers
are convinced of the need for training; however, some
confusion exists regarding the means for meeting that need.
Manufacturers are in the forefront of worker training and
are responsible for a number of new training methods (Hill,

1994). .According to Carol Brown, a project manager with the

13
American Society for Training and Development, manufacturers
are committed to the total quality movement in response to
intense competition from around the globe.

Such contemporary quality and training lingo as "TQM“
and "reengineering' are applied to manufacturing first
because the results are directly measurable, according to
Joseph Thomas, a professor of Manufacturing at Cornell
University's S.C. Johnson School of Management (Hill, 1994).
When these prove successful in manufacturing, they get
passed on to other areas. Given that manufacturing is
somewhat forced to stay current in the latest training
methods and total quality environments, this provides a
final and compelling reason to select the manufacturing
sector as an ideal area of research.

Tho.Antolobile Industry

The ten fastest growing manufacturing industries in
1994 are machine tools, electronic components, surgical
appliances, mobile homes, automotive parts and accessories,
medical instruments, lighting fixtures, mattresses, leather
tanning and analytical instruments (Standard and Poor's,
1994). They are being propelled by U.S. demand for
automobiles, computers, environmental and health equipment,
and housing. Further refining the topic, the automobile

industry will be the focus of this research due to its major

l4

contribution to growth in GDP and due to the vast automotive
resources available in Michigan.

The total global motor vehicle production in 1992 was
49.9 million units down to 48 million in 1993 (Wards
Automotive Yearbook, 1994). The U.S. increased its world
share from 19.5% to 22.7% during the same period. U.S.
production levels in 1993 were 23.7% higher than 1991. The
share of truck production rose to 45% in 1993. While U.S.
Big Three producers (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler)
increased their share of both cars and trucks,
output at solely owned, U.S. located, Japanese plants was
mostly down. Nissan was the exception with production units
of 171,402 and 293,182 in 1992 and 1993, respectively.

Training in the automotive industry has been
revolutionized in the past two decades. The transformation
from.production quantity to product quality and customer
satisfaction has put a whole new emphasis on training. U.S.
automobile manufacturers have been forced to reposition
themselves in a rapidly changing marketplace. General
Motors maintains high levels of corporate support for
education (Sullivan, 1991). Saturn employees are expected
to spend 5% of the hours they work each year in training

(Vasilash, 1992).

15

In 1992, the Chrysler Corporation began a massive
training effort to improve how its dealers handle consumers
(Serafin, 1992). Ford changed the name of one of its
divisions from Parts and Service to Customer Service while
its focus became consulting and technical training rather
than just selling parts to dealers (Woods, 1993).

Suppliers within the automobile industry have scrambled
to meet the increasingly tough standards of car makers.
Arvin North American Automobile designed its own quality
program intended to empower employees and improve efficiency
(Hitchcock, 1993). They reduced defects by 90% and lowered
inventory levels by almost one-half. Form Rite Corporation,
a supplier of tubular assembly products continuously strives
to produce world-class products. Training workshops include
formal classroom sessions, presentations and work site
exercises. Form Rite earned the Ford Motor Company
preferred quality 01 award (Ardahji, 1993). Lucas
Automotive Electronics Division provides continuous training
and education with the primary objective of reducing defects
in their electronic control units and other electronic
devices (Anonymousl, 1993).

Training is also a major emphasis in.American*Japanese
joint ventures. The Sumitomo 3M joint venture in Japan, an

automotive supplier of electrical parts, in 1993, was

16
spending more than $2 million per year to train 3000

employees (Anonymousz, 1993). Their 1993 training program

included:

0 Computer and technical skills.

0 Basic selling skills to new hires.

0 Marketing.

- Supervisory training for first-line managers.
. Training for general and plant managers.

The average annual hours spent on quality training in
the U.S. automobile industry was high at almost every level
and is expected to increase in the three years following a
1992 International Quality Study (108). The study found
that the most benefit per training dollar could be derived
from senior management and new-product development employees
(Benson, 1992).

Some deliverers of training programs conduct studies of
new technology and methods of learning. In 1993, Paulson
Training Programs chose Westplex Corporation of Manchester,
New York and Team One Plastics Company of Albion, Michigan
to participate in a multimedia interactive training system.
This system uses a personal computer and laser videodisc to
create a private learning station (Kirkland, 1993). Both

companies serve 2nd-tier automotive suppliers: however, Team

17
One almost exclusively serves the 2nd-tier transnational
Japanese automotive suppliers.

Many more examples of Japanese and U.S. training
programs could be cited and are abundant in the literature.
However, this research will focus on direct comparisons of
Japanese and U.S. companies to provide useful information

regarding their processes, strategies and outcomes.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to identify key
similarities and differences in training processes,
strategies and outcomes as conducted by U.S. located
Japanese and American automotive industry suppliers.

The total number of automobiles produced in the U.S. by
Japanese transplants increased from 1500 in 1982 to
1,540,277 in 1993. Along with the major Japanese automobile
manufacturers came hundreds of smaller lst and 2nd tier
suppliers whose training programs have received little
attention in contemporary research. Some transplants have
recently announced increases in plant capacity and output to
further reduce costs and achieve greater economies of scale.
Also, the Japanese are turning more design and engineering

over to U.S. research and deveIOpment facilities.

18
It is apparent that the presence of Japanese
transplants in the U.S. will increase and it is imperative
that research be conducted which gives insights into their
successes and failures. Quality and customer satisfaction
are key reasons for their success and training is essential

to maintain world-class quality and customer service.

RIIIARCE'QUIOTIONI

The primary goal of this study is to determine key
similarities and differences between Japanese and U.S.
manufacturing plants in regards to training processes,
strategies and outcomes. The specific area of training to be
researched is the initial orientation phase when an employee
is first hired or transferred from.another position. Due to
the inseparable link to recruitment and screening they will
play a minor role in this research. Additionally, ongoing
training will receive some attention when making direct
comparisons to orientation training. Research questions
were constructed around the processes, strategies and
outcomes of initial training. The following research
questions were identified:
1. How much emphasis is placed on the recruitment and

selection of new production employees?

l9
2. How much and what kind of training is required of new
production employees?
3. Who is responsible for identifying training needs and how
are these needs identified?
4. How much commitment and support does the organization
give to its training program?
5. How is the training organized and delivered?
6. Can the effectiveness of training programs be documented,
and how do companies evaluate effectiveness?
7. Who determines the training needs for the future and what
process is used to determine these needs?
8. What role does Adult and Continuing Education play in
these programs? (instructional design, evaluation, follow—

up, etc.)

SIGNIFICANCI OF THE STUDY

This study will provide needed information to industry
regarding the true relationship between training programs in
U.S. and Japanese manufacturing plants. It will provide
insight into the effectiveness of various degrees of
training intensity as well as initial versus ongoing
training and reveal the steps which must be taken if further
training effectiveness is desired. Questions often asked by
Human Resource Managers are "What is the payoff on my

training dollars?" and "Should I increase or decrease my

20
investment in training?“ Many training managers will
benefit from this study as it gives them some tools to begin

answering these difficult questions.

DILIMITAIIONS OF STUDY

This study has the following delimitations:
1. The six plants researched which were selected by the
identification of specific criteria.
2. The study was restricted to the geographical location of
plants in the Midwest.
3. Selected plants were in the data base of the General
Motors Purchasing and Quality Assurance departments. The
majority of these plants are currently one of General Motors
suppliers and are considered their "best" suppliers.

4. Early training which is received by new employees.

DEFTMITIOW‘OP TERMS
Automotive Suppliers (2nd-tier): Suppliers of automotive

parts to lst-tier automotive suppliers who supply parts

directly to final assembly automobile facilities.

Benchmarking: Comparing a firm's business practices with
those used by world class companies, more recently

associated with global competition.

21
Downsizing: Reductions of facilities and/or employees
typically with the intention of reducing costs and enhancing

global competitiveness.

Emerging Technologies: Higher risk technologies and
associated products utilizing recently developed concepts
whose long term survival is questionable. Typically, the
development of these technologies is conducted in highly
industrialized nations such as Japan, Germany and the United

States.

lmpower:2Management gives employees the freedom to make
important decisions and they are held accountable for these
decisions. The theory is that the employee is closest to
the product, hence, the most logical person to make changes

to enhance product quality.

Foreign Direct Investment: The exchange of foreign investors

money for some form.of property such as securities or real

estate.

Foreign Transplants: A.multinational firm's plant located in

a country other than its country of origin. (See appendix A)

22
Gross‘Wetionel Product:.A statement of the distribution, at

market prices, of goods and services produced in the

national economy during a given year.

Gross Domestic Product: A.measure of the output produced by

factors of production residing in the United States.

Information Highways: The idea of bringing information
sources through telephone, cable and other high technology

communication networks.

1.0 9000 Beries:.A set of 5 international standards

developed in Europe concerning quality management and

quality assurance.

Local Bobeidiery Seles: Multinational company sales in a

country other than its country of origin.

Mhrket Power: The degree of influence a firm has over the
price of goods or services directly attributable to its
market share. There is a direct relationship between market

share and.market power.

23
liltinational w: A company which operates in many

countries other than its country of origin.

Productivity Rate: The change over a period of time in
output obtained from resources expended. Example: using
fewer man hours to produce the same product quantity

indicates an increase in the productivity rate.

'Raengineering:.A complete upheaval of an organization with
the idea of changing the culture of that organization.
Example: Encouraging an integrated cooperative approach to

management instead of a compartmentalized bureaucracy.

Saturn: A.new division of General Motors producing small
entry level automobiles. The intention is to produce world-
class cars in a revolutionized manufacturing environment.
Saturn dealers are separate facilities where customer

service has been given special attention.

Total Quality Wt: A management approach designed to
help companies achieve better employee relations, higher.
productivity, greater customer satisfaction, increased

market share and improved profitability.

24

Trade Barriers: Tariffs, quotas or other means of

discouraging a foreign firm from exporting its products into

the country responsible for the trade barriers.

Trade Deficit: The excess of a country's imports over

exports.

Training: In general, practical activities designed to
effect sustained behavioral changes.
In-house training: Employer sponsored training except
for formal apprenticeship. Training may be on-site or
off-site.
Outside Training: Non-employer sponsored training such
as community college courses. Training is initiated

and paid by employee.

World-class Quality: A level of quality which enables a firm
to compete in a global marketplace among other world—class

competitors.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF REILTID LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION

To examine training literature, Human Resource
Management must be examined. The major human resource
functions are planning, recruiting, training, compensation,
employee relations, labor relations and organizational
development (Gordon, 1986). Training and development
programs focus on three areas: Orientation, Training, and
Management Development.

Training, as defined by Nadler (1980), is those
learning experiences provided by the employer to improve
performance on the present job. He stated that education is
learning for the purpose of preparing the employee for
future positions. Nadler (1980) also says that development
is oriented toward long-term planning to equip employees to
move in the general direction which the organization plans

to go.

NIN'DIVILOPMINTS IN TRAINING
"Beginning in the 19805 the distinctions among types of
training began to blur, the scope of training expanded, and

connections grew among the parties-employers, workers,

25

26
educators, and governments (Ferman, Hoyman, Cutcher-
Gershenfeld, and Savoie, 1990). They have identified ten
forces that driving changes in training that include:
(1)globalization and specialization; (2) changes in the
structure and identity of corporations; (3) new ways of
organizing work; (4) strategic choices of the firm; (5)
changes in the labor force; (6) new technology; (7) new
recognition of literacy problems; (8) deindustrialization
and concomitant displacement of workers; (9) skill inflation
for entry-level positions; and (10) public realization of
the connections among training, economic development, and
competitiveness.

As a result of the above forces, many emerging themes
(Ferman, et a1, 1990) have developed in worker training that
include: (1) training has been expanded to all workers,
especially b1ue~collar; (2) career opportunities have become
a major reason to train; (3) training is critical for
improved economic development and enhanced competition; (4)
a general set of governance issues emerge as multiple
interests are applied to training; (5) new opportunities
arise as unions and management establish joint training
programs; (6) many new participants are becoming involved in
training; (7) complex challenges involved in displaced

‘worker training; (8) Acknowledgement of the need to upgrade

27
basic skills; (9) Availability of traditional management
classes to all workers; (10) new technology serves as the
driving force for training; (11) shifts in federal policy
toward disadvantaged and hard-to-employ workers; and (12)
new training developments at the state level.

The Japanese have greatly contributed to new
developments in worker training, especially because they
have expanded training to all workers and have been in the
forefront in advanced manufacturing technologies. “Just-in—
time inventory systems, statistical process control quality
programs, quality circles and the like require different
types of skills than traditional U.S. production situations
where jobs have been structured to require relatively little
training" (Fossum, 1990). Fossum (1990) explains that
statistical process control and just-in-time inventory
systems require a much higher level of mathematical
education than most U.S. production workers or their
supervisors possess. In Japan, production employees receive
more training through job rotation, classroom development
sessions, on-the-job tutoring, and corporate culture (Weber,

1984).

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

First, to examine differences between American and

28

Japanese management systems, one must discuss the group

versus the individual.

The U.S. pattern of personal

identification is primarily as an individual and then as

part of a larger group.

”The Japanese are primarily part of

some larger group such as family, school, work and nation"

(Condon, 1984).

He points out some major differences

between U.S. and Japanese management styles (Table 2.1).

Table 2.1

Different patterns in U.S.

and Japanese management styles

Ste-e

‘0... IItt0ll

Japanese Iattern

 

personal
identification

individual

group

 

promotion

merit,
move upward

seniority, horizontal
movement, lifetime

employment

 

communication
channels

direct w/equals
indirect with
subordinates

direct a frequent contact
w/all levels

 

communication
style

explicit,
verbal speaking

implicit, non-verbal
writing, reading

 

decision making

top-down, quick,
voteLyconsensus

upward, slow, discuss then
consensus

 

conflict
confrontation

direct a frank

to be avoided

 

social interaction

spontaneous & novel

predictable & ritualized
interaction

 

V.

family a work
loyalties

family over work

work over family

 

time orientation

 

present & immediate
future

 

past, present a future
(lono term

 

29
In Japan, training patterns are continuous, primarily
on~the-job oriented, and include more lateral training which
is included across functional lines. The system assumes
that workers are not trained for a specific job (Dunlap,
1986). In Japan, three primary classes of workers exist.
They are the shokuin (person in charge), the koin (person

who works) and temporary workers.

JARANESETOOMRNNIBS IN THI‘U.8.

Janis Dunlap (1986) conducted interviews with ten
American Human Resource Development (HRD) specialists
employed by Japanese owned and managed companies. The
companies were located in California, North Carolina, and
Texas. She determined that Japanese companies in the U.S.
are as different as American companies. They are influenced
by time of founding, type of company and type of industry.

The time of founding in many instances determines the
system of Human Resource Development (HRD). Dunlap states,

American based Japanese companies founded
during the 1950's through the 1960's tend to
operate more like traditional American
companies while those established in the
United Stated during the 1970's and 1980's
more nearly approximate Japanese methods of
management and Hanan Resource Development.

She also says the type of company has an affect on HRD.

Marketing companies are patterned.after American companies.

30
Service companies seem to blend American and Japanese
styles. Manufacturing companies established recently are
run more like Japanese companies.

Dunlap stated that industry type has an effect on HRD.
Construction and industrial manufacturing industries have a
pure Japanese style. Chemical and banking industries are a
blend of Japanese and American styles. The consumer goods
industry uses a traditional Japanese style, but is making
some changes. The automobile industry has typically
followed the American style. However, Dunlap (1986) asserts
that as more Japanese plants move into the U.S., the

cultures tend to be more blended.

CONTRAET! BETWEEN JAEINIBI AND.ANERICNN TRAINING
Dunlap (1986) interviewed training specialists and
determined the following: During training sessions American
firms have a representative from Personnel visit the group;
In Japanese companies the President visits the plant and

sometimes visits training groups.

Dunlap has shown that Japanese plants train in areas
sometimes unrelated to the product simply to help employees
form relationships. However, her research shows that these
attempts to develop interpersonal relationships were not

received well by American workers. It could be reasoned

31
that American workers are more comfortable with training
when it is highly relevant to their tasks.

In many Japanese companies an initial training period
is required before employers make their final hiring
decision. An evaluation is completed and a recommendation
is then.made by the trainers.

Dunlap states that her interviews revealed that
initially, American companies train from the technical side
to a greater degree. Japanese companies sometimes spend an
entire day on culture and/or management. In Japanese
companies, technical skill training appears later in the
training process. This training also takes place
consistently and for the remainder of the employee's term of
employment with the company.

Dunlap's study indicated that regardless of time of
founding, industry or type of company, Japanese companies
based in the U.S. have a high regard and commitment to high
levels of skill training.

Another training example in Dunlap's research contrasts
number and letter processing. In American companies, a memo
may be generated requesting the workers write more legibly.
In Japanese fimms, an exercise sheet would be sent to the
workers, to provide rote training. In Japanese companies,

the position is taken that everyone starts at a level of

32
zero knowledge. In American companies people are typically
hired based on previous training and knowledge.

Dunlap (1986), points out that Japanese companies
commonly use group meetings and on the job training to
provide technical training. Some Japanese companies have no
formal training rooms. They instead have teams that work,
share and learn together.

Dunlap's study also indicates that the source of
training material appears to be dependent on industry and
company types. For example, most Japanese firms located in
the U.S. use materials that come from the parent company in
Japan, while the banking industry uses internally generated
materials.

According to Dunlap, management training in Japanese
firms vary by time of founding and type of industry. The
primary difference between Japanese and.American management
training is the larger degree of orientation training and
cultural training in Japanese firms. In those founded
during the 70's and 80's, cultural training was accomplished
by sending American managers to Japan. Japanese firms
established in the U.S. before 1970 typically do not include
cultural training in their management training programs..

Salas (1984) states that Japanese companies in the U.S.

need skills in cross-cultural education, training and

33
development. He says that they must cross those cultural,
national, ethnic and other barriers. Further, he indicates
that they use international foreign-based trainers to
provide training in the U.S. He states that an international
foreign-based trainer is one who works for a multi-national
corporation to instruct line employees of the corporation in
a foreign country or instruct host country executives in

corporation operations.

sum 05‘ ms: V8 U.S. W sum

.A great deal of attention and research has been
centered upon Japanese automotive companies over the last
several decades, especially beginning in the 1980's, as
global business has increased. The successes of Japanese
companies in the 1980's has given researchers reason to
study Japanese management styles (Koya and.McMillan, 1981,
Hatvany and Pucik, 1981). Many researchers have compared
Japanese management with American and European management
styles (Ouchi 1981, Buckley and Mirza 1985, Pascale and
Athos 1981).

Pascale and Athos (1981) used a model developed by the
McKinsey Company which includes seven components:
Superordinate goals, strategy, systems, staff, style and

skill (training and developing the people). Pascale and

34
Athos claim that Japanese organizations have integrated
these seven components more effectively than American
organizations. They claim that staff, style and skills
("the soft s's') are the three areas where Japanese
companies have an advantage due to their emphasis on the
human element (Refik and Kucukemiroglu, 1993).

