Manufacturing, the knowledge economy and unions

8/9/2019 Manufacturing, the knowledge economy and unions

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/manufacturing-the-knowledge-economy-and-unions 1/16

Manufacturing, the knowledge economy andunions



© The W ork Foundation.

Work Foundation Knowledge Economy Programme

The Work Foundation is a UK-based not-for profit organisationdedicated to find the best ways of improving both economic

performance and quality of working life through promoting ³good work´;

Three year knowledge economy by the Work Foundation to run from

April 2006 to April 2009; with a budget of around 2 million euros;

Sponsored by major multinational companies, UK GovernmentDepartments, and UK public agencies;

Key programme objective is to investigate in depth the economic,

industrial and social significance of the knowledge economy and draw

out the policy and practical implications for government, the workplace,

individuals and society; Major current priorities are knowledge work and workers, globalisation

and the knowledge economy, and ³intangible´ investment.




Defining the knowledge economy

³one in which the generation and exploitation of knowledge has come to play the

predominant part in the creation of wealth. It is not simply about pushing back the frontiers of knowledge; it is also about the most effective use and

exploitation of all types of knowledge in all manner of economic activity´ (DTI

Competitiveness White Paper 1998).

³The weakness or even complete absence, of definition, is actually pervasive in

the literature« this is one of the many imprecisions that make the notion of ³knowledge economy´ so rhetorical rather than analytically useful´ (Keith Smith,

What is the Knowledge Economy? 2002).

³ economic success is increasingly based on upon the effective utilisation of

intangible assets such as knowledge, skills and innovative potential as the key

resource for competitive advantage. The term ³knowledge economy´ is used to

describe this emerging economic structure´ (ESRC, 2005).




Knowledge based industries (OECD/Eurostat definitions)

High tech manufacturing (pharmaceuticals, aerospace, electronics andcomputers)

Medium tech manufacturing (cars, chemicals, engineering)

Financial services

Telecommunications and some international travel services

Business and high tech services (computer services, R&D, design,accountancy, legal, advertising, consultancy and training services)

Health and education services;

Creative, recreational and cultural services (media, arts, video games)

«.BUT the knowledge economy operates across all sectors, with firms in

so-called ³low tech´ manufacturing industries also trying to move up the

value chain




UK economy restructures towards knowledge based economic activitySource: Sainsbury Review 2007

8.0%

12.3%

28.4%

39.6%

36.4%

6.2%

9.0%

34.3%

39.9% 40.5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

K

¡

¢ £ ¤ f

¢

¥

t¤

r ¦

£

§

Ot

©

r ¡

¢ £ ¤ f

¢

¥

t¤

r ¦

£

§

K

©

rv¦

¥ ©

Ot

©

r

©

rv¦

¥ ©

A

K

¦

£ ¤ tr

¦

©

1993 2002




High to medium tech manufacturing across the OECDvalue added as share of GDP. Source: Sainsbury Review 2007

11.9%

8.5%

6.9%

8.0%7.2%

12.1%

9.5%

7.4%

6.2%5.9%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

Ger

S

eden Fr

nce UK US

1993 2002




BUSINESS INVESTMENT IN INTANGIBLE ASSETSratio of investment in tangible assets (machines, buildings) to intangible assets (R&D, software, design and development, human and organisational

capital): Source: HMT Economic Working Paper No.1, October 2007.




Business in estment in intangibles in 2004 % of GDPNotes:

ther R&D includes copyright and licence fees; mineral exploitation;new products in financial industry, new designs in architecture and engineering; R&D in social

sciences; Brand equity is long term ad

ertising, market research; human capital is firm pro

ided training; organisational capital measured by spending on managementconsultancy and executi

e time spent on organisational tasks. ource: Marrano and Haskell, QMC WP No

ember 2006.

1.7%

1.1%

2.2%

1.6%

2.5%

1.9%

1.7%

2.0%

2.6%2.5%

1.3%

3.1%

0%

1%

1%

2%

2%

3%

3%

4%

oftware cientific R&D ther R&D Brand equity Human capital rganisational

U

U




Britain world leader in trade in knowledge based ser iceshare of GDP, 2004. knowledge based ser ices defined as all ser ices minus transport and tra el and includes trade in intellectual

property (R&D ser ices, fees, royalties), computer and information ser ices, financial ser ices, business ser ices, creati e and cultural

ser ices (WF estimates from OECD in Figures, 200 and 2006-200 editions: all figures $US at current exchange rates).

