Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T10:51:19.928Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Productivity, Product Quality and Workforce Skills: Food Processing in Four European Countries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2020

Geoff Mason ,
Bart van Ark  and
Karin Wagner
Geoff Mason
Affiliation:
National Institute of Economic and Social Research
Bart van Ark
Affiliation:
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Karin Wagner
Affiliation:
Technical University and Social Science Research Centre, Berlin
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article reports on a detailed comparison of productivity, machinery and skills in matched samples of food manufacturing (biscuit) plants in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and France. In comparing labour productivity levels, explicit account was taken of inter-country differences in the mix of product-qualities as well as differences in physical quantities produced per person-hour. Real (‘quality-adjusted’) productivity levels were highest in the German sample, an estimated 15 per cent on average above those in the Netherlands and France and about 40 per cent higher than in Britain. International differences in quality—as measured by value added per ton—were found to be at least as important as differences in crude tonnage produced per person-hour. The pattern of productivity advantage could not be attributed to inter-country variation in the age and sophistication of capital equipment. However, there were important differences in workforce skill levels which could be linked to both relative productivity performance and the predominant choice of product strategy in each country. For example, in the German industry the mix of initial and continuing training received by employees supports a successful strategy of rapid growth in small- and medium-batch production of elaborate, high value added biscuits which would be hard for the other three countries' industries—and particularly Britain—to emulate. In Britain the greatest success is achieved by large highly-automated plants engaged in the bulk production of relatively uncomplicated varieties of biscuit. Given the present structure of workforce skills in Britain, it is understandable that—as in many other branches of manufacturing—British biscuit producers tend to specialise in relatively low value added goods. However, the study suggests that some of the potential economies of large-scale production are lost due to excessive rates of emergency downtime and the limitations of narrowly-trained employees.

Type
Articles
Information
National Institute Economic Review , Volume 147 , February 1994 , pp. 62 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

∗

The Netherlands, Technical University and Social Science Research Centre, Berlin respectively. We are glad to acknowledge financial support for this project provided by the Economic and Social Research Council; however, the Council is not responsible in any way for the views expressed in the article.

Particular thanks are due to Sig Prais (NIESR) for his generous advice and encouragement throughout the project and to Sylvie Célerier (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur les Qualifications, Paris) who arranged and participated in French plant visits. We are also grateful to Mary O'Mahony (NIESR) for the use of data from her recent Anglo-German study. Useful comments on earlier drafts were made by Jim Burns, Valerie Jarvis, Duncan Manley, Paul Ryan, Hilary Steedman, Alan Swinbank and participants at recent seminars in London. Responsibility for any errors in the article is of course ours alone.

References

Adam, J.S. (1974), A Fell Fine Baker: the Story of United Biscuits, Hutchinson Benham Ltd., London.Google Scholar
Balasubramanyam, V. and Nguyen, D. (1991), ‘Structure and performance of the UK food and drink industries’, Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol. 42, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berton, F. and Podevin, G. (1991), ‘Vingt ans de formation professionnelle continue: de la promotion sociale à la gestion de l'emploi’, Formation Emploi, CEREQ, Paris, 34, April-June.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broadberry, S. and Crafts, N. (1990), ‘Explaining Anglo-American productivity differences in the mid-twentieth century’, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, vol. 52, 4.Google Scholar
Broadberry, S. and Fremdling, R. (1990), ‘Comparative productivity in British and German industry 1907-37’, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, vol. 52, 4.Google Scholar
Buchanan, D. and Boddy, D. (1983), Organisations in the Computer Age: Technological Imperatives and Strategic Choice, Gower.Google Scholar
Burns, J.A. (1983), ‘The UK food chain with particular reference to the inter-relations between manufacturers and distributors’, Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol. 34, 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casey, B. (1986), ‘The dual apprenticeship system and the recruitment and retention of young persons in West Germany’, British Journal o f Industrial Relations, vol. 24, 1.Google Scholar
Daly, A., Hitchens, D. and Wagner, K. (1985), ‘Productivity, machinery and skills in a sample of British and German manufacturing plants’, National Institute Economic Review, February.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griliches, Z. (1990), ‘Hedonic price indexes and the measurement of capital and productivity: some historical reflections’, in Fifty Years of Economic Measurement, ed. E. R. Berndt and J. E. Triplett, Chicago.Google Scholar
Manley, D. (1991), Technology of Biscuits, Crackers and Cookies (Second edition), Ellis Horwood Ltd., Chichester.Google Scholar
Mason, G., Prais, S. and van Ark, B. (1992), ‘Vocational education and productivity in the Netherlands and Britain’, National Institute Economic Review, May.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maunder, P. (1988), ‘Food Processing’, in P. Johnson, ed., The Structure of British Industry, Unwin Hyman.Google Scholar
NEDO (1982), Improving Productivity in the Food and Drink Manufacturing Industry: The Case for a Joint Approach, National Economic Development Organisation: Food & Drink Manufacturing EDC, London.Google Scholar
O'Mahony, M. (1992), ‘Productivity levels in British and German manufacturing industry’, National Institute Economic Review, February.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prais, S.J. (1981), Productivity and Industrial Structure, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Prais, S.J. and Wagner, K. (1988), ‘Productivity and management: the training of foremen in Britain and Germany’, National Institute Economic Review, February.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pratten, C. (1971), Economies of Scale in Manufacturing Industry, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Steedman, H., Mason, G. and Wagner, K. (1991), ‘Intermediate skills in the workplace: deployment, standards and supply in Britain, France and Germany’, National Institute Economic Review, May.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steedman, H. and Wagner, K. (1987), ‘A second look at productivity, machinery and skills in Britain and Germany’, National Institute Economic Review, November.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steedman, H. and Wagner, K. (1989), ‘Productivity, machinery and skills: clothing manufacturing in Britain and Germany’, National Institute Economic Review, May.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Ark, B. (1990a), ‘Comparative levels of labour productivity in Dutch and British manufacturing’, National Institute Economic Review, February.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Ark, B. (1990b), ‘Manufacturing productivity levels in France and the United Kingdom’, National Institute Economic Review, August.CrossRefGoogle Scholar