The Impact of Implementing JIT on Employees′ Job Attitudes

Presents survey results describing the effect that adopting Just‐in‐Time (JIT) manufacturing methods had on the job attitudes of production line workers at a Hewlett‐Packard plant. JIT manufacturing is one of the latest Japanese management techniques to be adopted and implemented by Western companies. The operational benefits of adopting JIT have been widely documented; however, uneasiness has occasionally been expressed concerning the human impact of changing from a traditional manufacturing structure to a JIT philosophy. Unfortunately, little empirical evidence is available concerning the effect on workers of changing to a JIT manufacturing scheme. Workers on an electronic assembly line completed written questionnaires in the late 1980s when JIT was begun, and again two years later after the production line had stabilized. Even though drastic changes occurred in the work environment, generally positive changes in attitudes occurred during the implementation period. In addition, no significant drop‐off in attitudes was detected after two years of operating in a JIT environment.