The Nissan Enigma: Flexibility at Work in the Local Economy

This work looks behind the Nissan image of quality, consensus, flexibility and teamworking at what actually goes on in the workplace. It argues that Nissan's success in Sunderland has relied on a passive labour force deriving from internal social control and local unemployment, combined with support from a Thatcher government committed both to private ownership and to union restraint associated with the company. The authors conclude that Nissan is unlikely to regenerate the local economy as a whole, as skills required to manufacture Nissan cars are company-specific and components used come from Japanese suppliers. By studying Nissan, this book addresses wider realities beneath the surface of industrial change and assesses the real impact of a globally significant multinational care manufacturer in a local economy in recession. The book is aimed at academics, postgraduates and advanced undergraduates in sociology, economics, industrial relations, politics and geography as well as others with a particular interest in the auto industry, Japanese multinationals and declining industrial regions.