Ouchi (1981), in Theory Z, identified seven major
characteristics of Japanese organizations, including
lifelong employment, lengthy evaluation and promotion
processes, little specialization in careers, implicit
control mechanisms, participative decision making and
responsibility, and a paternal concern for employees. He
contrasts this with American organizations, claiming that
these characteristics are less prevalent.

In 1984, in the.M>Forum Society, Ouchi elaborates on
close relationships between government, labor, financial
institutions and industry to fine tune a highly developed
industrial strategy. He has been criticized for his

relatively small sample size and limited interviews.

NDDINN JABANEBI PiODUCTION”NITHODB
The Japanese are known for innovations such as andon
(similar to a traffic light on the production line),.poka-

yoke (fool-proofing), just-in-time (an inventory control

35
system to reduce carrying costs), kanban (a simple and
direct form of communication right where it is needed), the
five S's (organization, neatness, cleaning, standardization
and discipline), and the Toyota production system (machines
are located where needed and parts available when needed).

Taiichi Ohno developed the Toyota production system
over 30 years ago because of the desire to increase
production efficiency by consistently and thoroughly
eliminating waste. There are two major components of the
Toyota production system. One is just-in-thme and the other
is autonomation (Ohno, 1988). Autonomation means automation
with the human touch. Toyota emphasizes autonomation,
machines that can prevent problems "autonomously“, over
simple automation (Ohno, 1988). Allowing production workers
to stop machines when problems occur follows the theory of
autonomation.

The five whys evolved from the Toyota production
system. Simply stated, when confronted with a problem, an
operator should ask why at least five times, each time more
clearly, until the root problem is found (Ohno, 1988).
Another vital part of the Toyota production system is
kanban. Ohno (1988) states that kanban is an operating
method usually contained on a rectangular vinyl envelope. He

says there are three types of information on this envelope

36
that include (1) pickup information, (2) transfer
information, and (3) production information.

Another Japanese concept that has received recent
attention is the 55 movement. The name comes from five
Japanese words, seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and
shitsuke. The English translation for these five words are
organization, neatness, cleaning, standardization and
discipline. When the 53's go bad, it usually means there is
something more fundamentally wrong (Osada, 1991). Osada
(1991) asserts that the problems are not because the 58's
are not being observed. Rather, he says, it means that you
have delivery, quality, or other additional problems which
cause interpersonal problems. As a result the 53's are being
neglected. Osada (1991) gives the following descriptions of
the 53's:

Shari-Organization - To distinguish between the necessary
and the unnecessary, to make the hard decisions and to
implement stratification management to get rid of the
unnecessary.

“item-Noam: - Having things in the right place or right
layout so they can be used in a hurry. It eliminates
searching.

Boise-Cleaning - Getting rid of waste, grime, and foreign
matter and making things clean. Cleaning is a form of

inspection.

Seikotsu-Stand-rdizatian - Continually and repeatedly
maintaining your organization, neatness, and cleaning.

Shitsuke-Disciplino - Instilling the ability to do things
the way they are supposed to be done.

37
IBAINING.AS KNUILEDGI

The study of training involves the creation of
knowledge. Recently, the subject of knowledge has been in
the business press. Peter Drucker (1993) makes reference to
the "knowledge society“ and claims that knowledge is the
only meaningful resource. Alvin Toffler (1990) says that
knowledge is the essence of power and that is why a battle
is brewing over the control of knowledge or communications.
James Brian Quinn (1992) believes that intellectual and
service capabilities are key sources of power for a modern
corporation. Robert Reich (1991) contends that knowledge in
key areas are the only means for true competitive advantage.

As these Western authors battle for their edge in the
debate over knowledge, two Japanese authors, Ikujiro Nonaka
and Hirotaka Takeuchi, use knowledge to illustrate the key
to Japanese success. Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) contend that
the performance of the Japanese can be linked to their
ability to create knowledge and use it to produce successful
products and technologies. They differentiate between
explicit, which is the Western focus, and tacit knowledge,
which is the focus in Japan. According to the authors,
explicit knowledge is contained in manuals and procedures,
while tacit knowledge is communicated indirectly by metaphor

and analogy. The real key is the ability of the Japanese to

38
convert tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge (Nonaka and
Takeuchi, 1995). The authors contend there are two segments
to tacit knowledge, the technical and cognitive dimension.
They liken the technical dimension to a master craftsman who
has acquired much knowledge but finds it difficult to
articulate technical principles. According to the authors,
cognitive dimension is the way we perceive the world around
us. Nonaka and Takeuchi suggest that these mental models,
perceptions and beliefs are so ingrained in our minds, they
become a part of us. Today, training is basically creating
knowledge so workers can learn to go beyond their routine
jobs and find ways to improve productivity and quality. In
this research, knowledge is the outcome of training, and the

creation of knowledge is a shared responsibility.

SUMMER!

The focus of this research is to observe training
programs for production workers in Japanese and U.S.
automobile supplier plants. Chapter two has outlined the
pivotal research in the areas of training, culture,
management, production and knowledge. Chapter three will
examine the methods of research including the questions,
selection of research sites, criteria, approvals, interviews

and data analysis.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

This chapter contains descriptions of recruitment
methods and techniques, administration of interview guides
used to collect data, and procedures used to analyze the
data.

The purpose of this study is to explore and identify
similarities and differences in training processes,
strategies and outcomes between U.S. located Japanese and
American automobile industry suppliers.

A.summary of the sequence of events regarding the
methodology and design of the research is included in
Appendix B. It details five stages which include
recruitment, verification, approvals, interviews and the
analysis of data. Essentially, it is a step by step sequence

of events from the planning stage to the analysis of data.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Research questions were constructed around the
processes, strategies and outcomes of training. Appendix C

indicates how sub-questions of the following research

39

questions are associated with the above three training
concepts.
The following research questions were identified:
1. How much emphasis is placed on the recruitment and
selection of new production employees?
2. How much and what kind of training is required of new
production employees?
3. Who is responsible for identifying training needs and how
are these needs identified?
4. How much commitment and support does the organization
give to its training program?
5. How is the training organized and delivered?
6. Can the effectiveness of training programs be documented,
and how do companies evaluate effectiveness?
7. Who determines the training needs for the future and what
process is used to determine these needs?
8. What role does Adult and Continuing Education play in
these programs? (instructional design, evaluation, follow—
up, etc.)

While the above eight questions are the fundamental
research questions for this study, Richard B. Franttzreb,

editor, in W

presents a clustering of six categories which can provide a

41
basic framework which supports the researcher in asking more
targeted questions. He organizes the important topics of

Training and Development as follows:

’ Training Administration

0 Program Design, Development and Implementation
0 Training Technology

0 Trainers and Trainees

- Training Techniques

0 Training Programs

These six categories were used to provide a basic
framework for the questions and sub-questions that follow.
This format was used for the interview questions to provide
generally recognizable training categories. General
questions are immediately followed by more specific sub-
questions.

1. How is training orientation administered?
1a. How is training funded and how is it
allocated?
lb. What is the source of your training budget? Who
supports training?
1c. Are the outcomes of training benchmarked to other
facilities and competitors? How?

2. What are the specifics of the design, development and
implementation of the training program?
Za. How do you conduct a needs analysis for training?
2b. How do you go about designing instructional

programs?

2c. What is the origin of instructional materials?

2d. How is training evaluated and what is done to link
training to some measurable outcome?

2e. How do you make training directly transferable?

3. How is technology used in initial and ongoing training?
3a. To what extent do you use computer based training?
3b. How is technology used for training?

4. What are the characteristics of the trainers and
trainees?
4a. Trainer characteristics
4a1. Are professional trainers used?
4a2. Are non-trainers used in training roles?
4a3. How do trainers motivate trainees to learn?
4a4. Are trainers used internationally or only in
the U.S.?
4b. Trainee characteristics
4b1. What level of education have trainees
attained?
4b2. How do trainees learning styles differ?
4b3. What is the average length of service?

5. What training techniques are used in the program?
5a. Which classroom techniques are used?
5b. Does experiential learning have a place in your
training program?

6. What kinds of training programs are offered?
6a. What characteristics does your skills training
program.have?

42

43

6b. Do you actively integrate career development into
training?

SELECTION OF'REBEARCH SITE!

The groups studied were wholly owned Japanese or U.S.
manufacturing plants which met the researcher's
predetermined criteria listed below. In Michigan alone,
according to the Michigan Department of Commerce, there are
at least 170 automobile related companies with a Japanese
parent company.

The two evaluated groups are three U.S. and three
Japanese automotive supplier plants in the Midwest. These
firms were selected based on the researcher’s criteria as
listed in the next section.

The purpose of studying these two groups was to allow
the researcher to develop central themes which were used to
evaluate processes, strategies and outcomes of the

respective training program.

CRITERIA
The following criteria were used to select the six
manufacturing plants which were interviewed in this
research:

1. Three are wholly owned by a Japanese firm and the
remaining three are wholly owned by a U.S. firm.

44
2. All plants are automobile parts suppliers.
3. All plants provide a level of quality and service
placing them in the top tier of automobile
manufacturers.

4. Each plant has no more than 1000 total employees.

5. The plants are located in the Midwest for
convenience to the researcher.

RECRUITMENT OF AUTOMOTIVE COPELUHNB

Initially, contact was made with the Director of J Car
Planning, Program Quality Implementation Department at
General Motors. The Director of J Car Planning contacted his
purchasing department with instructions to develop a list of
suppliers that meet the above listed criteria. The
purchasing department provided basic information including,
but not limited to name of company, address, phone number,
contact person, number of employees, products manufactured,
basic training details and level of quality based on General

Motors criteria.

VERIFICATION PROCESS
The researcher located each company on the provided
list to verify basic criteria and to obtain further details
regarding training, finances, human relations, ownership and
products manufactured. The basic information was obtained

from the‘Michigan.anufacturers Directory, Standard and

45

Poor's Industry Guide, and Value Line Company Index.

SUPPLIERHAPPROVAL

All suppliers were contacted in writing to describe the
study and ask for assistance. Once they received the
letters, the appropriate contacts within each firm were
telephoned by the researcher, who further explained the
purpose of the research along with actual and potential
benefits and time requirements. Appointments were scheduled
with those suppliers who agreed to be interviewed. Six
manufacturing plants were chosen for a personal interview to
obtain information about their training programs. An eight
hour appointment was scheduled with the training coordinator
or other knowledgeable individuals. In some cases, the
sessions were separated into smaller time segments.

Following the oral scheduling, a follow-up letter was
sent to confirm the appointment day and time (appendix D).
The researcher called each of the interviewees prior to the
scheduled date to confirm and to ask a few basic questions
(appendix E). This saved time and allowed the researcher to

better prepare for the interview process.

POPULAIION'AND CANDLE-INTERVIIIIEB

Three ranks were selected in each plant consisting of

46
top level managers, trainers and trainees working for
companies that meet the basic criteria. Since General Motors
was providing the initial list of plants, the population was
limited to General Motors suppliers who met the basic
criteria for selection.

Top management interviews were limited to Human
Resource Managers and/or managers who were highly
knowledgeable in the hiring and training processes,
strategies and outcomes of non-technical production
employees. Trainer interviews were limited to those trainers
providing non—technical training to production employees.
The trainee interviews were limited to technical, non-
technical or general production employees directly employed
on the production line.

The use of three ranks within each group enabled the
researcher to verify similar questions to check for
consistency and accuracy..Also, some questions could only be

answered by one or two of the three subgroups.

TH! INTINVIEW’PROCISS
Three separate interview guides were administered,
which were designed for managers, trainers and trainees.
These guides (exhibits F, G and H) provided the basic

framework for each interview session, which lasted

47

approximately one hour each. The three interview guides
were developed by the researcher. During the interview, it
was orally explained that any information obtained during
the interview would be presented such that the interviewee
and company name would not be revealed directly or through
an indirect reference. It was also explained that
participation in all phases of this research was voluntary.

.After consulting several sources for survey instrument
construction, the following revised checklist was developed
using "The Graduate Students' Guide to Theses and
Dissertations, A Practical Manual for Writing and Research"
by George R. Allen. (Allen, pp.52-55):

1. Attempt to reduce time required to complete
interview.

2. Omit personal information if not necessary.
3. Pretest the interview.

4. Nerd questions simply, clearly, briefly and as
straight forward as possible.

5. Avoid "central tendency“ response.

6. Include demographic data if appropriate and relevant
to research.

7. Relate each question to the purpose of the
research.

8. Anticipate what will be done with the data.
9. carefully consider the sequence of questions.

10. Build an internal-consistency check into questions

48

ifflpossible.

11. Put yourself in place of respondent.

At each of the six plants, a minimum of three upper
level managers, one trainer and eight trainees were
interviewed. Trainees were interviewed in groups. Group
interviews saved time and provided for discussions. In all
plants, with approval, the interview sessions were tape

recorded.

OATA.ANALYBIB

The researcher compiled the results from each plant and
separated the responses into two groups, Japanese and U.S.
manufacturing plants.

Data obtained from each plant was clustered around
three central themes: training processes, strategies and
outcomes. The entire group of Japanese suppliers was
compared to the entire group of American suppliers.

While being a minor part of the research intent and
held to a minimum, statistical analysis of quantitative data
was completed using the Minitab statistic package..A ten
question survey, included in Appendix I, was administered
which uses a Likert scale from one to ten. Specific
statistics include sample size, means, standard deviations,

frequency counts, and the difference in sample means.

49
Qualitative data was compared as perceived by the two
pOpulations studied: Japanese transplants and U.S. plants.
Some of the perceptions are parallel and some are
orthogonal. This enabled the researcher to address the
responses from different population samples with similar

themes.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Any Specific findings related to individual plants were

crafted in such a way that the identity of the participants
were protected. The subjects' identities are known only to
the researcher and research aide. The summary of the
research will be sent to all interested companies
participating in the research. In the summary, a composite
of the findings will be provided. Therefore, strict

confidentiality was assured.

CHAPTERIV

FINDINGS

This chapter summarizes, and identifies similarities
and differences in training processes, strategies and
outcomes between U.S. located Japanese and American
automobile industry suppliers.

The study consists of six case studies: three Japanese
plants (transplants), and three American plants. Research
questions were constructed around the processes, strategies
and outcomes of training. Appendix C indicates how sub-
questions of the following research questions are associated
with the above three training concepts. The following
research questions were identified:

1. How much emphasis is placed on the recruitment and
selection of new production employees?

2. How much and what kind of training is required of new
production employees?

3. Who is responsible for identifying training needs and how
are these needs identified?

4. How much commitment and support does the organization
give to its are training program?

5. How is the training organized and delivered?

50

51

6. Can the effectiveness of training programs be documented,
and how do companies evaluate effectiveness?

7. Who determines the training needs for the future and what
process is used to determine these needs?

8. What role does Adult and Continuing Education play in
these programs? (instructional design, evaluation, follow-

up, etc.)
CIIflBAlflfil: Illlflllflu! OIIEHD

INTRODUCTION

The first supplier interviewed is a Midwestern
manufacturer of both original equipment and aftermarket
parts within the highly competitive automotive industry. The
plant is located in an agricultural area nestled within a
small rural town. (At the end of 1994, it employed 675
people, of which 547 were production employees. They have
operated in a union—free environment since their inception
about nine~and~a-half years ago, and operate 21 plants in
the United States. Their average worker is about 25 years
old. This company supplies parts to General Mbtors,
Chrysler, Peterbilt, Nissan, ASC, Toyota and Mack.

The company has a mission statement for training that
reads, ”To ensure that new employees are familiar with our

procedures, properly trained to function within our process,

52
and fully understand the guidelines of our operation.” Each
major departmental unit has developed its own training
outline. Many parts of the outline are identical,
especially the procedures for a new employee. For example,
process, quality concerns, safety issues, paperwork
requirements and new employee introductions are all

scheduled on the first day.

PROCESS FOR.RICNDITMINT.AND TRAINING
‘Recruitlent and Selection Process
New production employees are required to have a high
school diploma or General Education Development (GED)
Certificate. The company does not require a test for basic
skills, but does have a full interview process. A full
interview process consists of two or more face-to-face
interviews, a reference check, drug test and physical
examination. They advertise positions and then screen
applications based on driving distance, high school diploma
or equivalency, wages in previous jobs, and post secondary
education. There are two interviews, and about 25% of
applicants are hired. Supervisors rotate through this
interview process, because the company believes that it
gives the supervisors ownership. The plant manager,

personnel manager and production manager also participate in

53
the rotating interview pool.

The next step is a physical (medical) examination and
drug screening. Simultaneously, past employment, education
and background information is verified. This process may
take two to three weeks.

Training Process

Applicants who are selected for employment, tour the
plant, view operations and receive information regarding
basic benefit packages. The new employee is informed about
probation, goal setting, evaluation processes, safety
issues, right-to—know laws and attendance policies. New
employees receive up to three weeks of training, beginning
with generic training for all production employees, and then
specific training based on department assignments. Training
also includes items identified by current employees as
important; for example, some employees reported that the
fire alarm was not recognizable to them. As a result,
identifying the sound of this alarm was integrated into the
new employee training program.

Employees who have been with the company do not receive
formalized "repeat" training. However, when employees are
assigned to different departments or changing technologies,
they receive specific training as needed. Current employees

are also used to facilitate production training, and then

54
made accountable for the outcomes. Accountability is
achieved by making production trainers responsible for
improvements in trainees' quality and productivity.

This company is currently transferring one of its
production lines from a semiautomatic operation to a
robotics line. The plant manager mentioned that he sent
supervisors, a manager and some maintenance people to Europe
to observe this new system in operation. He has
decentralized power and has given workers ownership in the
project.

Before 1991, this company was experiencing a high
employee turnover rate, which prompted a series of changes
including the current training program. This current system
is a dynamic one, where production employees are used as
trainers. It is driven by the needs of the customer,
changes in product and changes in eXpectations. For
example, if customers identify quality problems, then all
aspects of training are addressed to remedy the problem. The
people on the floor will make suggestions and the trainers
will carry out changes in training.

According to one departmental superintendent, teaching
company philosophy is not limited to the first day. (At
least once during each day of the training period, each new

employee is removed from the floor to discuss company

55
culture or philosophy. Several training rooms are located
in the center of the plant and are used for training
classes, meetings, film viewing and general discussion. The
trainers for the three primary departments meet once or
twice a month to discuss concerns, changes, problems and

plans for the future.

