Abstract
In this paper I don't seek to address the issue of whether or the Toyota Production System (TPS) has an universal application. I would like to focus on the work content and conditions of line workers under the TPS overseas. I researched the process of transplanting the TPS into United Kingdom. In this study I analyzed four cases of major Japanese automobile firms. Nissan, Honda and Toyota set up factories in the U.K., while Isuzu-GM has a joint venture there. I tried to explain the TPS according to three job stages or levels, to wit : 1) job enlargement, 2) job enrichment and 3) participa-tion to industrial engineering. I concluded that the TPS basically functions in the transplants studied. It provides workers the opportunity of taking on jobs in any of the three job levels at the plant site. At the same time, the study found line workers couldn't have the opportunity of three job levels at all. Moreover, workers at plant site was confronted with intense pressure of not only work, but also their neighborhood which is competition with other workforces.
