Introduction to Labor Aerospace Research Agenda (LARA)

1. Sponsors:USAF ManTech, US Department of Labor, and others Lead Partners:IAM and other Labor Organizations in Aerospace, LAI Member Organizations Principal investigators and Research Team:Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld (Co-PI), Tom Kochan (Co-PI), Betty Barrett, Lydia Fraile, Adam Litwin, and other team members Links to LAI:Organizations and People, Knowledge Deployment, Other Research/Product Teams, and Curriculum Development Funding:~$300K/yr Focus: Institutional infrastructure and intellectual capital investments associated with building the 21st Century aerospace workforce Impact of instability on employment and workplace innovation in the aerospace industry Methods: National random sample facility surveys Individual surveys Case studies Collective bargaining contract analysis Archival data analysis Conferences and working sessions Introduction to Labor Aerospace Research Agenda (LARA) “Right Skills, Right Place, Right Time”

2. Resource Guide: Collective Bargaining in the Face of Instability: A Resource for Workers and Employers in the U.S. Aerospace Industry (2000) Case Studies: Strategies for Workforce Flexibility and Capability (forthcoming) IAM/Boeing, St. Louis Investing in Knowledge, Skills and Capability in an Uncertain Business Environment (2003) Rockwell Collins and IBEW A Decade of Learning (2001) International Association of Machinists and Boeing Joint Programs Transformation Through Employee Involvement and Workplace Training: The Challenge of a Changing Business Context (2001) Rocketdyne Propulsion and Power and the United Automobile Workers Case Studies (cont.): Employing Activity Based Costing and Management Practices Within the Aerospace Industry: Sustaining the Drive for Lean (2000) Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Wichita Division and the International Association of Machinists Fostering Continuous Improvement in a Changing Business Context (2000) Textron Systems From Three to One: Integrating a High Performance Work Organization Process, Lean Production, and Activity Based Costing Change Initiatives (2000) Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, Wichita Division and the International Association of Machinists Fostering Workplace Innovation and Labor-Management Partnership: The Challenge of Strategic Shifts in Business Operations (1999) Pratt and Whitney (UTC) and the International Association of Machinists Sample Publications(available at http://mit.edu/ctpid/lara or at 617.253.5777)

3. Books and Monographs: LARA Research is incorporated into Lean Enterprise Value: Insights from MIT’s Lean Aerospace Initiative (Palgrave, 2002) Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel, Betty Barrett, Eric Rebintisch, Thomas Kochan, and Robert Scott, Developing a 21st Century Aerospace Workforce. Policy White Paper submitted to Human Capital/Workforce Task Force, The U.S. Commission on the Future of the Aerospace Industry (2002). Scholarly Articles: Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, “Lean Transformation Across the U.S. Aerospace Industry: Exploring the Interdependence of Social and Technical Systems” (working paper, 2003) Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld and Eric Rebentisch, “The Impact of Instability on Complex Social and Technical Systems,” (Proceedings from MIT Engineering Systems Division Internal Symposium, 2002) Practitioner-Oriented Articles (all in IRRA Perspectives, 2003): Instability in the Aerospace Industry: A Core Strategic Challenge, by Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld Counting the Global Aerospace Workforce: Preliminary Findings, by Betty Barrett, Kevin Long, Lydia Fraile, and Adam Litwin Labor in Aerospace: The Business Perspective, by A. Bryan Davis Losing Altitude: Employment in the U.S. Aerospace Sector, by Steve Sleigh, Paul E. Almeida, Faraz Kahn Out of the Ashes: Options for Rebuilding Airline Labor Relations, by Thomas Kochan, Andrew von Nordenflycht, Robert McKersie, and Jody Hoffer Gittell Recent Conference Presentations: Workforce Flexibility Session, International Industrial Relations Association, 2003 Panel Presentations, Industrial Relations Research Association, 2003 and 2004 National Meetings Additional Research Output