STRATEGIES
'New Hire Strategies
The idea of using different people in the pool of
interviewers is to give every supervisor, department head
and manager a sense of ownership. Pushing the decision
making process down to those who work closely with the
production workers is viewed as beneficial since they know
what kind of person is needed for the position. They hope
that screening out applicants who live too far away, do not
have the proper level of education, and earned substantially
more in a prior job will reduce turnover. Constant
improvements in the training program and a major change in
shift schedules may also be driving turnover down. Their
current turnover rate is 40% (as of October-November 1994),
down from 60% earlier in 1994; this rate has been as high as
80%. When the employees who leave during the probationary

period (the first five months of employment) are removed

56
from the statistics, the current turnover rate is 20%.
Orientation/‘New Hire Training Strategies

The philosophy of this company is that training is a
top priority with commitment at all levels of the
organization. One of the department trainers mentioned that
training is constant for 11 1/2 hours a day, for eight
consecutive days. This does not include orientation
training. The Plant Manager made the following statement:
”The reason we have this type of training program is because
what we did in the past was not working, so we've seen the
negative side of a lousy training program." Prior to these
major changes in training, an employee would go right onto
the floor without any formal training.

The company culture is an important part of the initial
orientation. Management wants production employees to
understand why decisions or changes are made. To understand
the culture, it is reasoned, will improve attitudes and give
employees a stake in the company. Plant tours are
completed to expose new employees to all operations, to
endow a sense of oneness, and to help them realize that
their mistakes affect others down the line.

Using hourly trainers instead of salaried managers is
intended to give the new employee someone closer to his or

her position and someone well prepared to train in a

57

particular operation. If a new employee is slow at the
beginning, the trainer picks up the slack. The trainer
carries the ball, so to speak, until the new employee feels
confident and comfortable with the job.

The new employee is not given a job classification.
That is because anyone can operate various machines and
learn many different skills. This makes job classifications
unnecessary. Actually, the attitude of the newest trainees
is that everyone is equal and team work is at the heart of
this company. This feeling of decentralization and
empowerment is nurtured and maintained from the very first
day at work. All interviewees replied that their
contribution and importance to the company were equal to
that of the plant manager.

Ongoing Training Strategies

Once the new employee is trained, additional training
is given when a new process begins or when an employee
switches departments. However, one trainee indicated that
training continues in an informal sense even after the
initial three week period. The senior employees were given
the opportunity to receive training in their departments
when the new training program began in 1991. Some have
taken advantage of the new training, others say they have

not been able to leave the production line, and a few have

58
no interest in receiving the new training.

Another strategy of all aspects of training is keeping
the trainers well informed and equipped to handle the task.
One trainer said, "When I, as a trainer, have to keep things
organized, management supports me by always being
available.“ One department superintendent stated, "I think
we've done a good job of explaining in detail how certain
skills ought to be taught, how to complete certain
techniques and how people should do certain jobs."

JMisoellsneous Strategies

One strategy for improving problem areas in production
is to send production workers to other plants. They can see
what is being done in training and other areas. Typically,
the plants chosen are those that have had a similar problem
but have corrected it.

They also have a training committee on each shift for
each department. The department supervisor attends all
training committee meetings for his/her shifts and the
trainers within the department also attend committee
meetings.

OUTCOMES
'Benohmerking
Within the parent company, many of the automotive

plants are using this researched plant to benchmark. This

59
plant is a leader in the area of training, so personnel come
from other plants to observe and compare. Prior to 1991,
they had unsuccessful new hires, high turnover, quality
problems and reactive management. When they brought in new
people, they had to “sink or swim.” Resources were being
wasted on interviews, physicals, and other new hire costs.
They came to the conclusion that a major change was needed.
So, the whole program was developed internally where
production employees developed training manuals, training
outlines, actual training, check-off lists, tests and films.
.A trainer suggested that there were many people who would
not be working in this plant if the new training program was
absent.
.Attitudes

Some older workers were intimidated by the abilities of
the newer workers. They were encouraged to go through the
training program after it was implemented in 1991. One
trainee suggested that the training improved confidence
levels and said, ”You become a better employee, I think,
over the long run, because of your confidence level." The
plant manager stated, "The older employees are seeing a high
degree of confidence, success rates and they are extremely
satisfied with their quality, and quantity of outputs that

new hires are capable of after a short amount of training."

60
Other comments include: "Compared to other companies, this
training is second to none.” .A trainer mentioned that new
hires are getting a lot quicker and are able to meet

customer goals. This has boosted morale among all ranks.

Quentitstive Outcomes

While difficult to capture, quantitative outcomes are
improving at this plant including higher yields, lower scrap
rates and fewer accidents. A typical comment by supervisors
was, "The people coming off the training program are
performing better than people who have been out on the floor
for six, eight or ten months." Many senior employees had
asked to go through the program.

To better facilitate the effectiveness of training, an
evaluation takes place after two and five months. The
evaluation is based on a number of given attributes: quality
of work; quantity of work; leadership skills; and
initiative. The employees output is benchmarked relative to
a standard set of expectations.

The turnover or failure rate among new hires has been
significantly reduced. Prior to 1991 this rate was 80%; in
the last months of 1994 it was 40%. 7

Quality scores from customers have improved steadily

since the new training was implemented, including

61
efficiencies in yields and parts per man-hour without

defect.

IMiscellsneous Outcomes
One production employee compared this company to a
Japanese tranSplant. He indicated that this program was the
best he had seen. .A woman who grew up in Germany felt that
this company was more like German plants, and indicated that

it was advanced for a U.S. Plant.

SUMMAR!‘OF'CONPRNT.A.PINDINGS
The following items summarize those characteristics
regarding Company.A that provide a basis for comparisons:

O The recruitment process is not overly intensive but
meets minimum requirements including some testing and
sporadic background checks.

0 Their training process seemed quite comprehensive
including orientation and several weeks of on the job
training. When employees are transferred for the first
time to another department, they receive the entire
training package regardless of their seniority.

O Company.A, with an earlier employee turnover rate of
80%, has achieved some dramatic reductions. By pushing

decision-making downward, implementing new training

62
programs, and giving ownership to employees, the
company has achieved a turnover rate of 40% in 1994.

O Hourly employees are used as trainers to bring
management and hourly employees closer together in a
harmonious relationship.

0 Job classifications are avoided to give a sense of
equality and team work.

0 Some production employees are sent to other plants to
observe training and production.

0 Company.A is used by many plants within the parent
company as a benchmark. Many personnel from other
plants have come to observe Company A.

0 Employees are evaluated after two and five months
relative to a standard set of expectations. These
expectations include quality, quantity, leadership and

initiative.

(XIIBlflnlle IBIHRICHHS‘OIIHHD

INTRODUCTION
The second supplier interviewed is also a Midwestern
manufacturer of automobile parts and components. This
company offered two plants for review, both in a rural
setting located a considerable distance from a large city.

On the date of the interview the first plant had 324 hourly

63
employees while the second one employed 311 hourly people.
Salaried workers make up about 15% of all employees. The
first plant operated under a union contract while the second
plant was non-union. The parts produced are primarily
mechanical and electronic switches and controls. Both
plants were built in the late 1960's with several additions
in the 1970's and 1980's. They have recently been hiring as
sales have been increasing. The average age of all
employees is 41. The company operates seven domestic
plants. From this point, the first plant interviewed will
be referred to as Plant B—1 and the second plant will be
Plant 8-2. When a specific plant is not indicated, comments

will refer to both plants.

PROCESS FOR.RICRUITIINT.AND TRAINING
Recruitment and Selection Process

This company does not require a high school diploma or
GED. However, most of their production employees have
graduated from high school or obtained a GED, and a few have
taken college courses. A.basic skills test is not required
but Plant B-Z required a dexterity coordination test. The
process for application for employment at both plants was
unclear. The Human Relations Department stated that the

prospective employee is screened by a personnel agency,

64
while the employees interviewed stated that their
application was made at the unemployment office or direct to
the plant office. Only truck drivers are given drug tests
and past employers are verified for all new hire candidates.
Most employees go through one or two interviews often with
the same person. The department supervisors typically
interviews prospective new hires for their department.
Orientation and Training Process

The orientation process at Plant 8—2 is as follows:
The first day consists of a two hour orientation, a
quality/charting discussion and then they begin training in
their department. The two hour orientation consists of a
handbook review, safety rules explanation, paperwork
requirements, work schedules, general information and a
plant tour. The quality control chart discussion is led by
the engineering supervisor to give a basic overview in
recognizing problems. Finally, new employees begin to work
in four hour increments on two different work stations until
they master both jobs. This will continue until all the
jobs in their department are mastered. Training and work
performance are reviewed daily, weekly, monthly, bi-monthly
- which is the initial review period; and yearly, which is

called the performance appraisal.

65

In addition to the above training, a quarterly cross
training update is initiated by the supervisor. Annually,
right-to-know and statistical process control training are
updated. The initial training period can take from one week
to several weeks depending on the number of work stations on
the production line. Some of the differences between Plant
B-1 and B—2 appear to be because 8-1 is a union plant, and
the contract specifies that experimentation is to be
limited. Both plants use cross training in a compressed time
period. One major difference is that in Plant B-l, new
hires have a joint orientation meeting with the United Auto
Workers (UAW) and management, where they talk about working
relationships. Plant B-l has an apprenticeship program for
skilled trades in the plant. Some machinists are sent to
the East coast and to Chicago for new equipment training.

Starting in 1995, these plants will implement training
that complies with an international standard for training
called ISO (for International Standards Organization) 9001.
The specific purpose that coincides with ISO 9001 element
4.18 is as follows: "To identify the methods to be used to
determine training needs and then provide the training for
those personnel assigned tasks which have a direct effect on

product quality.“

66
STRATEGIES FOR.HIRING~ ORIENTATION’AND TRAINING
New Hire Strategies

The ISO coordinator commented on strategies for hiring
new production workers. He said: ”We hire individuals who
have the experience and/or training to communicate, work on
a team, and be committed to something more than just coming
and spending eight hours a day. They need to make us more
competitive and (to) continue improving." He also suggested
that new hires be encouraged to work in a team environment,
and be trained to think and contribute to the job.

.At Plant 8-2, supplemental help, which has been used
quite extensively, is handled by an outside contractor.
Their goal is to have 20-25% of the work force as
supplemental. Due to the volatile cycles in the automotive
industry, the ability to release the entire supplemental
work force within one day gives them extreme flexibility.
Also, the temporary employment agency pays all benefits,
insurance and additional costs. All costs are included in
one hourly fee, which is charged to this plant. The
classical problems, which are inherent in a temporary work
force, include higher absenteeism and higher turnover. They
find, however, this option extremely cost effective. In.
some years, they have hired 10-15 people from the

supplemental pool. According to the Plant Manager, hiring

67
from the supplemental pool effectively guarantees excellent
workers. Without supplementals, they use a 60-90 day
initial review period, which doesn't effectively eliminate
inadequate employees. .After a full year, the employee has

been through most work situations.

Orientation/New Hire Training Strategies

.According to one manager in Plant 8-1, a union
facility, they have collaboratively developed an orientation
plan that benefits union and management. A.new hire spends
the first day side by side with an experienced worker. The
strategy is to alleviate any first-day major concerns and
frustrations. Starting the second day, the same individual
is available to the new worker as needed. During this
period, the new hires are monitored closely and their ideas
are welcomed. However, proper procedures are followed for
any work instruction that could affect quality.

Cross training is used extensively in both plants.
During a given week, one employee will work many different
jobs switching as often as once per hour. Many problems are
alleviated, including boredom, muscle and bone soreness, and
turnover. They use different motions, and exercise various

parts of the body.

68
The production employees from Plant B-l felt that
initial training was somewhat lacking in quality. All the
interviewed new hires were released on their own the first
day. This directly differs from the management response,
which indicates that someone is assigned for an entire day

to each new employee.

Ongoing Training

When asked how training was prioritized, most responded
that it would be one of the very last expenses to be
eliminated if budgets were cut. The Human Relations Manager
said: ”Our top management feels that training is a
priority." She also stated that individual managers are
responsible for training on a decentralized basis and some
are more pro-active than others.

Company B is using team building training for
management and production to promote cooperation within and
between the ranks. Some of their training is conducted by
supervisors and production people. The production workers
can feel free to bring a training need to light. If
appropriate, the training can be conducted by an internal
source, or by an outside source. 7

The ISO 9000 certification required the team building

training sessions mentioned earlier for all employees. ISO

69
9000 has 20 elements, which must be specifically addressed.
Element 18 requires that records be kept for identification
of training needs and actual training sessions conducted.
The ISO coordinator actually spoke to all 1400 employees on
each of the 20 elements and made it clear that each employee
is expected to help identify areas that require additional
training.

The ISO coordinator felt that ISO 9000 is really
looking for continuous improvement, and that training is one
component that leads to this ultimate goal. He believes
that empowerment is a natural outcome of ISO 9000 and can
result from this continuous improvement umbrella.

.Most of the training is being allocated to production
areas and is becoming more and more important each year
according to one of the plant managers. He said, "Training
has been exciting the last few years because it's very
important. At the plant level, we have been told to do what
needs to be done in training with few budgetary
restrictions. If we want to budget outside training, the
funding is not an issue."

The plant manager also suggested that a team of people
is being formed to look at different activities and put 7
together a needs analysis as it relates to training.

Currently, they have a steering committee consisting of the

70
project engineers, the union president and the shop steward.
This group is responsible for forming the needs analysis
team.

At the time of the interview, this company was being
acquired by a large multinational company with several
plants in North America. According to the plant manager,
they are even more pro~training than the current
administration. Also, they want less differentiation
between salaried and hourly workers.

Mdsoellaneous Strategies

The plant manager at Plant B-2 alluded to an "employee
involvement group" similar to a quality circle. They meet
at least three times a week for 20 minutes a day in a small
work cell. The facilitator has a guideline and two
conditions must be met. First, a topic must be discussed by
every group every week. Second, a general interest topic
must surface that doesn't necessarily affect work. Coupled
with that is a monthly communications meeting where the
plant and training managers meet with hourly
representatives. Problems and issues can range from simple
to extremely complex. These meetings sometimes allow

training needs to surface and keep everyone communicating.

71
OUTCOMES
Benchmarking

The Manager of Human Resources expressed the desire to
improve in the area of benchmarking. However, others
,mentioned general and specific ways where this company
compares itself to its competitors.

The ISO coordinator mentioned a consulting group from
California that assists in curriculum development. He
maintains that the consultants are used as benchmarks due to
their relationship with other similar companies. He also
mentioned attempts to compare training with a competitor
across the street.

The plant manager of Plant B-2 mentioned competing with
the Japanese. They lost a substantial piece of business to
a Japanese firm only to get it back two and one-half years
later. In this situation benchmarking was a matter of
survival. By supplying parts to Japanese and joint
U.S./Japanese firms, this company has been competing with
the best in the world. Consequently, benchmarking has been
indirectly involved in every aspect of training, production
and distribution.

Finally, the Quality Engineering Supervisor made the
following statement: "We continually review and refine our

training methods and how we measure the effectiveness of

72
training." When specifically asked about benchmarking, he
added: "One of our goals for next year will be to
incorporate some additional, actual measurement tools to
look at the effectiveness of training."
.Attitudes

The plant manager for Plant B-l mentioned the team
building training that will be given to all employees. He
thinks it is one of the most exciting things going as it
improves working relationships. All production workers
responding to the team building exercise viewed this as a
positive step with definite improvements in working
relationships.

Attitudes toward the solder training produced some
mixed results. Hourly workers at Plant B-l had some
negative feedback regarding the structure and testing for
solder training. Their attitudes reflected their desire to
have more handsson training and revised testing procedures

to accentuate practical experience.

 

The Plant B-Z Manager reflected his desire to listen to

employees at communications meetings and follow through on
their concerns. The change to one hour job rotation, which
came through the communication meetings, significantly

improved attitudes of hourly workers.

73
Quantitative Outcomes

One indirect way of measuring quality and productivity
is to analyze labor turnover. Low turnover generally means
more experienced, better trained workers, producing higher
quality parts, if all other factors are held constant.
These plants have a 10% turnover for hourly and 4% turnover
for salaried workers. In comparison, Plant A had a
production employee turnover rate of between 40% and 80%
depending on the thme frame.

.Although neither Plants B-l or 8-2 supplied solid
quantitative productivity measures, the production employees
and managers both agreed that the increase in training had
led to improved quality and productivity. The Plant B—l
Manager made this comment: "You can usually tell how
effective our training is by the quality level of products
coming off the line. The supervisor looks at the products
to evaluate the training. They are able to determine if
training has helped."

Plant B-Z plans to develop an evaluation form for
training by using a pre-test and post-test. These tests
will provide needed feedback for the effectiveness of
training, including the measurement of behavior. These

kinds of tests are required for ISO certification.

74
SUMMER! OE’CONEANTIS FINDINGS
Company B has started some major transformations
in the training area. They are in a transitional stage of
development in that they are being acquired by another
company and they are striving for ISO 9000 standards. The
following items are intended to summarize the findings of

Company B in regard to their recruitment, orientations and

training.

I They do not require a GED or high school diploma,
although most production employees have one or the
other.

0 The process for hiring includes a dexterity
coordination test, verification of past employers and
two interviews. Basic skills tests are not required
and drug testing is only required of truck drivers.

0 Orientation lasts about two hours and then they begin
departmental on~thenjob training.

0 New employees work in four hour increments on two work
stations until they are mastered.

0 Once they are trained, they rotate jobs every hour to
relieve boredom and physical problems.

0 Initial on-the-job training can take from one week to

several weeks.

75
Quarterly and annual training updates are offered and
consist of various topics.
In 1995, they began implementing training that complies
with ISO 9000.
The non-union plant uses temporary employees to temper
volatile cycles in the automobile business.
Team building sessions will be taken by all employees
to comply with ISO 9000.
The union plant has a steering committee consisting of
project engineers, union president and shop steward
that will form a team of people to identify training
needs.
The non-union plant has an employee involvement group
where various training needs may surface on a weekly
basis.
Hourly employee turnover is about 10% annually.
They are developing an evaluation form for training by
using a pre-test and post-test. This will include
feedback on the effectiveness of training including

behavior measurements.

76

cxnmanuu'czzlaarunuus: CIENID

INTRODUCTION

The third supplier interviewed is a Japanese owned
manufacturer of automobile parts. The plant observed is
located in a rural area just outside a mid-sized city. As
of Nevember 11, 1994, the plant had 360 production, 58
skilled and 84 salaried workers. It is located close to
several Japanese transplants, hence, it is geographically
located to become a major player in both the Japanese and
U.S. supplier network. They produce steel and aluminum
finished components for cars and light trucks. The steel
plant has been operating for nine years and the aluminum
plant is five years old. The average age of production
workers is slightly over 32 years and the average length of
service is about 3.5 years. The parent corporation operates
two plants in the continental United States. However, they
produce different products. This wholly-owned Japanese
plant has been in the hiring mode recently because 1994 has
been a good year for automobile related suppliers.

The aluminum plant was not researched due to time
constraints, hence, the steel plant was the entire focus for
this third supplier. The employees interviewed included the
Personnel Manager, Plant Manager, Engineering Manager,

Training Supervisor and several production workers.

