Skill Formation in Comparative Perspective: Malaysia and Japan

Abstract

The concept of skill formation, which has emerged as critically important in post-Braverman labour process theory, is presented as a key concept in the developing debate on the specificity of Japanese management. As a test case for this, the paper presents empirical data on the comparison of skill levels and skill development in parallel production systems in Malaysia and Japan. The specific case study is of brewing, which is a traditional process industry.