This dissertation examines the use of "Japanese management" in a cross section of American businesses from a labor market perspective. It presents an historical analysis of the development and transformation of American capitalism in order to establish the current business context. It introduces what Zucco, Tausky, and Sutton (1989) identify as the attributional approach to skill and argues that this approach aids in the perpetuation of the segmentation of labor in America. It presents the philosophy behind "Japanese management," an example of the use of "Japanese management" in an American organization, and questions concerning the adaptation and use of "Japanese management" in American business. It presents original research which surveyed the use of "Japanese management" in a number of American businesses. The research elaborates on the characteristics of the segmented labor market, on worker involvement in decision making and organizational change, and on worker alienation. It examines the effects of the segmentation of labor and the use of "Japanese management" on worker involvement in decision making and organizational change, on worker alienation, and on one another. It compares and contrasts organizations and workers in organizations which do and do not use "Japanese management." It identifies structural obstacles to decision making and organizational change and to the use of "Japanese management." Finally, it introduces and empirically grounds a new approach to skill, the task mastery approach, in the experiences of workers and suggests that the recognition and use of this approach can eliminate structural obstacles and lead to improvements in quality, productivity, and market share in American business.

This study examines the social and economic determinants of fourteen to seventeen year-olds in the contemporary U.S. Data derived from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey and the National Commission on Children's 1990 survey of U.S. families were used to assess whether teenagers' employment may be viewed as the interplay between demand factors, which govern the availability of appropriate jobs for teenagers, supply factors, which govern their willingness and ability to work, and social constraints, which mitigate the effects of the proposed model. The results indicate that teenagers are a key reserve labor force usurped by adult workers when jobs are in short supply.