77
PROCESS ROR.RECRUITNENT.AND TRAINING
Recruitment and Selection Process

In the past, Company C did not have any minimum
educational requirements for new hires. According to the
Production Manager, they currently demand a high school
Diploma or GED Certificate. They have been advertising for
production positions in the newspaper, which covers a
sizeable metropolitan area. Many of their prospective
employees have been obtained from associate recommendations.
Once they receive resumes, the supervisors and personnel
representatives begin to narrow the search to those with the
basic requirements. They check references, require physical
examinations and drug screenings. The candidates are
brought in for an interview and given an aptitude test with
English and math. They also give a special math test to
determine where that person might be utilized in the plant.
There is a cut~off score that all applicant must obtain;
otherwise, they will not be considered. Each interviewer
must complete a form rating the interviewee on communication
skills, personality, related experience and potential
leadership skills. Also a set of specific questions must be
asked of each candidate and recorded on this form. They.
make choices as a group using the ratings as criteria for

hiring. Only about 20% of the applicants sending resumes

78
are called in for an interview. Out of that 20%, only about
half of those interviewed and tested are hired. From the
time of application to the first day on the job, the average
waiting period is about three weeks according to some
recently employed production associates.

When being promoted to another job, the position is
posted, the person is chosen, then training is required
before the associate can begin the new job.

Overall, this process is rather new, and according to
the Production Engineering Manager, the newer people are
better qualified than in the past. He says, “It screens out
a lot of people who really don't belong here." He cites
three improvements, including higher basic skill levels,
better work ethics and better attitudes. He also gives
credit to the new position of Production Supervisor or
Training Supervisor for a better screening, testing and
interview process.

Orientation and Training Process

The current orientation and training process began by
requesting that each department manager give feedback
regarding employee skill requirements. As spontaneous
training was offered, an organized training program evolved.
The one week orientation evolved from this idea, and it is

under constant scrutiny and change. The Production Manager

79
put the first one week training course together with the
help of managers and supervisors. The Production Trainer
has been working with the various groups on modifications.
Presently, they train new associates in three separate entry
level areas.

During the first week, several different departments
are involved in training. These include personnel, safety,
maintenance, quality, manufacturing and production
engineering. Various topics include right-to-know laws,
lockout/tagout, total productive maintenance, hearing
conservation, lubrication, measurement, reporting, crane
operation and total productive performance.

The total training time for Department A, of the three
entry level areas, is 83-90 hours. This includes 56 hours
of on-the-job training and the remaining 27—34 hours of
classroom time. This training is in addition to the first
week of orientation. Some topics include purpose, history,
process, safety, manual operation and automatic operation.
It lasts about two weeks.

This 83-90 hours of training for Department.A is
primarily conducted by the Production Trainer. He is
supplemented by the line leaders (hourly paid with more
responsibility than a regular associate) who come in and

talk about a specific area. When they are on the floor

80
during weeks two and three, the line leaders will watch new
associates to ensure that they are performing duties
correctly. .After the third week, they are expected to
function in that department. Line leaders and regular
associates all assist the new associate and act as trainers.

The new associate is expected to gradually increase
production during the initial several months and finish
training within six to twelve months. New associates are
scattered to all three shifts so they don't adversely affect
one shift. During this six months, they will remain on
whichever shift they were originally assigned. .After the
long term training, they are assigned to a permanent shift,
usually second or third.

The skilled trades area consists of die-set and
maintenance. They go through the first week of orientation
but have their own program.for development after the initial
week. They tend to use more outside sources for training.
Examples include basic mathematics, algebra, geometry,
trigonometry, blueprint reading and shop skills. When this
training is offered, all employees attend, even those with

higher skill levels.

81
STRATEGIES FOR.BIRING, ORIENTATION AND TRAINING
new’nirerstretegiee

Company C hires about 10% or less of the applicants who
submit resumes. Even though the area's unemployment rate is
extremely low, this plant uses extreme caution in resume
perusal, interviewing and hiring. According to the
Personnel Manager, ”This plant requires a lot more skills
than some of the other plants so we have to be more
particular.” The.Assistant Personnel Manager stated that
basic mathematics, technical and welding skills are required
to get the caliber of person they need for long term
employment. Also, because most production associates are
required to do their own maintenance, aptitude test results
are needed to find the top candidates in the area. They
initially require resumes rather than applications because
they think it is a better screening tool. They ask for an
application when they are hired.

Orientation/New Hire Training Strategies

.As stated earlier, the orientation and ongoing training
programs have evolved into a higher structured and organized
activity. There is a detailed outline where each department
gets involved in training. This enables newer employees to
keep up with their new duties and rely less on the more

seasoned employees.

82

The constantly changing program has been a product of
both management and production. One trainee commented about
the lack of plant involvement as compared to classroom
lecture. She commented: "For the first week and a half, I
never stepped foot in the plant. When they try to explain
something and you don't see it, it's hard to visualize."

Her comments didn't go unnoticed. The next time she went in
for training, they had taken her advice and rotated lecture
with a plant visit.

From top management to production associate, each
person expressed the strategic importance of orientation and
training. The Assistant Personnel Manager had some
compelling reasons for training. She said that without
training, accidents will go up, workman's compensation rates
will rise, defects will increase and more repairs will be
needed on the machinery. The Training Supervisor cited
productivity and lack of skilled manpower as reasons for
their training emphasis. The only way to improve in these
areas, according to the Training Supervisor, was to do more
and better training. Two of the production associates
expressed their realization that training had helped their
productivity, confidence and appreciation for a common goal.

The strategy of cross-training employees is employed by

Company C, especially within a specific department. During

83
the first three to four weeks, new employees are trained in
all aspects of their departments. One production associate
of three months was already cross training a new associate
in his department.

During the first three to four weeks, a new associate
will have several mentors. The mentor is usually the line
leader in charge of that particular area. The primary
reason for mentoring is to avoid an injury and to ensure a
high quality product. However, the line leader is not the
only one watching. The production associates are instructed
that if someone is doing something improperly, tell them.
They are taught to watch themselves and everyone around
them. A.large portion of orientation and new associate
training is dedicated to safety. The new associates must
respect the machinery due to the chance of a serious
accident.

Ongoing Training Strategies

In the long run, the expectation is that all employees
will get a base amount of training, followed by advanced
training. This whole process takes about three years,
according to the Production Manager. Once the expertise
begins to surface, then cross-training would be the next~
logical step. The Production Manager would like to create a

surplus training pool made up of people who are very good at

84
their current jobs. These people are trained in a specified
area, such as mechanical, and when a position becomes
available, these trainees become the candidate pool. All of
these candidates will spend several months learning in the
given department. The Production Trainer conceptualizes
this long term training in a similar way. .At the present
time, he says they are offering very basic training, which
he refers to as phase one. This basic training is mostly
for new or newer employees. After that, he envisions phase
two and three, which he calls intermediate and advanced
training. He expects those two phases to be 40 hours each.
Fbr a new employee, the basic required formal training would
consist of 120 hours in year one, and forty hours in years
two and three. This would only include classroom training.
On-the-job training would be in addition to this and could
last six to twelve months. He hopes to start phase two and
three within two years.

The Production Engineering Manager made some references
to review training, which is the same as ongoing training.
He speaks of review training as additional training, which
is offered on an as-needed basis. They may desire to
upgrade skills and review their abilities, which is more
proactive. .Also, they could be experiencing a problem such

as production or quality, which is more reactive. Finally,

85
he suggested that training may be in response to a new
process which would require classroom and on—the-job
training.

The Production Trainer and Production Engineering
'Manager both made some comments regarding training in Japan
versus training at Company C. They were both referring to
training at their parent company plants in Japan. The
Engineering Manager referred to training in Japan as long-
term improvements or solutions where each of seven training
steps is built upon a previous step. Each step is taken
religiously. He says that at Company C, ”We have focused on
the areas that need the most attention. They're not built
on each other like that." He believes that they are doing
the same training with a different perspective. He says the
‘major difference is in timing, focus and attention. Also,
in Japan the training would be completed before the
associate starts any production. They use more visual aids;
we use more on-the-job training. When they compare
productivity in Japan to Company C, he says they exceed us
in several areas. They have learned how to keep the

equipment running and how to keep it productive.

86
OUTCOMES
Benchmarking

Benchmarking has taken on four dimensions for Company
C. First, they do some comparisons to non-competitors in
their industrial park, according to the Production Engineer.
They haven't used anything yet, but it can provide a source.
Interestingly, none is a Japanese plant and none is even in
the same industry.

Second, they compare themselves with their counterparts
in Japan. The Production Engineer says that the company in
Japan's ability to produce productive and quality products
exceeds Company C. He believes that it can be traced to the
skill level of the entry level person and the turnover rate,
which is much lower in Japan.

Third, both managers and production associates compared
their training with former employer's training. To
summarize their comments, few had formal training programs
and only one had a week long orientation program for new
employees.

Fourth, the Personnel Manager mentioned that they have
not benchmarked their training because it is too new. In
fact, he said they are establishing the benchmarks at this
point. The vast majority of training ideas come from.within

their plant.

87
.Attitudes

The initial training program, the bonus system, the
accent on team building and the emphasis on safety have all
had an impact on attitude among production associates and
all levels of management. The managers mentioned several
areas where they have witnessed positive attitudes. A.few
of those areas are increased confidence, union avoidance,
enhanced working relationships and the general feeling of
being part of a team.

The production associates voiced some frustrations but
overall their attitudes were very positive. One associate
said, "I guess they just kind of train everybody to have one
thing in common, which is working here, and build on that
first. It's like they treat everybody equal.”

The bonus system is another attitude improver because
everyone gets a bonus. The bonus increases after you have
worked six months. One associate spoke of being more
comfortable, confident and knowledgeable. He also mentioned
the president and his appearance on every shift, every day.
The associate had a lot of respect for the president
stating, ”Basically, if you're here working, he's going to
be here because I guess he feels like he should be here to
keep up morale.” Their attitudes are reflected in a one

word expression or phrase when asked to summarize the

88
company. The responses were, "Great,“ ”Outstanding,” and
"Dedicated.”
QuantitativerOutoanus

The quantitative outcomes that were discussed included
lost time accident rates, turnover, productivity and
quality. On December 12, 1994, they had just celebrated
1,000 days without a lost-time accident. Many associates
mentioned the push for safety in the plant. The employee
turnover rate is about 20% because unemployment is so low in
the area. In Japan the turnover rate is below 5%, but that
is typical due to company loyalty. No actual quantitative
measures were obtained for productivity, but every manager
and associate has confidence that productivity will improve
as a direct result of the training program. The trainer
said, ”I'm looking for an improvement in productivity,
quality and safety in the plant, and I hope for that to be
measurable." Productivity at Company C is measured by what
they call total productive performance, which is the up-time
of the machinery multiplied by the number of units produced
during that up-time.

They measure quality in three ways: the percentage of
scrap, an internal quality trouble incident report and the
number of customer rejects. The Production Trainer made two

comments about these various factors. He said that even

89
with the huge number of new associates hired, the indices
haven't been adversely affected. .Also, he expects to see
some improvements when the existing employees get into some
advanced training.
Husoellsneous Outoumes

To effectively sense the guiding principles of Company
C, the following statement was taken from a plaque in their
waiting area: It was entitled ”Company Principle' and it
read, "Company C will supply products to customers with the
finest satisfaction, backed up by the concept of coexistence
and co-prosperity with customers and society.” Just below
that was another statement of Management policy. It read:

A. We promote safe, clean and attractive working
conditions with efficient productivity.

B. We encourage the constructive interchange of opinions
and ideas within the framework of our company goals.

C. We adapt to the changing needs of the market and

society by retaining a youthful, flexible point of
view.

SUMMER! OF’OOMPKNY C FINDINGS
Company C has recently hired a production trainer with
the intent of expanding training within all areas of
production. The following are statements that summarize the
recruitment, orientation and training of Company C. They

represent processes, strategies and outcomes.

90
.A GED or high school diploma is required. .A resume is
required in place of an application.
Reference checks, physical examinations and drug
screening must be completed.
An aptitude test including English and Math must be
taken and a thorough interview process is required
including rating forms.
Production employees will begin employment with a one
week orientation consisting of classroom activities
mixed with plant observation.
Orientation topics include right-to-know laws,
lockout/tagout, total productive maintenance, hearing
safety, lubrication, measurement, reporting, crane
operation and total productive performance.
In addition to the orientation, approximately 90 hours
of additional training is required including 2/3 on~
the-job and 1/3 classroom training.
The orientation program is constantly being changed by
joint input from production employees and management.
Suggestions from new production workers are often
implemented immediately.
The total training time is six to twelve months where a
production associate will be considered permanent and

could then serve as a trainer for other new associates.

91
0 Skilled trades associates take unique training after
orientation including basic mathematics, algebra,

geometry, trigonometry, blueprint reading and shop

skills.
0 Company C places a high value on safety issues.
0 A.bonus system is in place which is paid to all

employees including new hires.
0 Within two years, they expect to add phase two and
three to their training program, which includes forty

hours of classroom training for each phase.

(IIHBINUTI): ansunumsr CIDUHD

INTRODUCTION

The fourth automotive parts supplier interviewed is
jointly owned by two large companies. The plant researched
is nestled in a quiet country community with no large cities
nearby. It is geographically located in the Mid-South. In
the fourth quarter of 1994, this location employed 688
people, 456 production, 38 skilled trades and 194 salaried.
They are a non-union facility that produces plastic parts
for interior, exterior and under-hood applications. They
started manufacturing parts in 1987 with a major expansion
in 1990. For the last few months in 1994, they were in a

hiring mode. The parent company with 80% ownership has no

92
other manufacturing facilities in the U.S. They do have a
sister manufacturing plant in Canada.

The researched plant has 216,000 square feet of
manufacturing floor space and 30,000 square feet of
warehouse space. The total capital investment in this site
is approximately $30,000,000. The number of employees has
grown from about 150 in 1988 to 688 in Nbvember of 1994.
Their sales dollars have grown from about $10,000,000 in
1988 to about $150,000,000 in 1994. They have adopted the
following statement regarding employee involvement: To
improve the quality of work life, an environment that
encourages continual learning and develOpment. Their
statement on community involvement is as follows: Take an
active part in local activities so that Company D and its
employees are recognized as a "Trusted Member of the local
community." In regard to training the following philosophy
applies: (1) Continually improve employee jOb knowledge and
skills based on the concept that employees are our company's
most important asset. (2) Training courses will be set up
according to each department's needs including orientation
and core training. Company D has received the Chrysler
quality excellence award, the New United.MOtor.Manufacturing
Incorporated (NUMMI) partnership award and the Ford Q-l

award.

93

Company D is separated into divisions, departments and
sections. Its divisions are General, Technical and
Production. It has 12 departments and 33 sections. It also
has a separate legal area and senior coordinators for each
division.

As an introduction to the processes, strategies and
outcomes for Company D, it is useful to mention their vision
of excellence. The triangular shape is so designed to place
customer satisfaction at the peak where everything leads to
that goal. Training is integrated into everything in the

base and middle portion of the triangle.

2808388 FOR.RICIDITIINT.END IRAINING
‘aecruitsent end Selection Process

The Japanese have a different view of hiring new
production technicians. According to the.Assistant General
Manager of Human Resources, the Japanese like to hire people
with no experience. He partly agrees because the person
will not have acquired bad habits from.past employers.

All people hired for hourly production positions are
referred to Company D from the local job service. They have
an ongoing relationship with job service, hence, referrals
reflect basic requirements of which they are very familiar.

If an individual offers an application at the plant, they

94
are referred to the job service. The referrals include
information such as background, education, training and
experience. Once the applications are screened, potential
employees are invited for an interview. One basic
requirement is that a person has the manufacturing mind set
including working overtime, shift work, weekend work and
other manufacturing characteristics. The shifts at Company
D are based on a rotating, two-shift operation. The shifts
are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. with
weekly rotations. This leaves three and one-half hours for
the maintenance people to maintain and repair machines,
ensuring eight hours of trouble-free production. If a
person is not selected for a current position, the interview
process is designed to pre-select a person for a future
position when it becomes available.

During the interview, a few characteristics are
carefully examined. One characteristic desired is the
willingness to become a team player. Most of the production
workers are part of a team in the plant. Production
readiness competitions are part of the company culture. It
is a Japanese concept that rewards teams with copper,
silver, gold and diamond awards. They are looking for
someone who shows a willingness to accept training to do

whatever is necessary to get the job done.

95

Typically, they may either hire one person for a
replacement or several people for a new product startup.
After the positions are posted in the plant, outside
candidates are interviewed for any positions that are
vacated. Usually, about 30-40% of the people interviewed
are hired.

The candidates must have either a high school Diploma
or GED. They fill out an application and it becomes obvious
who can spell or write. There are no basic skills tests
required. Because of the legal technicalities, reference
checks are almost nonexistent. The Assistant General
Manager of Human Resources stated that he will not talk with
anybody about a person's job performance at Company D with
or without a release from the employee. However, what

occurs off the record can be much more useful.

Orientation and Training Process
The orientation process has been revised to include a
three- day program as opposed to the past one-day
orientation. Even the expanded three-day program will
probably grow and develop over the years according to the
Manager of Training and Development. The new program begins
in 1995 and will include a discussion of company philosophy,

some video tapes on Company D, health and safety issues and

96

human resources information. The last half of the third day
will be spent with the new employee's supervisor. The
supervisor will have a check list to cover with the new
employee. In addition to this three-day orientation, the
new employee will be expected to attend some general
orientation courses during their first year. The
orientation will be offered every two weeks. The Manager of
Training and Development is thinking of putting this
information on CD—ROM when one or two people are hired.
However, when enough people are ready, a formal orientation
could be offered to those who have not been through the
program. The Assistant Manager of Human Resources feels
that it is intbmidating to place a new manufacturing
production technician on a $300,000 - $400,000 machine
immediately. He favors the idea of observation instead of
production for one~half day. The full responsibility for
production parts, he feels, should be a slower process. One
of the trainees, however, suggested that a one-day
orientation was sufficient and additional days would result
in boredom. This adds incentives to use the extra two days
wisely and to make it simultaneously educational and
interesting.

The process for identifying training needs is

accomplished by the Diagnostic Analysis for Curriculum

97

Development technique. The training department is primarily
responsible for identifying training needs. In 1993 they
went to each department and did a competency study, the
knowledge and skill required for each job. A.further
description of this will be included in training strategies.

The process for training, both new and ongoing
programs, is coordinated by the training department. Each
month, the training department gives the production manager
a list of all the employees, courses offered and courses
taken and/or needed for each employee. The employees will
sign his/her name by the class or classes that they wish to
take. The lists are turned into the training department,
scheduled and then confirmed with each attendee. The
classes are typically scheduled between two weeks and two
months in advance. Some classes are offered regularly, like
communications or writing kaizens. ”Kaizen' is a Japanese
word for continuous improvement. Other classes offered
include a series of six SS courses (SS is sorting,
straightening, sweeping, sustaining and self control), total
productive maintenance, safety orientation, statistical
process control and many others.

The process for requesting training resources starts
with the department's needing funding. The manager of

training is notified by a development head that a certain

98
amount is needed for training. The requests are submitted
to general affairs where the actual dollars are allocated to

the training budget.

