Now we’re talking …
A creative economy that values brains over brawn must include Ontario’s manufacturers and steelmakers, says the chief executive of Hamilton’s ArcelorMittal Dofasco.
Alluding to a recent report from urban thinker Richard Florida – who called on Ontario to nurture creativity and knowledge rather than bail out struggling factories – Juergen Schachler cited creativity as a key element of successful steelmaking and manufacturing.
And he insisted that despite the challenges it faces, Ontario’s manufacturing sector will continue to play a leading role in strengthening the economy.
He’s nailed it. As I’ve frequently said, the entire theory of creative work and production is built on my earlier research on manufacturing industry – particulary autos and steel - and my studies with Martin Kenney of how foreign companies like Dofasco and others completely reinvented industrial production by instilling new management models based on harnessing the knowledge and intelligence of their workers.
The dichotomy between industrial and post-industrial service and manufacturing economies is a false one. As our report says, the distinction is between creative and routine work. The key to recovery and prosperity is to harness the full talents and capabilities of our people wherever they work – manufacturing technology, arts and culture, service, and agriculture.
I’m more than pleased to see there are others – especially leaders of manufacturing – who think the same way.
February 27th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Well said, with one important caveat: By their nature, creative jobs will always be relatively few and “routine” jobs much more plentiful, even in the most creative economies. In a “free trade” world the routine work automatically goes to those locations with the lowest wages.
In previous decades, workers involved in routine work in North America had unions that propped up their wages. Under the current system, those involved in routine work are doomed to continual impoverishment.
Education will help a portion of them move into the creative sector. The rest require social policy that encourages unionization and/or systems of social support that enable them to maintain a decent living standard in the face of the downward pressure on routine wages.
March 2nd, 2009 at 5:30 am
Peter – could you explain why you say that “by their nature, creative jobs will always be relatively few and routine jobs more plentiful”? To me, this sounds like “the manual working class must be kept in their place so they can be controlled and exploited by the bougeoisie”.
RF’s books mention Toyota a lot, and how the creativity of all workers is managed and harnessed. There’s scope in the most “routine” and menial job to improve efficiency and effectiveness through the application of creativity, innovation, knowledge and experience – it’s just that “routine” and “menial” workers are constantly told their are “routine” and “menial” workers, and paid accordingly, and so have no incentive to improve their efficiency as any time they save means they work fewer hours and get paid less, or any effectiveness gains they make are wasted as they won’t get rewarded.
The answer seems to me to involve “routine” workers more in managerial decisions, and for managers to get more involved in the shop floor/coal face. This will probably entail greater pay equalisation – but isn’t that what we’re all working towards: a fairer and more just society?
March 2nd, 2009 at 9:26 pm
The latest out of the Martin Prosperity Institute includes a study showing that the Canadian Auto Workers union far from “propped up” workers, Peter, but rather brought greater productivity to Ontario auto manufacturing, so as to allow Ontario to surpass Michigan as the biggest producer. Now the challenge is the “reset”, RF has said. The “leaner greener” (GM’s words) automakers will only get to profitability with worker innovations, which necessarily means more creativity and less routine. More analytical skills and less physical skills, but that evolution has been underway for some time. If that has contributed to higher wages for CAW workers, that’s pretty consistent with what Robert is advocating. A leaner, greener management plus worker-managers is the path to viability for those companies in Ontario, though we’ve got a ways to go. Much of the steel industry has got there, as pointed out by Hamilton’s ArcelorMittal Dofasco CEO above.