0.! "

0.0"

0.0"

#

.! "

-0.$

"

-0.%

"

-2"

- &

"

- &

"

0"

&

"

&

"

2"

2"

# "

# "

! "

! "

UK US' er ( an

)

0 rance Ita l)

Ja 1 an




Knowledge economy and manufacturing

Manufactur ing if ts to igh tech expor ts

26 2

30 2

15 2

36 2

35 2 34 2

29 2

19 2

0 2

5 2

102

15 2

20 2

252

30 2

35 2

40 2

3

4

3 5 Japan Germany

s h a r e o f t o t a l m a n u f a c u r i n g e

x p o r t s

1992 2003

Manufactur ing expor ts nowle ge services

6

7

our ce:

8

ijzen, Pisu,9

pw ard June 2006)

24@

37@

41@

45@

0@

5@

10@

15@

20@

25@

30@

35@

40@

45@

50@

Busines s

se rvices

Royalties ,

licences

Technical

se rvices

Trade r elated

s h a r e o

f s o m e

A n o w l e d g e s e r v i c e e x p o r t s 1 9 9 7

B

2 0 0 3




Globalisation, manufacturing and the knowledge economy

Overall, employment in OECD manufacturing still driven more by changes intechnology and domestic markets than increased trade with low wage

manufacturing;

Manufacturing production chains are increasingly fragmented and complex, with

goods and services moving back and forward between higher value added

facilities in OECD economies and lower wage assembly plants in Asia;

Some higher value added functions ± such as R&D ± increasinglyinternationalised (esp EU-US trade) with new spending drawn to non-OECD

locations;

Home market pull still powerful ± 80 per cent of R&D still undertaken in same

market as corporate HQs ± but national bias weakening;

UK R&D may be more vulnerable because much higher share of R&D foreign

funded;

Human capital and scientific excellence seems to be single most important

factor in sustaining UK attractiveness for manufacturing and related R&D




Growth of knowledge based work 1984-2004knowledge workers defined as managers, professionals and associate professionals; other white collar is personal services, sales and admin andclerical. Source; Working Futures SSDA.

31%

25%

28%

16%

41%

28%

19%

11%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

KnC

D

ledgeD

C r

E er s Ot

F

er D

hite cC

llar SE

illed and semi-skilled manual Unskilled

1984 2004




More knowledge workers in technology based manufacturingShare of total employment. Knowledge workers defined as managers, professionals, and associate professionals; other white collar are admin, salesand personal services; production workers are skilled and semi-skilled manual; unskilled manual and non-manual in elementary occupations.

26%

2%

0%

%

4%

%

4 %

%

0%

0%

20%

0%

40%

0%

60%

Knowledge workers Other white collar roduction Unskilled

84

2004




Union density, collective bargaining coverage, and union presence 2005density is hare of employees who say they are a union member; coverage is share of employees who say their pay is affected by collective bargaining; presence is share of non union

employees who say there some union members at their workplace.

2G %

28%

4G %

H I %

2H %

P G

%

0%

G %

H 0%

H G %

20%

2G %

P

0%

P G %

40%

4G %

G

0%

DeQ

sR S T

CU

V eW

aX

eY

W

esceQ

ce

Q

U

Q

a

Q

R U

Q

emb

c U yee s

U

Q

c y

d

s

e

a

f e

g

h

e m

i

p

g

y e e s

a ac

a e sec




Unionisation within manufacturing 1995-2005

32.7%

36.7%

22.8%

24.8%

27.7%

16.2%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

All emq

lr

yees Mens

r

me n

1995 2005




Manufacturing unionisation and the knowledge economy

Unions in modern manufacturing may therefore face severalsimultaneous challenges

o Rebuilding membership among male manual workers

o Appealing to women workers

o Breaking out of existing strongholds into non-organised manufacturing

o Anticipating and responding to the transformation of modernmanufacturing in a knowledge based global economy

Documents

Manufacturing, the knowledge economy and unions