STRATEGIIO PakanRING, ORIENTATIONHAND TRAINING
New Hire 8trategies

Production technicians at Company D start at $6.50 per
hour. {According to the Assistant General Manager of Human
Resources, there are many people who will not work in the
area because the various welfare programs pay as mmch as
they do. By the time they pay for child care and drive to
work, they really don't have enough incentive to break away
from social services. Consequently, Company D is having
trouble finding people with the qualities needed to be
successful. Company D does not give a basic skills test for
new hires. Consequently, one supervisor expressed concern
about screening. Based on previous comments regarding
reference checks, it is obviously much more difficult to get
a reliable reference. However, production technicians are
unaware of this. They have the impression that all
references are checked. This strategy for hiring new
employees seems to work as long as they believe their

backgrounds are being investigated.

99
iOrientationlNew>HireiTraining Strategies

According to one of the production managers, each new
employee takes about five courses in the first year
including some 20 minute 58 short courses and some two hour
courses. It is up to each new employee to schedule the
required courses. On the first day of orientation, Company
D doesn't try to overload the employee with information.
Instead, they spread the courses out. The technicians
seemed to prefer plant experience as a prerequisite for many
of these classes including Company D production system (TPS)
and total productive maintenance (TPM). One technician
commented: "Especially with TPS, I had no idea what they
were talking about because I hadn't been out there to see
how things work." The amount of training given to new
employees is a little over a week in the first year,
according to a newly hired technician.

When a new person is hired, one of the better
technicians is chosen to work along side the new employee.
Full production is not expected of the new employee until at
least six weeks. In some departments, the technician
originally assigned to the new employee is asked to assist
that person during their initial training period. However,
in other departments, according to some recently hired

technicians, they will start you with one person and move

100
you to another mentor in one or two days. The intent is to
learn from a broad group of technicians rather than just
one.
Ongoing Training Strategies

One training strategy used by Company D is to send a
production supervisor or specialist to Japan to learn the
techniques around SS, TPM (total productive maintenance) and
TPS (Company D production system). The supervisor would
spend time with their counterpart in Japan watching,
learning and taking notes. Those same methods would then be
used back in Plant D. .Also, specialists from Japan come to
Plant D to train workers. They typically teach TPS or
operating production equipment.

Course development follows a standard goals,
objectives, and desired outcomes model. They start with a
course design document where business rationale and course
objectives are analyzed. Next, the desired outcomes are set
based on the objectives, and.materials are gathered in order
to meet those objectives. The objectives are a natural
byproduct of the survey that each employee fills out each
year. They write down areas where improvement is needed.
When it is obvious that a certain training need is required,
the course is developed. FDr example, one of the assistant

managers has developed a training program for Operating a

101
certain type of machinery. It is a 30-minute class that is
offered monthly. This is a recent development in response
to requests from technicians to be trained on specific
machines.

Once a training need is determined by the training
department, then everyone in that department is required to
attend, including managers and supervisors. The course will
appear on all employees' training records as an uncompleted
course. The employee may take the course at their
convenience, but they know they need the course and that it
is mandatory.

The training department normally offers classes once
the shift is over from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The
technician leaves the work area, enters the classroom and
then clocks out after class. Each year, technicians will be
required to attend approximately 10—30 hours of course work.
If a topic is being emphasized, such as TPM, the number of
hours will be on the upper end.

Company D uses cross training in some departments, but
it is not company-wide. With increases in production,
cross-training has slowed considerably. The Assistant
General Manager of Human Relations would like to see a
rotational program where a person would spend six months to

a year in each department and then shift departments for the

102
same length of time. Presently, they are rotating
production supervisors through production inventory control
and production planning. This helps them understand where
orders come from and how raw materials are gathered and
staged. The Japanese are believers in cross-training but
make a major distinction between technical and non-technical
positions.

One final strategy is to provide free training to
suppliers or customers who want to implement similar
systems. .According to the TPM supervisor, the Japanese like
to promote themselves to customers and help suppliers

produce higher quality products at a lower cost.

~OUTOONES
Benchmarking
The equipment in Company D is the newest and most

efficient available. Most of it comes from Italy or Japan.
Company D sends trainers to Japan to learn their system, and
affiliate plants in Japan send specialists to the U.S. to
train technicians in subjects such as production systems and
equipment operation. The courses, in many cases, are the
same in Japan as in the U.S. because they are taught by the
same person. As Company D became more self—sufficient, the

local trainers have mimicked the methods of those Japanese

103
trainers. Consequently, Company D and its counterpart in
Japan are constantly setting mutual benchmarks.

A major partner for Company D is Toyota Motors in
Kentucky. Their people visit Toyota Motors Manufacturing
(TMM) to look at the total productive maintenance (TPM)
program.and their quality circles. Representatives from TMM
also visit Company D on a regular basis because they are
impressed with their facility. Staff from Company D did
some presentations to TMM because they are implementing a
similar segment of TPM.

A third benchmark plant is a sister facility in Canada.
About three years ago in 1991, Company D didn't have a TPM
program in place so they sent people to Canada to study
their system. The basic conclusion is that Company D is now
setting new benchmarks especially in the area of productive

maintenance and their course selections.

Attitude.

According to a TPM supervisor, productivity, defects,
delivery and safety will affect morale. When the technician
can fix his/her own problems, such as maintenance of a
machine, they have a better feeling about their job. The
supervisor uses a morale measuring device that looks like a

radar chart. A.perfect circle at five indicates no

104
improvement areas can be detected. The larger the circle in
diameter, the more improvement, hence, higher morale. .A
perfect five in every category indicates no more training is
needed, but this is highly unlikely because it is a dynamic
process.

According to a recent trainee, the supervisor's
statements can be verified. The trainee says, "Company D
trains you more. They emphasize quality more. The want you
to make sure you know your job. They keep checking,
especially when you're new. If you are having trouble, they
follow up before you run bad parts." Another longer term
technician stated, ”I feel more valued here than I did at my
last place.”

Company D offers many classes that are intended to
improve attitudes such as a teamwork class, communications
and SS series. In fact, everything offered requires working
together as a team such as TPM and TPS. One technician
suggested that when one person is struggling while others
are caught up, the latter technicians will help the one who
is behind. Consequently, it is viewed as a common problem.
Without exception, all technicians mentioned the teamwork
ideology and had a very healthy attitude toward management

for promoting high levels of morale.

105

Based on the comments of the TPM supervisor, most
technicians are positive towards training that can be
applied to their jobs, but rather negative towards training
that produces non-tangible results. .A few technicians
commented on the personal benefits of training. .A few of
those include stressing quality in all things, labelling at
home, putting things where they belong, organizational
skills and cleanliness.

Although most supervisors seem to encourage training,
one technician cited an example where training was not
emphasized. Another expressed an improvement in morale when
a.manager was replaced The new manager is seen working with
technicians taking care of problems. Still another
technician praised his supervisor for encouraging teamwork,
which eventually became a habit for him.

The general attitudes toward taking classes and toward
their content vary. One technician differentiated between
the mandatory classes and voluntary ones. He claims that
attitudes are much poorer with the mandatory classes.
However, when viewed as a whole, technicians seem to really
appreciate the whole idea of offering courses at that level.

.A technician commented on the repetitiveness of course
content. She said, “It.makes you feel comfortable with your

job, I guess. There is quite a lot of repetitiveness and

106
some of the stuff is not directly related to you." Another
technician stressed the long term benefits of a kaizen
system course. When he took the first kaizen course, he had
nothing to apply. However, his current job requires kaizen
knowledge He can finally see the benefits.
Quantitative Outcomes

The training manager has used the Kirkpatrick Model on
four levels to evaluate training. One area of this model in
which they have been successful is providing pre-surveys and
post-surveys of participant responses. They are finding it
difficult to extract some information. They believe the
information is all there, but finding the time to pull the
information seems to be the problem, A few of the outcomes
have been quantified and have shown excellent results. For
example, in Tig welding and electricity training, a 69%
increase in knowledge was shown.

They follow a stringent design development process for
all training courses. It starts with desired outcomes, the
purpose of the course, the specific objectives to be
achieved, the length of the course, the audience and
evaluation methodology. With a course designed this way
it's fairly easy to build in evaluation techniques. The.
training manager has been moving in the direction of

quantifying training outcomes but has been met with the

107
typical "We can't measure it” response. She is saying,
"Yes, we can. You just have to find the right measures."

The following examples are some areas where Company D
has been able to quantify some outcomes. Their turnover
rate is less than 2% annualized. By any standards, that is
a very low rate. Their goal is less than 2% for both
turnover and absenteeism, however, absenteeism is not part
of this study from which conclusions have been drawn. The
TPM supervisor has seen the knowledge level go from.25% to
over 90% when using a pre- and post-test in TPM training.
In the same department, the supervisor conducted an activity
showing reasons why machines were not running. Using a
charting technique, the most prevalent problems become
obvious. A target was set to improve production time. The
goal is to concentrate on the biggest problems, namely
cleaning time. Each problem.was measured before and after
the activity to show relative changes. Overall down time
after the activity was reduced from 64 minutes to 28 minutes
per shift.

Finally, when the technicians were asked about
improvements in quality, defects or productivity, the
responses were all positive. All technicians interviewed
felt that training most certainly will lead to positive

results for all of the above measures.

108
snwwnsa'os'cowsnwr DbFTNDINGB

Company D offers a full menu of training courses to

production employees that may be taken at their

convenience. Their vision of excellence, a triangular

shaped model, integrates training into all aspects of

company goals. The following statements summarize the

processes, strategies and outcomes of recruitment,

orientation and training.

All applicants for production jobs must be referred by
the local job service.

Once they are referred, they are invited for an
interview where a person is asked about overtime, shift
work, weekend work and other manufacturing
characteristics.

.All applicants must have a high school or GED and no
basic skills test is required.

A.three day orientation is required prior to releasing
an employee to run production parts.

Each new employee will take about five courses in the
first year after orientation, including productive
maintenance and production systems.

Each month, a list of course offerings, and courses‘
needed by each employee, are submitted to the

Production,Manager.

109
Production supervisors or specialists are sent to Japan
to learn SS series, TPM and TPS. Also, specialists
from Japan come to the U.S. to train workers.
Courses are usually offered during the downtime period
from.4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and production employees
are paid for their time spent in the classroom.
Cross training is offered in some departments but slows
considerably during peak production periods.
Free training is offered to suppliers and customers who
want to implement similar systems.
Toyota Motors and Company D have established a
partnership for sharing training ideas.
The Kirkpatrick Model has been used successfully to
evaluate training outcomes.
Tig welding and electricity training have shown a 69%
increase in knowledge.
The turnover rate is less than 2% annualized.
In THM training, the knowledge level has gone from 25%

to 90%.

110

comm 3: WWW

INTRODUCTION

Company E is a 49 year old, non-union, parts supplier
to the domestic automobile industry. They are located in
the Midwest and produce interior trim components as well as
exterior lighting. They employ 1,000 production and skilled
trades workers along with 200 salaried employees. They
have been in the hiring mode since the first quarter of
1994. The average age of their production work force is
.approximately 30. Company E's parent company operates

seven plants in the U.S.

PROCESS FOR.RECRUITMENT ANDPTRAINING
Recruitment and Selection Process

Company E used to hire people off the street, looking
for individuals with experience. Today, they use an agency
due to legal pressures. The agencies screen the prospective
emailoyee, looking especially for attendance problems. They
also give the candidate a drug test. Company E gets the
employee for a 90 day probationary period. There are no
obligations to hire this person on a full time basis. The
candidate is an employee of the temporary agency until
Company E decides against employment, or offers full time

continuing employment to the candidate.

111

When being considered for full time employment, the
employee must be willing to obtain the GED. The current
employment policy or philos0phy emphasizes the attitude and
ability of the candidate to be trained, rather than
experience.

Orientation and Training Process

A.new person starting at Company E, receives a general
orientation, including benefits information, work I
expectations, scheduling and a drug screening. Some
employees need to have a Statistical Process Control (SPC)
course before beginning production, especially inspection
employees. New employees also get a first—aid and safety
class. Once they have been through the generic one or two
days of training, they will begin training in their
individual department. An individual is placed in the
molding department, will begin basic molding classes either
on the floor, in a classroom, or both. This would take
about 30 days. During that 30 days, the new employee will
be running production. If they do not have a GED, they will
also be given the opportunity to take those classes during
the same 30 days. They come after regular working hours for
the GED classes, a service provided by the company without
charge. Classes like SP0 and molding operation training are

offered during regular working hours and the employee is

112
paid during this time. If those classes are in addition to
their regular day, they would be paid overtime.

Blueprint training classes are offered to all employees
and have been very popular. For some specific areas like
maintenance, a tape series is used to train in preventative
maintenance. The specific training is about 75% on the
floor and 25% in the classroom.

Training in the classroom could be completed within 90
days. For the remainder of the first year, training is
primarily on the job. Most new employees would be
considered fully trained, in the initial phase, after one
year. Classes after the 90 day period would be a
continuation of the beginning course, and primarily advanced
in nature. The training is often given by a relief training
operator who is a senior hourly paid production worker. The
Supervisor often will spend some time training the new
operator as well. According to the Plant Manager, "It's
really more of a hands—on situation or a buddy system, where
we'll put the senior person with a new person. They go
through the motions and techniques for the job and they come
back to monitor their work regularly."

The classes that are taken during the first year and
thereafter are opened up to line operators. When a course

is full, according to seniority, the remainder are allowed

113
to take the course when it is offered again. In the molding
department, a new person would get approximately 30 hours of
classroom training in addition to eight hours of action
(quality) circle training. The action circle training is
voluntary. An action circle group will work collectively as
a team on various projects. For example, an action circle
group recently designed a 30 page booklet explaining all the
tasks that need to be performed in one department. This
booklet will be distributed to each new operator in this

department.

STRATEGIES POR.HIRING, ORIENTATION.NND TRAINING
'New Hire Strategies

The strategic importance of using temporary employees
is that they are employed by the temporary agency and there
is no obligation to keep them. When a slowdown occurs, the
temporary employees could be gone within two weeks without
any further pay or benefits. Unemployment insurance is paid
by the agency. They are able to really evaluate peOple over
the long run and make good solid choices for permanent
employees.

The Director of Quality feels that by using this
system, a more proficient group of employees is being

hired. However, the Plant Manager feels that temporary

114
employees are here to meet their own temporary employment
needs, not the needs of the company. He says, "I would
rather have full~time employees and no temporaries, or hold
temporary employees down to a minimum. However, he adds,
"We put them on probation for a total of 180 days, if they
meet our criteria during that period, they are entitled to
all the benefits we offer our employees."
Orientation/New Hire Training Strategies
Company E employs a Manager of Training who is
responsible for curriculum development and delivery of
training. He does a lot of stand-up training, which is very
time consuming. He covers six plants so he is constantly
searching for efficient ways to train. He is working on a
project to provide computer-based training for new employee
orientation, fork-lift training, and Occupational, Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) refresher courses. He
would like to obtain 5-10 computers and the applicable
software. Also, the pre-tests and post-tests would be taken
on the computer. This computer training would also be used
by the temporary employees, so that when one or two people
are hired, a stand-up training course would not be needed.
The savings could be substantial since hiring could be more

production driven and fine-tuned.

115

In Company E, job titles progress beginning with line
operator, group leader, group supervisor, supervisor, plant
superintendent and plant manager. The line operators, group
leaders, group supervisors and supervisors are all hourly
employees. .All these people serve as trainers, especially
within on-the-job training. The Training Manager conducts a
class in which he trains the trainers who are called relief
operator trainers. The trainers are assisted by a booklet
which is given to new employees and a display card for every
operation. These display cards hang near every machine or
operation and include both a graphic display plus a clear
description of that particular job.

As new employees are trained, they are given 30, 60 and
90 day ratings, which include dependability, expandability,
quantity of work, quality of work, job knowledge, initiative
and ability to learn. During the first three to six months,
a trainee is given a minimum of one hour of on-the~job
training a day, which works out to between 60 and 120 hours.
.A trainer will spend a considerable amount of time with the
new operator for three to five days, but then it begins to
taper off.

Ongoing Training
The primary question of ongoing training is how are

needs identified? In Company E , the Manager of Training

116
makes many of those determinations with the help of the
managers and supervisors. The managers supplement the
Training Manager with ideas and requirements.

Training needs show up in a problem~solving team or
actions circle. If the solution to a problem is more
training, then they will value that recommendation. The
action circle has an eight week, one hour a week, training
session. There are about 12 circles with six to eight
people in each one. .According to the Plant Manager, another
way that the training needs are revealed is when a
production manager or superintendent requests that training
be given to someone who is lacking in a particular area.

The training manager trains the trainers, who then
teach the operators. The idea is that those most familiar
with the operation are better able to convey training
materials. When the Training Manager trains the trainers,
he has them present a mock situation in the classroom and
then critiques their performance and suggests improvements.
The training manager goes to all six plants in the area
teaching these training modules. A.local community college
teacher also gets involved in training at Company E. He
teaches blueprint reading to anyone with the desire to 4
learn. Finally, some of the technicians from supplies come

in for periodic specialized training.

117

Training in Company E is strategically important for

many reasons. Some strategies for training include:

(1) Training for new technologies.

(2) New equipment brought in for an operation.

(3) Quality problems or non-conforming parts.

(4) Motivational training for new ideas.

(5) Self-improvement training.

(6) Training designed to stay ahead of the competition.
(7) Improve basic skills and knowledge.

Some of the training is critical in the short-run such
as quality alerts, while some is longer-term training, such
as self~improvement or motivational training. When a
quality alert review is held to improve part conformity, the
parts can be tracked back to the operators since they are
date coded. If one operator is at fault, then training may
be given only to that individual. The Director of Quality
implied that much of their training is proactive, not simply
in response to an urgent problem. He implied that a long
term approach must be taken in training, citing competition
and basic skills as two important areas. He says, ' If
you're going to compete in this world in the 1990's and
beyond, you better have trained employees. It's a little
frightening how many people we are training because they

have not acquired their high school education". The Plant

118

Manager suggested that most training is intended to improve
the employee. He says, "We ask our people to get all the
training they can so they can improve themselves."

According to the Training Manager, classroom learning
is about 50% video tapes, 30% lecture and 20% group
exercises. Each class typically has between 10 and 20
employees. The Director of Quality says the classes are
taught differently depending on the subject. They use a
seminar-type format for the blueprint class. He says
brainstorming is used as a teaching method, but they usually
use a seminar style, group activities or whole classroom
discussion. The management went off-site for five days to
receive the just-in-time inventory training. Upon
returning, they went through the training with the
superintendents and supervisors. Finally, the training was

gradually transferred to the production employees.

OUTCOMES
Benchmarking
Company E uses state of the art equipment that aligns
parts called a vision machine. The training on that
particular machine is also state of the art. They seem to
be the trend setters in this area. In other words, their

benchmarks are-their own imagination. One Plant Mbnager

119
sums it up like this, "We get a new robot or new piece of
equipment that is really leading the industry, I will make
sure our people get properly trained."

