Project 2000-3 Leading Edge Enterprise: Insights into Employment and Training Practices. Working Paper.

Leading-edge firms (LEFs)--at the forefront of their industry in terms of growth or market share--may influence skill development through diffusion of technology, products, or practices and use of market power to set standards or change customer businesses. Study of LEFs can identify the type and mix of skills needed in the industry. LEFs are likely to use work organization, recruitment, and training practices that suggest future employment trends. Case studies of two Australian LEFs were conducted through interviews with senior human resource managers at an automotive components manufacturer and an operator of textile mills. The car parts manufacturer experienced substantial production changes from 1997-2000, and skill levels of operators have increased significantly. Because the firm requires International Standards Organization certification, it has influenced supplier companies to upgrade skills. In the textile mills, work organization is driven by the need for lean inventory and production. In the auto company, flexibility is achieved through use of casual workers; in the textiles company, the continuous production process lends itself to full-time permanent workers. In both, the following were found: (1) flexible production has increased skill demands; (2) new work organization requires more management training for broader categories of workers; (3) the national training system has proven complex and frustrating to use; and (4) both are having difficulty recruiting young apprentices. (Contains 20 references and the questionnaire.) (SK)