This thesis examines the implementation of Just In Time manufacturing through team leaders. Western industry has failed to achieve the performance benefits experienced in Japan with the introduction of Just In Time, a manufacturing system based on the relentless elimination of waste. Criticism is emerging of the experience of employees of Just In Time. It is argued that stress levels are high and motivation is low. However, Just In Time relies on a new, more active, role for employees. A contradiction is apparent between the needs of Just In Time, in terms of the role played by employees, and the reality of their experience of a Just In Time working environment. Resolving this contradiction, while improving industrial performance, is the subject of this research. The research draws on knowledge from a wide range of fields. Work on Just In Time is combined with work on employee motivation, and the management of change. The role of the team leader emerges as a critical factor in the review of the literature. The implementation of Just In Time, through a focus on team leaders, utilising knowledge gained from socio-technical systems is tested in a year long, action research project with Alcan Aluminiurn at their Banbury extrusions factory. Survey evidence is gathered to analyse its impact. The results suggest that companies will benefit from the utilisation of the approach developed; the implementation of Just In Time through team leaders. There is substantial scope for further work to develop this approach to the implementation of Just In Time and to explore its application in other forms of change.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 80-84).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-84). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.P.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Also available in print.

Compensation is the remuneration which workers receive for their services or contributions to the organisation. The literature reviewed showed that compensation packages have relationship with workers’ motivation, job satisfaction, attraction and retention. On this basis, this study established a conceptual framework based on equity theory and used it to examine how compensation might be influencing workers’ motivation, job satisfaction, attraction and retention in the Ministry of Works and Transport of Jigawa State of Nigeria. The dependent variables considered in this study are limited to salary, allowance, gratuity, and pension as independent variables while the corresponding motivation, job satisfaction, attraction and retention are the dependent variables. The Positivist paradigm guided this empirical research; which holds the principle that knowledge is arrived at through the gathering of facts that provide the basis of laws. Thus, a quantitative research design was employed. A questionnaire was developed, pilot-tested and administered to gather data on workers’ motivation, job satisfaction, attraction and retention regarding four job compensable aspects, namely: salary, allowances, gratuity and pension. A total of 265 questionnaires were administered and 260 were collected through the early and late response technique. This represents a response rate of 98%. The respondents were selected using the stratified random sampling technique. The data collected was analysed using both descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling. The findings revealed that gratuity and allowance do positively and significantly influence workers’ motivation whereas salary and pension have no impact on workers’ motivation. Likewise, gratuity and pension do positively and significantly influence workers’ job satisfaction while salary and allowance have no impact on the job satisfaction of workers. Further, gratuity and pension do positively and significantly influence workers’ retention while salary and allowance have no impact on the retention of workers. Moreover, salary, gratuity and pension do positively and significantly influence workers’ attraction while allowance has no influence on the attraction of public construction workers in Jigawa state of Nigeria. Consequently, a framework was developed to reflect the factors that emerged for improving the motivation, job satisfaction, attraction and retention of the and equally address the pay disparity in Jigawa state. 67 respondents who participated in the main study were administered a second questionnaire to validate the framework. The subsequent findings revealed that the framework was relevant and could serve as a guide towards enhancing compensation practices and policies in the Ministry of Works and Transport. Thus, this study and its framework offer important policy recommendation to the Jigawa state government such as introducing new or improving the existing compensation packages of their workers.

A new concept in motivation has recently been devised: that of work values. The Work Values Inventory (WVI) developed by Donald E. Super (1970) was used to test five hypotheses: (1) The underlying work value structures of persons will not vary according to age; (2) The underlying work value structures of persons will not vary according to sex; (3) The underlying work value structures of persons will vary according to level (undergraduate, master's degree students, or post-master's degree); (4) The underlying work value structures of college students will vary according to whether they are a psychology major or not; (5) The underlying work value structure of college students will vary according to their major area of interest in psychology. A factor analysis using a Promax oblique rotation was used to test these hypotheses. Work values were not found to vary according to age. Two factors were common for males and females while one was distinct for the sexes. Psychology and non-psychology majors shared one common factor while two unique factors were observed. Those with different areas of interest within the field of psychology had two factors in common while a unique third one was identified for each. The persons at the three different educational levels shared only one common factor. There was an identical factor retained for the undergraduates and the post-master's level and a similar factor for the master's. Undergraduates and master's shared a highly similar factor. The post-master's group and the master's group both had a unique factor not shared by any other group. It was concluded that more factor analytic studies are needed on the Work Values Inventory to assess its usefulness across widely desperate occupational groups other than those included in this study.