The training intended to reduce scrap is benchmarked
against customer standards. The plant manager said, "If we
quote a job at 6% scrap, we'll benchmark at 3% scrap and
shoot for that, making sure that our employees are trained
to meet the lower goal."

The Director of Quality summarized benchmarking when he
talked about the business being customer driver:

"Chrysler comes in for a process review several months
before actual production begins. If the work force is not
properly trained, the Chrysler representatives will simply
leave and wait until you get it right. The bottom line is
that benchmarking in this business might be in vain if the
customer isn't pleased. If fact, the benchmarks are set by

the customer and the customer training programs might
provide the best benchmarks of all."

.Attitudes

The Director of Quality attributes their lower reject
rates to employees with the right attitude. When they hire
someone for production, they are looking for attitude and
ability to be trained, not job experience. The Training
Manager speaks of culture and "how we work around here".
These are attitudes. He says they called this training.
"just in time" but it was really total quality management.

He says, "I don't call it anything, but its really total

120

quality management. It's just part of how we work, which is

how it should be and it's become part of our culture."
The attitudes of the hourly employees are inspiring.
They all responded positively when asked about the company's
support for training. The only unenthusiastic comment was,
"Sometimes, they talk about training more than they actually
get people involved." However, that response was in the
minority. Every worker polled, when comparing Company E's
training program with past employers, commented on their
superior training emphasis.
Quantitative Outcomes
The Director of Quality has no doubt that adequate,

effective training leads to higher quality and production.
He believes that it is a direct correlation and gives an
example. He has 30 employees on one production line, and 10
on another line. They have produced zero rejects in the
prior five months to the date of the interview. His reason
for such phenomenal results is "Extensive, almost aggressive
to a fault, training went into that line." He gives another
example regarding two brand new parts, which were not being
run ten months prior to the interviews. He says:

"Ten months ago we didn't make a single unit of part x'or
part y, now we're making 50-60 an hour, four different

colors and utilizing just in time sequential delivery, and

121
we're not getting any rejects. Something had to work. If
we didn't put the effort into training, equipment and
technology, it wouldn't happen. It's a one to one
correlation, good training, good parts; bad training, bad
parts." He also says that his reject rates are far better
than in the past few years and he attributes that to an
employee with the right attitude, well-trained and familiar
with the process. He also points to the poka-yoke system
for making parts. The poke-yoke system, which is a Japanese
word, means infallible. In a production process, it simply
means that the part can only be run one way. The only
dilemma is when the customer, due to design, limits the
ability to give the part a true fail—safe system. The Plant
Manager links training to performance by stating, "We know
our performance is better than average and obviously the
training allows us to perform better than we had in the
past."

The Training Manager gives a pre-test and post-test in
injection molding training. He says there was about a 90%
increase in knowledge based on the testing. Another Plant
iManager states, "Theoretically, we know any applicable
education you provide a person with will help them in
performing their job." When hourly employees take an SPC

or just-in-time training course, they are tested at the end

122
of each session. The educator grades the test and reports a
pass or fail grade.

One of the hourly employees verified that any training
received by employees is followed up to make sure it is
being done correctly. Another hourly worker felt that
training does improve quality and productivity. .A third
worker qualified that by adding "job related training",
assuming that non-job related training adds little to
quality and productivity.

Another group of hourly workers with more seniority
came to similar conclusions. .According to one five year
employee, quality has improved because they are able to
isolate more parts with defects as training increases. .A
twelve year employee agreed that productivity had increased
due to training.

Company E has experienced a relatively low labor
turnover rate. Without temporary employees, the rate has

been between 5 and 10 percent.

SUMMAR! OF COMPANY E FINDINGS
Company E has one Training Manager who visits six
different plants. His time is limited, considering that he

administers the retirement plan and other special projects.

123
He will have more available time when the training function
is computerized.

The initial orientation period is limited and the new
worker is almost immediately put onto the production floor.
This is primarily due to the use of temporary employees.
Their results are very good, therefore, the current method
must have some advantages. Company E is the only one of the
six companies interviewed that has implemented the GED
completion program. They have taken basic skills very
seriously and have been willing to financially back their
belief in a strong basic education. Another indication of
their commitment to education is their college reimbursement
program for all employees.

They have many layers of management, but most are paid
hourly. This implies that a line operator has much upward
mobility within the organization if training courses are
taken and multiple jobs are learned.

The hourly workers seemed very upbeat about the company
and praised their training, especially compared with past
employers. The following are statements that will help
summarize Company E.

0 Short orientation but ongoing integrated courses
0 The use of some cross training within departments

0 Centralized classroom training

124

O Decentralized on-the-job training
0 Use of various instructors including professors,
suppliers and specialists
0 Strong commitment to continuing education
0 Strong commitment to basic education
0 Use of temporary employees for production
W F: MAKES! m
INTRODUCTIQI
Company F is jointly owned by two large manufacturing
firms. The Midwest plant, of 457,000 square feet, is
located along a major interstate. The plant sits on 104
They

acres of land within one hour of several cities.
produce air conditioning parts for both U.S. and Japanese
automobiles with a capacity of 1.2 million units per year.

Company F employs 425 full time people plus 30 temporary

employees working for an employment agency. Of those, 197

are production workers and 47 represent skilled trades.

Company F was established in 1989 and started production in

1990 as a non-union plant. Some of their major customers

inClude Chrysler Corporation, Diamond Star Motors, Honda of
Ante—rice, New United Motor Manufacturing, Toyota Motor

Manufacturing and Bavarian Motor Works (BMW) Manufacturing.

125
Company F has recently been in the hiring mode, especially
since December 1994 when 50 new production positions were
created. The Japanese companies who formed this joint

venture have a total of nine additional plants in the U.S.

PROCESS POR.RECRUITMINT AND TRAINING
Recruitment and Selection Process

Company F works with a temporary agency that does pre-
screening, takes the initial applications, does the initial
interviewing and does some manual dexterity testing. A GED
Certificate or a high school Diploma is desired, but not
required for employment.

The personnel agency conducts a background check and a
drug test before they even send the applications to company
F. After the initial background check, company F has a more
extensive follow up done by another outside agency.
Candidates who are hired right away, enter a 90 day training
and evaluation period as temporary agency employees.

Orientation and.Training Process

Initially, when new production employees come in, they
go through a two day orientation. It includes company
policies, culture, benefits, community relations, product
information, a plant tour, quality presentations, safety

issues, waste treatment explanation, kanban systems and

126
lock-out training. Next, they go out to the floor and are
trained on the job.

The amount of on-the—job training received varies
depending on that production line they're on. Company F is
currently in the process of starting a third shift on most
of the lines. The training time allotted for preparing these
people for the third shift has been 3 months. On January
4, 1995, they hired associates who started in April. They
train on other shifts during January, February and.March
working with seasoned associates and become more productive
as they go along. If someone is ill on their training
shift, the new associate should be able to cover for them.
.At the end of the training period, the new associate will be
rotated back to the third shift where they will be able to
practice running some sample parts. New hires who are coming
in on first and second shifts that are already running get
started producing more rapidly because they don't have the
luxury of having an extra person. All the training is done
in-house, and it's delivered by various people, including
the training department and managers from other departments.
The associates on the line will train other associates,
depending on the situation.

They do not leit training to operating machines.

Specialized trainers are available for providing training in

127
some of the more technical areas. For example, they can go
into a special training room in the plant and learn some
computer applications. Over the last year, computer
training has been popular with their production associates.
Although they don't use those skills on their jobs, they can
usually get groups to come in on Saturdays, evenings or off-

time.

STRATEGIES FOR.HIRING, ORIENTATION’AND TRAINING
New Hire Strategies

Company F places a great deal of emphasis on the
recruitment and selection process because their processes
require a lot of training. They don't want to hire people
who are unable to fit into the company culture. They are
more interested in work ethics and positive attitudes than
technical skills. They find it's a waste of time and money
to hire people who don't fit into their culture, so they
spend a lot more time interviewing, testing and assessing
people. They conduct extensive reference checks before
considering anyone for employment. Management does not base
it's selections on what applicants have done for past
employers, but rather how they performed their duties.
Examples include outstanding attendance, a positive

attitude, a good team.player and the ability to participate

128
in a flexible manner. However, they are finding it more
difficult to get an accurate read on an applicants
background because of the legalities. According to the
Human Relations (H.R.) Assistant Manager:

A lot of employers are afraid to say things,
even positive things, but generally if an
employer has had a good experience, they're
more apt to talk about the positives. They
say the person had good attendance. We'll
say, what's good attendance? Because what's
good attendance somewhere else may not be good
attendance here and you have to read between
the lines. If a person is reluctant to give
information or says there's something you need
to know about this employee but I‘m not free
to tell you, you get a feeling that there may
be a problem. Regarding a criminal record, I
think we look more for a person who lies about
it than a person who has it. we have people
who have been jailed and they were up front
about it. We can work with that, but we are
more suspicious of someone who would say that
they don't and it turns out that they do.

With regard to the importance of the recruitment and
training budget, the training area takes a higher priority
and it would be the last thing to go, according to the H.R.
Assistant Manager. She says, "It's frustrating because I have
the recruitment budget also and usually when they make cuts,
they'll cut the recruiting budget, but not the training
budget." When they cut the recruiting budget, it's generally
in advertising such as the size of the ad or the number of
newspapers. It tends to make the process longer. They are

not going to relax their standards, but it may take longer to

129
find the right person. If it is absolutely necessary to cut
the training budget, they may do the same training at
different locations. However, for the production associate
training, cuts are rare. If anything, they keep adding to
the budget for production training. The training budget is
sacred at company F and the only changes tend to be

increases.

Orientation/Now 81:. Training Strategic.

Initially, when company F started operations, they used
a nearby sister plant as a training resource. Consequently,
their orientation program was a copy of that format. Since
then, they have updated it by receiving feedback from
associates who have been through orientation. The trainees
write down what they learned, who they listened to and other
relevant thoughts. They also had upper management sit
through the orientation to get feedback from the associates.
Then, they assembled a team from production, quality and
maintenance to work on a new approach to orientation. They
just recently went from a 2 1/2 day to a two day orientation
by shortening some of the longer presentations. They
constantly ask for feedback on the orientation process. If
the training department feels a change is needed, they'll put

together a proposal and request additional feedback. The

130
trainers, trainees and management would all get involved in
that process.

During orientation, various teaching methods are used
including some group activities, applied exercises, lecture
and video tapes. Some of the courses can be taken by
associates on their own time and have nothing to do with
their production lines. They are offered over the weekends
and include courses like counseling to improve performance,
communications skills and other courses normally reserved for
management. There is a lot of information presented, role
playing, videos and overheads. According to the H.R.
Assistant Manager, they initiate some good discussions at
these voluntary classes.

When orientation is over and new employees begin to
train on the floor, a production operator is typically
assigned to the new person. They don't have a specific
associate designated as a trainer. When a new employee is
hired, all of the associates who have been working a certain
minimum length of time are expected to train. When
supervisors assign a trainer, they often select the best
machine operator. However, the best operator doesn't
necessarily make the best trainer, and they are attempting to

interject a more consistent approach to these assignments.

131

Their goal is to find associates who are good at training,
dealing with people, and know the procedures very well.

The Supervisor of the Diecast area said:
"We put them on the job, give them opportunities to work with
someone else for up to 3 months. Then, we give them
opportunities to work alone and to trouble shoot problems. I
believe we balance it very well with what we would consider
classroom training and on-the—job training. Then we have a
training area for the purpose of taking them off the lines,
looking over operation manuals, quality manuals and samples
of parts.”

Ongoing Training Strategies

Most of the training that's done inside the plant is
developed by plant associates, especially dealing with
machinery, equipment and operations. Programs are developed
on-site and then implemented by the supervisors and team
leaders, who train the associates on the line. One of the
responsibilities of the team leader is to make and update
training manuals, operation manuals and instruction manuals.

The generic training that every associate must learn
includes quality circles, total productive maintenance (TPM),
safety, understanding the acronym REACH (recognizing,
evaluated and controlling hazards), and the Toyota production
system (TPS). TPM and quality circles, in particular, are
beyond orientation. They are both "learning as you're doing"
processes that can't be taught in a two-day orientation.

Trainees are given information on all of these materials

during orientation.

132

The technical training room has robots and electrical
training equipment to be used for specific training. They are
set up for specific individualized training, with an
abundance of technology available for associates.

When the new assembly lines were first installed, about
four production associates trained in Japan. The intention
was to train the trainers how to run the assembly line. When
new employees were hired to run the assembly line, they had
people who were already familiar with the process. On another
occasion, associates were asked to do an analysis involving
new machinery, including changes in the training procedures,
operation manuals and quality manuals. They chose four
different people to go to a robotics company for a week of
specialized training. At the end of that week, those
associates were ready to train other associates on the new
machinery.

Typically, when they have special projects, associates
are sent to Japan. The press area just started production in
December of 1994 and about a half dozen associates were sent
to Japan for training. The group included general
maintenance, diecast maintenance and production team leaders.
During that period, they were installing machines and getting

everything running.

133

The plant is working feverishly to follow the concept of
tbtal productive maintenance (TPM). TPM essentially makes the
production line associate responsible for routine maintenance
on their machine. There are still major repairs that have to
be done by maintenance. Rebuilds and replacements of certain
large items are still done by maintenance, so there will
always be a need for the maintenance crews. The associates
will be trained well enough to accept the reSponsibility of
the machines on a daily basis.

Company F has a training guide created by the training
department, in total productive maintenance (TPM). They have
instructors' materials available to train the trainers,
usually the assistant team leaders. In the last six months of
1994, they have offered TPM classes, including some
challenging lubrication sessions. The TPM leaders train both
in the classroom and on the floor.

In 1994, they contracted with the North American
Diecasting Association to come into Company F with a series
of training modules that relate strictly to diecasting. The
associates in the diecasting department were trained during
the plant shut-down, where they delivered two days of
training with 5 different modules. The objective was to
increase the associates' awareness of the diecasting process,

introduce quality activities related to diecasting, and

134
provide information on mechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic
systems. According to the Diecast Foreman it was a very
effective program.because of the input on the mechanical,
hydraulic and pneumatic aspects of the diecast machines.
Because they are entering stage four of TPM at Company F, the
Supervisor thought that it would be helpful to see the
applications regarding stage four.

Company F has an extensive number of options for
associates with a desire to become better educated.
Associates may attend the local community college where
company F has developed an affiliation. They can remain a
production associate or they can sign up for the tuition
reimbursement and attend college with a degree of their
choice. They have a tuition reimbursement program that will
pay up to $2,000 a year.

In the diecast department, there are six associates who
have taken pre-promotion training. The results help
determine, based on test scores, which associates are
promotable. The pre-promotion training is not required to be
eligible for a promotion. Some people are so outstanding in
their area that they may be offered a promotion without the
training. Others are good associates, have proven their
potential, and take the pre-promotion training to further

enrich themselves. That allows management to see a different

135
part of their academic training, and provides a vehicle to
make solid judgments. However, the company never discourages
anyone from taking the pre-promotion training.

To further develop the associate, the company provides
voluntary classes on the weekends. The voluntary management
style classes are often full. The people who really need
training for the job would be given priority over those
taking courses voluntarily. They usually offer these courses
for six weekends in a row..A different person teaches every
weekend, depending on the course. They offer these courses
twice a year, so associates can be involved in more
stimulating things than running a machine on a production
line. They consistently get full groups even though they

attend these classes on their own time and without pay.

OUTCOMES
Benchmarking
Company F has a group of sister companies, which
functions as a training group called the consortium.
Representatives from each of these companies usually meet
twice a year, sometimes more frequently. They talk about what
they are currently doing in training, including what they
have studied and read. The meeting locations are rotated

between the different companies. There are over 10

136
representative plants, some of which are located outside the
U.S., including Australia and Canada. Each of the affiliates
prepares a short presentation regarding current training and
new training ideas for the future.

Company F has conducted extensive joint training with
other plants. When Company F was still in the pre-production
phase, their press team leader attended a related plant in
the Midwest for a week of training on their presses. The
arrangements were negotiated through the cooperative efforts
of both training departments. The affiliate Training Manager
came to Company F to interview associates and set up a
training program. I

.Attitndoe

The general consensus from both new trainees and
experienced associates was similar. One new male associate
said, "I've never experienced any better training. Nobody has
ever given me more than a week of training so 90 days seems
like plenty of time for anyone to learn the process.” One of
the new trainees commented, "I've had a lot of trouble. I
think the problem was my trainer, but I'm fine now. Your
attitude about your job depends on your trainer because one
woman wrote things down for me and I learned most of my job
in a day.” Other miscellaneous remarks with regard to the

quality of training were: ' It's the best training I've ever

137
seen. If you have a problem, you go talk to your boss and he
will help you. I think they are doing a great job. They are
safety conscious.”

The attitudes of the experienced associates were
excellent. When asked about management training as opposed
to production training, a female associate responded, ”I
think they spend more on training in the plant. I think
you're learning something every day, because you're finding
new things you have to know, and you're constantly training."
Another woman with longer tenure said, ”I couldn't believe a
company could spend that much time and money on a person.
They've invested a lot in us." Finally, a woman who had been
with Company F several years commented, "I was amazed at this
place when I came. They paid for books, training and
schooling, plus they paid us our hourly wages while we were
training."

QuentitativeflueaeurableIOutco-ee

One major outcome that can affect product quality,
productivity and a host of other benchmarks is the turnover
rate. .At company F the turnover rate is less than 1%, which
is lowest of the six researched companies.

Company anaintains a productivity measure called the
total production ratio (TPR), which they use as a measurement

for training. However, their primary device for measuring

138
training is a training implementation sheet and a training
follow-up sheet, which team.leaders are required to fill out.
They evaluate associates based on what they have accomplished
to date. They are given a documented test about twice a year.
The test is designed to be repetitive to ensure that they
have not forgotten their operations.

The Superintendent of Technical Skills Training (TST)
referenced two separate cases where quantitative savings were
realized. The first case involved the cost of sending robots
back to Japan to be rebuilt. It would cost $10,000 with five
months of downtime for each robot sent back to Japan. The
Superintendent of TST received information from a sister
plant on how to repair and maintain the robots and trained
the maintenance associates. Today, no robots are sent back
to Japan. Their costs have dropped to $3,000 and the
downtime dropped from five months to one week.

The second case involved programming the machines, The
Japanese thought that associates at Plant F were not trained
enough to perform program changes on some equipment. The
Superintendent of TST again arranged for training on
programming changes. Now, instead of calling in a
coordinator, the associate can make immediate changes.~ This
lowered downtime for changes from about three hours to one

minute.

139

One of Company F's trainers commented on the
relationship between defects and training. She indicated
that charts are kept on each employee, and when a fully
trained associate runs production, the number of defects are
significantly lower.

The Superintendent of TST gave some insight regarding
the success of training. He focuses on the post-test because
their previous knowledge is relatively unimportant. What is
retained after training is significant. Another strategy
used by the Superintendent of TST involves observation. Two
or more weeks after the training, he observes associates and

asks them questions about their training.

spawns: OF OOHRANY F FINDINGS
Company F has an elaborate recruitment process. They
spend more time and money than the other five companies on
background checks and general testing. They are very
particular about whom they hire. The following statements

summarize the findings for Company F.

0 .A temporary agency does pre-screening, application,
interview, manual dexterity test, background check and
drug test.

0 .A high school diploma or GED is desired but not

required.

140
If hired, a production associate is an employee of the
temporary agency for 90 days.
A two day orientation is required for production
associates followed by a three month on-the-job training
period.
Training may be taken in technical areas such as
computer applications.
The training budget is sacred to Company F and would be
the last thing to be cut.
A nearby affiliate plant has been used as a training
resource.
veluntary courses can be taken by associates on weekends
or other non-working hours including many management
style courses.
Every associate must learn generic training, which
includes quality circles, TPM, REACH and TPS.
Company F has a technical training room with robots and
specialized electrical training equipment.
Since the company started operations in 1990, many
associates were sent to Japan for training.
Associates may take pre—promotion training to help
determine who is promotable.
Company F is a member of a consortium for over ten

affiliate companies where training ideas are shared.

141
They meet twice a year and all make short presentations
regarding current and future training.

0 Their employee turnover rate is less than 1%, the lowest
of the six researched companies.

0 Company F measures the effectiveness of training by
using a productivity measure called total production
ratio (TPR). They also use a training implementation
and follow-up sheet to evaluate training.

0 Robots are repaired by maintenance, on-site, saving the
company thousands of dollars in repair costs and
downtime.

0 Machine programming is now performed by operators

lowering downtime from three hours to about one minute.

SUEUHEY’IHDMDIIKHB

This section contains statistical findings of the
research based on a one page survey (Appendix I) which was
completed by each interviewee. The statistical findings are
primarily descriptive. The following results are only a small
part of the study and are included for the following two
reasons: (1) to get the interviewee in the mood for the hour
long face~to~face interview, and (2) to gather superficial

data regarding their general response to the eight research

142
questions. The results are calculated using Minitab

Statistical Software version 7.2.

SURVEY
The survey questions were asked using a discrete,
ordinal scale of measurement from one to ten. A value of one
implies strong disagreement and a value of ten implies strong
agreement. No survey questions were asked about research
questions three and seven. The survey questions are related
to the basic research questions in the following way:

Reeearch question 1: now'much eephaeia ie placed on the
recruit-ant and aelection of new production eeployeee?

Related survey question 4: The screening process fer
applicants is extremely thorough.

neeearch question.2: aow'much and what kind.of training ie
expected of new production.employeee?

Related survey question 2: The amount of training given
to new employees is appropriate.

Related survey question 9: career development is
discussed and encouraged.

Reeeerch queetion 4: flow*much commitment and.aupport doee the
organization give to ite training program.

Related survey question 1: Training is given top
‘priority’at this facility.

Reeearch queetion 5: flow ie the training organized.and
delivered?

Related survey question 7: Trainers are well qualified
and produce positive results.

143

Reeeerch question 6: Can training effectiveness be
determined?

Related survey question 3: The quality of training given
to new employees is the best in the industry.

Related survey question 5: Benefits of training at this
facility far outweigh their costs.

Related survey question 8: Cross training, if used at
your plant, results in well trained employees and high
qualityfiproducts.

Releerch queetion 8: What role dcee Adult and Continuing
Education play in theee progreae?

Related survey question 6. The instructional methods
used are appropriate for the tasks.

Related survey question 10: This plant effectively uses
mentors to assist new employees.

STATISTICAL mesons

The primary concern of this research is to determine if
the answers to the questionnaires are the same for Japanese
and U.S. suppliers. To detemmine this, inferences have been
made concerning the differences in the two population means.
The populations are defined as the three Japanese companies
or the three U.S. companies. Using Minitab, each of the ten
survey questions were separated into two groups to determine
the difference in the population means. For each of the ten
questions, means by country and differences in means are in

the following Table 4.1 and also in Appendix J.

144

 

Table 4.1
Statistical Results by Country
“reevaluation I I than than than
08 m. on Japan our.

training ie given top priority. 35 39 7.4 7.7 -.3
mtqulwm 34 39 7.6 7.3 .3
Mute.
melityoftrainingieheetinthe 32 38 6.7 7.3 -.6
M.
Magpeooaee ie extremely thorough. 34 39 6.8 8.1 -1.3
leeetite of training far outweigh their 34 39 8.2 8.1 .1
aorta.
humane). anode-”appropriate!” 35 39 7.9 7.6 .3
teeke.
Trainereereqaelifledepromgood 34 39 7.9 7.8 .1
aeeulte.
mmwmwm 32 38 8.0 8.6 -.6
Meta.
Oareerdanlopuatiedimeedaud 35 38 6.1 6.2 -.1
encouraged.
this plant effectively aeee motor-e. 34 38 7.3 7.5 -.2

 

145
SUMMARY

With regard to Table 4.1, there are two areas where the
employees of Japanese companies feel they have an advantage
over their U.S. counterparts. They feel the screening process
for new employees is more thorough and there is some evidence
that cross training has been used more effectively to produce
a better trained employee and higher quality products. There
is no evidence to suggest that the employees of U.S.
companies feel that they have an advantage regarding any of
the ten statements.

Qualitative and quantitative research results have been
presented in chapter four. The summary of findings,
conclusions and recommendations will be discussed in chapter

five.

CHAPTER V
WY OF mm, CONCLUSIONS AND

RICMNDATIONS

The following summary of findings, conclusions and
recommendations highlight the completed research and
possibilities for further research regarding the topic:
Exploring and identifying similarities and differences in
training processes, strategies and outcomes between U.S.
located Japanese and.American automobile industry suppliers.
In this study, only top rated plants were researched and the
specific focus was on new employee training programs. Table

5.1 provides an overview of the findings.

iBUUIflMRI'CNF EUJUDINKHB

Based on the transcribed interview data, the following
Table 5.1 compares 15 attributes of the six companies. The
comments following the table will address, compare and
evaluate the categories in Table 5.1. Any reference to
Japanese transplants, U.S. plants or U.S. firms should be
interpreted as automobile supplier plants only. Any reference

to employees should be interpreted as production employees.

146

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COUNTRIIOF’ORIGIN
Companies A, B, and E are wholly U.S. owned and
operated. Companies C, D, and F are Japanese firms. Company B

offered two plants for review that were coded BI and 82.

UNION VERSUS NON-UNION
All plants are non—union except plant Bl, therefore, the
results are not skewed because of this characteristic. Plant
Bl has many similar characteristics to the other five plants,
however, they lack work force flexibility. For example, plant
82 used temporary employees while plant BI used only

permanent workers.

PLENT.AGI
The average age of the U.S. plants is 29 years while the
Japanese plants averaged eight years. This is expected due to
the recent movement of Japanese transplants to the U.S. The
general implication that modern capital in Japanese plants
leads to more technical training is not the focus of this

study.

AMBRAGI.AGI OF’PRODUCTION'IMPLOYEIB

The average age of the sampled U.S. plants and Japanese

149
plants is about the same at 32 years. The study of automobile
assembly plants may reveal a larger difference in average
age. The U.S. firms would likely have older workers than
their U.S. located Japanese counterparts due to significant

layoffs in U.S. assembly plants without replacements.

NUNBIRuOF PRODUCTIONFIORKIBB
The number of production workers in U.S. plants sampled
ranged from 311 to 1000, while production workers in the
Japanese plants ranged from 274 to 456. Company B with one
thousand employees, significantly raised the U.S. average.
Larger plants may have additional resources for hiring,

orientation and training.

HIGH SCHOOL OR.GID REQUIREMENT
The Japanese companies were more concerned about basic
educational requirements. Only one Japanese company did not
require a high school diploma or GED; however, they are
strong advocates of a basic education. Two of the U.S.
companies did not require a high school or GED, but Company B
had a GED completion program at the plant. They require that

a new employee concurrently acquire a GED.

150
BASIC SKILLS TEST
None of the U.S. firms required a basic skills test to
be considered for employment. Two of the three Japanese firms
required a basic skills test. This was a major difference in
hiring techniques that differentiated the two groups. The
Japanese firms accepted fewer applicants than their U.S.
counterparts and used basic skills testing to identify

qualified candidates.

LINGTBIOF‘ORIENTATTON

The average orientation length for the sampled U.S.
companies is slightly more than a day. The Japanese companies
averaged more than three days. Company F, a Japanese plant,
had recently decreased their orientation length by one~half
day. The Japanese plants have a more structured orientation
with more emphasis on safety, maintenance, company
philosophy, community relations, and specialized topics such
as kanban and kaizen. The U.S. companies covered some of
these topics in their orientation or ongoing departmental

training.

DEPARTMENT CLASSROOM TRAINING
Classroom training in the new employee's department is

beyond orientation classroom training. Only one U.S. plant

151
used classroom training to train the employee for their new
position. Company B incorporated a full week of classroom
training into their departmental training. All three Japanese
companies used a classroom for specific job training with an
average of four days. Again, the Japanese plants were more
structured in their training approach for new hires. Examples
of job related courses in the classroom include total
productive maintenance, statistical process control,
production systems, safety and specific product information

classes.

ONeTRl-JOB TRAINING

The number of weeks of on—the-job training for U.S.
companies ranged from one to four weeks, versus a range of
six to 26 weeks for the Japanese companies. The Japanese
companies sampled, on average, devoted more of their
resources to initial training for newly hired employees.
Regarding the six observed companies, all are excellent in
quality, cost containment and timely order processing. Given
the qualitative nature of this research, it is difficult to
determine how the additional training might benefit the
sampled Japanese companies. In chapter four, a statiStical
evaluation regarding the companies dedication to training was

presented. In this evaluation, specific employees were polled

152
to detect the comfort level in their prospective training
programs.
ONGOING CLASSES OFFERED

Ongoing classes offered refers to voluntary or required
classes provided to the employee for needed training, job
enrichment, or personal benefit. The Japanese companies were
more specific in the amounts and types of ongoing training
offered to their production employees. The Japanese companies
averaged about 38 hours of ongoing annual training. The
course offerings from the U.S. companies were minimal with
some exceptions. Again, the Japanese companies were more
structured in their approach to continuing education and
training. This does not necessarily suggest inferior
training. The U.S. fimms have various programs in place and
may be planning more structured training. For example,
Company B builds upon its new employee courses by offering an
advanced version of statistical process control and
preventive maintenance. They also offer a blueprint reading
course and quality circle involvement. Company B is
implementing ISO 9000, an international standard for

training.

153
03! OF’TINPORAR! INPDOIIIS

The Japanese and U.S. firms sampled were about equal in
their use of temporary employees. Company E, a U.S. company,
uses temporary employees with a 90 day non obligatory
contract. Company B, plant 82 uses supplemental help for 20—
25% of their hourly work force. They believe it is extremely
cost effective and nearly guarantees excellent permanent
workers. Permanent workers are chosen from the best of the
supplemental work force. Company F is the only Japanese
company to use temporary help. Their reason for using
temporary help is to avoid possible legal problems and to
evaluate people for 90 days before becoming permanent. Based
on the interviewees' responses, temporary employees have many

advantages and few disadvantages.

TRAININGrCONIITTIIS

.All six companies used some form of a training
committee. Company A has formed training committees at two
levels. Trainers from.all three departments meet once or
twice a month. Additionally, supervisors regularly meet with
trainers for each shift, within each department. Plant Bl has
a steering committee consisting of project engineers, the
union president and the shop steward. This group is

responsible for forming a training needs team. Also, plant 82

154
uses an employee involvement group where training topics are
often discussed. Company C has an informal approach to
training issues involving Department Managers, Production
Manager and Production Trainer. The Production Trainer meets
with several other groups for opinions and exchanges. The
training department from Company D, in 1993, conducted a
competency study finding the knowledge and skills required
for each job. The training department serves as a training
committee using ideas from various sources. Company B uses
action circles, consisting of production employees, to
identify and solve training needs. They also employ a Manager
of Training who is responsible for curriculum deveIOpment and
training delivery. He decides, with the help of managers and
supervisors, which training needs are most critical. Company
F assembled a team from production, quality and maintenance
to work on a new approach to orientation. Also, their
training department meets regularly to discuss training needs

with the help of trainers, trainees and managers.

INPDOTBE TUHNDVIR.
The average production employee turnover rate for the
three U.S. companies is 19%. That same rate is about 8% for
the observed Japanese companies. Turnover can be attributed

to the level of unemployment in a given area. Typically, as

155
the unemployment rate is lowered, the turnover rate
increases. However, in all six areas the unemployment rate is
under the national average. Low employee turnover reflects
careful recruiting and attention to employee development
given a market driven wage level. In this study, the Japanese
companies have an average turnover rate which is less than
half of their U.S. counterparts. To fairly compare turnover
rates, a larger sample size and pairing of plants with

similar products are needed.

CROSS TRAINING

Cross training in the two groups is about equal. Two
companies, Japanese and U.S., had formal, well-organized
cross training. Company B, plant 82, employed a rotational
system that allowed workers to switch jobs hourly. Within 90
days, Company C trains new employees in every area of their
specific department.

Two companies, Japanese and U.S., were less structured
in cross training. Company D previously cross trained, but
cut back on their efforts when production increased. Company
E uses some cross training within departments at the
manager's discretion. Companies A.and F do not regularly
cross train. None of the six companies cross trained on a

plant wide level. All six companies expressed a desire to

156
increase cross training. Some had even discussed plant wide

cross training.
CKIKEUUSIIlflB

Using the eight original research questions the

following conclusions were reached. All_gnestions.and

0 O 0
as a 00“ . ~ s -o: o a one. as s‘ .“‘e .e.s‘ ‘- .so

Question 1: How much emphasis is placed on the recruitment
and selection of new production employees?
Conclusion: Japanese transplants place more emphasis on

recruitment and selection of new employees.~

Question 2: How much and what kind of training is required of
new production employees?

Conclusion: Jepanese transplants requiretproduction employees
to attend longer orientation training and.departaent specific

classroom training than 0.8. plants.

Question 3: Who is responsible for identifying training needs
and how are these needs identified?

Conclusion:1lanagars, trainers, supervisors and.production
employees all take an active part in identifying training
needs in both Jepanese transplants and U.S.jplants.

157
Question 4: How much commitment and support does the
organization give to its training program?
Conclusion: Roth U.S. plants and Japanese transplants receive
appropriate coasitment and.support from.a11:menageria1 levels
with regard to training needs.

Question 5: How is the training organized and delivered?
Conclusion: Training is usually organized by a training
manager or department sUperviaor and delivered.by all ranks
of’employees froaxproduction towaanageaent. There appears to
he no major difference in Japanese transplants and U.S.

plants with regard to training organization and delivery;

Question 6: Can the effectiveness of training programs be
documented, and how do companies evaluate effectiveness?
Conclusion: It measured by employee turnover, Japanese
transplants are more effective in this area. The turnover
rate for U.S. plants was more than double the turnover rate
for Japanese transplants. No definitive conclusions can be
made with regard.to training effectiveness due to the

descriptive nature of this study.

158
Question 7: Who determines the training needs for the future
and what process is used to determine these needs?
Conclusion: Both Japanese transplants and 0.8. plants
actively use training committees to determine-future training
needs..Also, both tend to rely on input IIOfllIll employee

ranks including production.

Question 8: What role does Adult and Continuing Education
play in these programs? (instructional design, evaluation,
follow-up, etc.)

Conclusion: Both Japanese transplants and‘U.8. plants use
adult methods of instruction in their training programs.
These include group discussions, role playing and hands-on

training.

CflflflmR.CKlflflUUSIIIflB

Other conclusions were relevant to the study but did not
precisely fit the research questions.

Based on this study, U.S. owned plants are substantially
older than Japanese transplants. Also, the average age of
production employees in U.S. plants appears no different than
Japanese transplants. Age of the plant may affect training
due to more technologically updated plant and machinery. The

average age of production employees can be related to

159
previous layoff patterns and early retirement programs.

Japanese transplants require their production workers to
hold a higher level of basic education than in U.S. plants.
Higher basic education allows employers to train at a more
advanced level. Basic education also requires a smaller
investment to bring the employee to a minimum level of
required knowledge. With regard to basic skills, Japanese
tranSplants have higher standards for employment than U.S.
plants. These higher standards may reduce problem employees
resulting in lower turnover and absenteeism.

Japanese transplants require more on-the-job training
than U.S. plants. Releasing employees into production before
they are fully trained can result in injuries and quality
problems. Additionally, Japanese transplants offer more
voluntary and employee development training on an ongoing
basis than U.S. plants. Employee development training may
increase self esteem and prepare employees for promotions. It
may also give the employee a sense of belonging, which can be
transferred to a quality driven work place.

Japanese transplants use temporary employees as
frequently as U.S. plants. Temporary employees can assist the
employer in controlling labor costs. However, training
dollars may be wasted when temporary employees are no longer

needed.

160
Finally, Cross training within departments is used
extensively in both Japanese transplants and U.S. plants.
Cross training allows companies to operate at peak efficiency

due to a flexible work force.

IRIKXIIIHNDAIUIIfl3.INDD(11!:EUDUIIBIRIMIIUOB

Some major differences were found in recruitment
techniques, recruitment costs, background checks, skills
testing, and various other investigative techniques. The
Japanese firms, on average place a higher priority on
recruitment. Another major difference is found in training
duration. In all three areas, orientation length, classroom
training and on~the-job training, the Japanese firms made a
greater time commitment. Also, average employee turnover for
the three Japanese firms was substantially lower than the
average U.S. firm.

The statistical findings based on the questionnaires
were less conclusive. There is evidence that Japanese
employees believe their screening process for applicants is
more thorough than the U.S. companies. There is also
evidence, although weaker, that Japanese company employees
believe cross training in their plant results in better

trained workers and higher quality products than U.S.

companies.

161
Conclusions regarding the statistical analysis of the
questionnaires are as follows:
. The screening process for Japanese automotive
transplants (JAT'S) is more thorough as compared with
U.S. plants (USP's).

o JAT's use cross training more effectively than USP's.

The six companies researched are as much different
within country of origin as between countries of origin.
These two areas, differences in rank and differences between
companies of the same national origin suggests a need for
further research.

In addition to rank and origin, the number of training
dollars invested by Japanese and U.S. manufacturing companies
could be compared. Those dollars, however, are difficult to
obtain due to the treatment of training in corporate budgets.
As this researcher found, most companies do not separate on-
the-job training as a separate expense.

Finally, a regression model could be constructed to find
the effect of training on the number of product defects. For
example, a sample could be drawn from companies initiating
additional training hours to determine the effect on defects.
Both U.S. and Japanese companies could be sampled to detect

any differences in the quality of training. An additional

162
training hour in a Japanese company may have a different
effect on quality than an additional hour of training in a
U.S. company.

The findings were much different than this researcher
expected. A.more significant difference was expected
regarding employees opinions about training. The U.S.
companies are using many techniques that are traditionally
Japanese and are quite successful. The gap in training and
recruitment is closing based on the findings of this
research. U.S. companies are finding value in training and

taking advantage of its benefits.

IRRITJHEIIONNI

In the beginning of the study, I expected to find more
significant differences between the U.S. and Japanese
training hours, employee composition, content of orientation,
recruitment procedures and many other training
characteristics. At the end, I found that the U.S. firms were
working very hard to recruit the right worker, train
effectively, produce high quality parts, maintain a clean,
safe working environment, and still keep their costs down
from the prior period. The Japanese companies seemed to be
better structured to do all these things but the U.S.

companies are meeting the high standards of many automotive

163
companies. The bottom line seems to be the same for all six
companies, but they achieved these high standards in
different ways.

One major observation was prevalent throughout this
study. In both the taped interviews and questionnaires, the
six companies were as much different within country of origin
as between country of origin. The averages showed that the
Japanese transplants had higher basic education requirements,
longer training requirements and lower employee turnover, but
the variance within each group was extremely large. To expand
this study, a larger sample size would be a major benefit.
One of my observations from each group may have been an
outlier, therefore it could be excluded with a larger sample.
Also, a larger sample could produce other more refined
statistical results.

Finally, the biggest lesson that can be learned from
this research is that this study has only touched on the
possible findings that could be obtained regarding the topic
of comparative international training programs. Expanding
this research to other industries, specific quantitative
measures or a global sampling of companies could result in
both domestic and international interest. The interested
parties would likely be globally competitive companies based

in highly industrialized countries. Many companies fitting

164
this description may have a strong desire to compare the best
training programs in the world and emulate their desirable
characteristics. This study has revealed the researcher from
within me and has served as the appetizer in an expensive,

but delicious, multiple course meal.

165

IlflflflflDIXil»

0.8. Transplant Pacts

Foreign Final Assubly Plants

(1994)

Wards Automotive Yearbook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inc.

 

 

 

 

‘laaa Launch Deterinooation laployaant.‘0snership
Auto Alliance 1987 Flat Rock 3800 Ford 50%
Intl., Inc. Mazda 50%
BMW Mfg. 1994 Greenville, 1000 (by BMW 100%
Corp. S.C. 1995)

Diamond Star September, Normal, Ill. 3100 Mitsubishi
Motors Corp. 1988 100%

Honda of Motorcycles Marysville, OH 10,000 Honda 100%
America Mfg., 1979, Cars E. Liberty, OH

Inc. 1982 Anna, OH.

Mercedes Ben 1996-97 Vance, AL Unknown Daimler-Benz
Project, Inc? 100%

New United 1984 Fremont, CA 4300 GM 50%
Motor Mfg., Toyota 50%
Inc.

Nissan Motor 1983 Smyrna, TN 5900 Nissan 100%
Mfg. Corp.

Subaru-Isuzu 1989 Lafayette, IN 1900 Fuji 51%
Automotive, Isuzu 49%
Inc.

’Toyota Motor 1988 Georgetown, KY 6000 (by Toyota 100%
Mfg., USA, 1996)

 

 

166
.APPINDIX B

BIDDING! OF BVIHTB

1. Recruitment

la. Contact Director, J Car Planning, Program Quality
Implementation Department at General Motors.

1b. Director of J Car Planning agrees to participate in
research. Contacts Purchasing Department at Lansing
General Motors location.

lc. Purchasing Department identified the list of
automotive suppliers who met the criteria listed in the
methodology.

1d. Contact persons at the suggested plants were listed
by Purchasing Department including phone numbers and
addresses.

2. Verification Process

2a. Researcher located supplier information in the
Michigan Manufacturers Directory or the manufacturers
directory in the state where the plant is located.

2b. All relevant information was verified to ensure
criteria was met and possible non-compliant plants were
eliminated from the list of potential interviewees.

3. Seek Supplier Approval

3a. Researcher wrote and followed up with a phone call
each contact person to explain the purpose, their
actual and potential benefits, and the amount of time
required to complete the interviews.

3b. Suppliers who agreed to be researched were
scheduled for an interview.

3c. Researcher sent a follow-up letter confirming the
date and time of the interview.

3d..A phone call was made to each supplier to confirm
the date and time. A.few questions were also asked

167

regarding the company which saved time and allowed the
researcher to better prepare the interview process.

4. The Interview Process

4a. The interview guides provided the basic framework
for the interview sessions.

4b. Three separate interview guides were administered.
Guides are designed for managers, trainers and
trainees.

4c. At least three upper level managers, one trainer
and eight trainees were interviewed.

4d. Some groups were formed to save time and contribute
to discussions.

4e. The sessions lasted approximately one hour.

4f. If approved by the various plants, each session was
recorded and some answers were written for backup.

5. Analysis of Data
5a. Researcher clustered data around central themes.

5b. Training processes, strategies and outcomes were
identified, clustered into central themes and then
compared.

5c. The entire group of Japanese suppliers were then
compared to the entire group of American firms using
central themes indicated in 5b.

5d. Quantitative data was analyzed using the Minitab
statistical package. Means, medians, standard
deviations, frequency counts, frequency distributions,
standard errors, quartiles and differences in sample
means were calculated for any quantitative data.

168

.APPINDIX C

CLASSIFICATIQ'I OF INTERVIEW ”8110.18

 

Question

PM.

Btra

 

is

How is training funded and how
is it allocated?

 

What is the source and support
for training budget?

 

1c

Are the outcomes of training
benchmarked ? How?

 

2a

Do you conduct needs analysis?
How?

 

How do you design instructional
materials?

 

2c

What is the origin of
instructional materials?

 

2d

How is training evaluated and
linked to outcomes?

 

2e

How is training directly
transferable?

 

8’

How do you use computer based
training?

 

What technologies are used in
training?

 

6a

What are the characteristics of
trainers?

 

lb

What are the characteristics of
trainees?

 

Which classroom techniques are
used?

 

5b

How is experimental learning
used in your training?

 

What are characteristics of
your skills training?

 

 

 

How is career development
integrated into training?

 

 

 

 

 

169
APPIHDIX D

CONFIRMAIION’LITTIR.

Randall J. Lewis

1715 Thrushwood Circle
Okemos, MI 48864

Home Phone (517) 349—9143

Date

Dear Training Manager (NAME):

I am.pleased to confirm.our interview on [date] at [tune].
By providing information about your training program and
relevant performance data, you will be assisting automobile
suppliers in.Michigan and the entire United States in designing
effective training programs. I am particularly interested in
your responses since you fit the criteria which my study
emphasizes.
I will be calling you to confirm our appointment and to ask
a few basic questions about your firm. This survey will enable
us to save time on the interview date by concentrating on more
critical issues. Confidentiality will be observed, so you can
be certain your responses will be separated from your identity.
The phone survey has been tested and will require no more than
10 minutes to complete assuming all data is easily accessible.
I very much appreciate your time and cooperation in
answering pro—interview questions and assisting me in the
completion of this important study. As a symbol of my deep
gratitude, I would like to offer you a summary of my research
findings when completed.

Sincerely,

Randall J. Lewis

170

.APPINDIX.3
BASIC COMDQNY QUESTIONS

PHONE INTIRVII'”IITR SUPPLIER.

1. How many people are employed at your plant?

2. Approximately how many salaried, skilled trades and
production workers do you employ?

3. Do you have someone who is responsible for training? What is
the title of this person?

4. Is this plant union or non-union? If union, does the union
contract say anything about training?

5. Specifically, what do you produce? For who?

6. How old is your plant?

7. Have you recently been in the hiring mode? When?

8. What is the average age of your production workforce?
9. Are you part of a larger parent company?

10. How many plants does your parent company operate in the
U.S.?

171

.APPBNDIX F
MINAGIR8 INTIRVIIW’GUIDI

A. Questions Dealing with Training Administration

1. What portion of the training resources are devoted to
management? Skilled labor? Production labor?

2. How do you support training of production labor?

3. Is training conducted primarily in—house or outside
the of the firm?

4. For in-house training, do you provide a separate
training room?

5. How does the content of training programs offered in
the firms' home country differ from training offered in
foreign countries?

6. How do you measure the effectiveness of training
programs?

7. How do you compare your training results with those of
your competitors?

B. Questions Dealing with Design, Development and
Implementation

1. How do you determine who attends training?

2. How many hours per year do production employees

spend in training? How is this determined?

3. How many hours of training are required for a

typical newly hired employee? How do you determine

this?

4. Do you conduct needs analysis studies? How do you go about
this process?

5. Do you have a training committee?

6. Do you have behavioral objectives? For example: a contract
between employer and employee specifying responsibilities of
each party.

7. How do you determine the methods of instruction?

8. How do you develop your agenda for training?

9. Do you develop your own instructional materials?

10. If yes, specifically how do you go about

designing instructional materials?

11..Are you convinced that training will produce a positive
payback to the firm? Why?

12. How extensive are evaluations and follow-up on

training courses?

13. Has productivity improved as a direct result of

training processes and strategies?

14. Has the firm.been able to track improvements in

quality and output directly resulting from.training
enhancements?

172

15. Has the firm been able to implement training
which has resulted in improved working
relationships?

C. Questions Related to Training Technology
1. How are computers used in training and/or
orientation?

2. What technologies are used in training?

D. Questions Related to Characteristics of Trainers and
Trainees?

1. Are your trainers employed by the company?

2. How much of the non~trainers time is allocated to
training? eg: Floor Manager conducting safety class
3..Are any specific motivational techniques used in
training?

. Are trainers rotated throughout various plants?
What level of education have trainees attained?
How do trainees learning styles differ?

What is their average length of service?

#03015
I D O

E. Questions Regarding Training Techniques

1. What portion of total class time is used for the
following classroom technique? Group exercises?
Lecture? Videotape? Applied on the job? Other?

2. Which training technique is the most effective?
3. What role does Adult and Continuing Education
play in the development of these programs?
(instructional design, evaluation, follow~up, etc.)
4. Specifically, what kinds of adult learning
methods are used in the training programs?

F. Questions Dealing with Training Orientation Programs
1..Are basic skills training courses offered? How
many employees need this type of training?

2. Is cross-training required? Please explain.

3. Is training conducted in teams? Please explain.
4. Are computer skills training courses offered?
5. How do you get employees to take charge of
their careers?

6. Is their a career development path within

your company?

7. Is career development considered before new
employees are hired, when hired and during the
orientation process?

8. How much emphasis is placed on initial

and/or promotional screening of prospective or
existing employees?

173

9. How much time passes from.the initial contact the
employee to the offering of full status employment?
10. Are any outside investigative firms involved in
the pre-employment screening process?

11. How much does it cost on average to hire one
employee when considering total screening costs?
12. Are promotional candidates screened prior to
promotion?

13. Do you have a mentoring program?

14. Are employees assigned a mentor when hired or
transferred?

15. If mentors are used, what criteria do you

use in assigning a mentor to a new or transferred
employee?

174

.APPINDleG
TRAINERS INTIRVIEN’GUIDE

A. Questions Dealing with Training Administration

1. What portion of the training resources are devoted to
management? Skilled labor? Production employees?

2. Do managers support training of production labor?

3. Is training primarily in-house or outside the of the
firm?

4. For in-house training, do you provide a separate
training room?

5. How does the content of training programs offered in
the firms' home country differ from training offered in
foreign countries?

6. How do you measure the effectiveness of training
programs?

7. How do compare your training results with those of your
competitors?

B. Questions Dealing with Design, Development and
Implementation

1. How do you determine who attends training?

2. How many hours per year do unskilled production

employees spend in training? How is this determined?

3. How many hours of training are required for a typical
newly hired employee? How do you determine this?

4. Do you conduct needs analysis studies? How do you go
about this process?

5. Do you have a training committee?

6. Do you have behavioral objectives? For example: a contract
between employer and employee specifying responsibilities of
each party.

7. How do you determine your methods of instruction?

8. How do you develOp your agenda for training?

9. Do you develop your own instructional materials?

10. If yes, specifically how do you go about designing
instructional materials?

11. Are managers convinced that training will produce a
positive payback to the firm?

12. How extensive are evaluations and follow-up on training
courses?

13. Has productivity improved as a direct result of training
processes and strategies?

14. Has the firm been able to track improvements in quality
and output directly resulting from training enhancements?
15. Has the firm been able to implement training resulting in
improved working relationships?

175

C. Questions Related to Training Technology
1. How are computers used in training and/or orientation?
2. What technologies are used in training?

D. Questions Related to Characteristics of Trainers and
Trainees?

1..Are you employed by the company?

2. How much of the non-trainers time is allocated to
training?

3. Do you use any specific motivational techniques in
training?

4. Are you rotated throughout various plants?

5. What level of education have trainees attained?

6. How do trainees learning styles differ?

7. What is their average length of service?

E. Questions Regarding Training Techniques

1. What portion of total class time is used for the following
classroom technique? Group exercises? Lecture? Videotape?
Applied on the job? Other?

2. Which training technique is the most effective?

3. What role does Adult and Continuing Education play in the
deveIOpment of these programs? (instructional design,
evaluation, follow-up, etc.)

4. Specifically, what kinds of adult learning methods do you
use in the training programs?

F. Questions Dealing with Training Orientation Programs

1. Are basic skills training courses offered? How many
employees need this type of training?

2. Is cross-training required? Please explain.

3. Is training conducted in teams? Please explain.

4. Are computer skills training courses offered?

5. How do you get employees to take charge of their careers?
6. Is their a career development path within your company?
7. Is career development considered before new employees are
hired, when hired and during the orientation process?

8. How much emphasis is placed on initial and/or promotional
screening of prospective or existing employees?

9. How much time passes from the initial contact the employee
to the offering of full status employment?

10. Are any outside investigative firms involved in the pre—
employment screening process?

11. How much does it cost on average to hire one employee
when considering total screening costs?

12. Are promotional candidates screened prior to promotion?
13. Do you have a mentoring program?

176

14. Are employees assigned a mentor when hired or

transferred?
15. If mentors are used, what criteria do you use in

assigning a mentor to a new or transferred employee?

177

.APPINDIX I
TRAINERS INTIRVIZI'GUIDI

A. Questions Dealing with Training Administration

1. Do managers support training of production labor?

2. In your opinion, are more of the training resources
devoted to management, skilled labor or production labor?
3. Is training primarily in-house or outside the of the
firm?

4. For in-house training, are you provided a separate
training room?

5. Compare and contrast your training programs offered

this firm.compared with training offered by past employers?
6. Can you measure your personal benefit as a direct result
of this firms training programs?

B. Questions Dealing with Design, Development and
Implementation

1. What kinds of training do you attend and who determines
your participation in training?

2. How many hours do you spend in training per year?

3. Do you have a contract between you and your employer
specifying responsibilities of each party?

4. Are managers convinced that training will produce a
positive payback to the firm?

5. How extensive are evaluations and follow-up on training
courses?

6. Has your productivity improved as a direct result of
company sponsored training? Which are most effective?

7. Have you been able to track improvements in quality and
output directly resulting from training enhancements?

8. Have been exposed to training which has resulted in
improved working relationships for you or your coworkers?

C. Questions Related to Training Technology

1. How do you use computers in training and/or orientation?
2. What kinds of technologies have you been exposed to
while training?

D. Questions Related to Characteristics of Trainers and
Trainees

. Are all trainers employed by the company?

Were you rotated throughout various plants when training?
What level of education have you attained?

Are you aware of learning styles differences?

How long have you worked for this company?

@43me
a a e e

178

E. Questions Regarding Training Techniques

1. What portion of total class time is used for the following
classroom technique? Group exercises? Lecture? Videotape?
Applied on the job? Other?

2. Which training technique was the most effective for your
learning style?

3. Specifically, what kinds of adult learning methods were
used in the training programs?

F. Questions Dealing with Training Orientation Programs

1. Are basic skills training courses offered? Did you need
basic skills training?

2. Did you cross-train? Please explain.

3. Were you trained in teams? Please explain.

4. Were you offered a computer skills training course?

5. How were you encouraged to take charge of your career?
6. Were you informed of career development choices before
you were hired, when hired and during the orientation
process?

7. Are you presently on a career development path?

8. When making an application to this company, how much
time passed from your initial contact to the offering of
full status employment?

9.Were you investigated by an outside fimm during the pre-
employment screening process?

10. If promoted, were you screened prior to promotion?

11. Do you have a mentoring program?

12. Were you assigned a mentor when hired or transferred?
13. If mentors are used, who was your mentor and was he/she
effective? Why?

179

.APPINDIX I
QUESTIONNAIRE

Instructions: On a scale from 1 to 10, please circle the most
accurate response. The ratings are on a continuum from 1
(strongly disagree) to 10 (strongly agree).

1. Training is given top priority at this facility.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
disagree neutral agree

2. The amount of training given to new employees is

appropriate.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

disagree neutral agree

3. The quality of training given to new employees is the best
in the industry.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

disagree neutral agree
4. The screening process for potential employees is extremely
thorough.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
disagree neutral agree

5. The benefits of training at this facility far outweigh
their costs.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
disagree neutral agree

6. The types of instructional methods used are appropriate
for the tasks.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
disagree neutral agree

7. Trainers are well qualified and produce positive results.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
disagree neutral agree

8. Cross training, if used at your plant, results in well
trained employees and high qua 6ity products.
1 2 3 4 8 9 10
disagree neutral6 agree

9. Career development is discussed and encouraged.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
disagree neutral agree

10. This plant effectively uses mentors (fellow employees
assigned to a new hire) to assist new employees with
questions and problems.
1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
disagree neutral agree

180
APPENDIX J
STATISTICAL GITPUT

Both populations without coding by country:

N N‘ WEIN IIEWU4'HUIHM4 SWDEV IENIMN
q1 74 0 7.541 8 1m 1.917 0223
q2 73 1 7188 I! 7135 2084 0238
Q3 70 4 8.971 7 7.113 2.371 0.283
04 73 1 7.438 8 7.8 2.179 0.255
«:8 73 1 8.137 8 8.292 1.848 0.218
q8 74 1) 7JW8 8 7924 2007 0233
Q7 73 1 78$! 8 80M5 1888 02n5
q8 70 4 8.271 8 8.371 1.393 0.1”
Q9 73 1 8.181 7 8.2 2.52 0.295
q10 72 2 7.375 8 7.594 2.514 0.2%
III “MK; ‘01 08
(fl 2 10 875 9
42 :2 10 7 9
q3 1 10 575 9
q4 1 10 8 9
qs 1 10 7 10
q8 :2 10 7 9
«fl' 2 10 7 9
cl 5 fl) 8 9
Q9 1 10 4 8
Q10 1 10 8 9

Statistical Output when coded by country of origin:

<fl0

288838288888388828882

1 .551
2.272
1 .728
2.352

2.488
2.231
1.035
1 .785
1 .835
1 .704
2.318
1 .707
1 .887
1 .481
138
2.042

2.415

duo-sm-s-sooo-so-souA-sooog

0.248
0.384
0.277
0.403
0.37
0.43
0.357
0.332
0.2”
0.332
0.273
0.302
0.273
0.342
0.237

0.331
0.505
0.302
0.455

181

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