"Exploring recent changes in employment practices in the automotive and telecommunications industries in seven industrialized countries (Australia, Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and the United States), Harry C. Katz and Owen Darbishire find that traditional national systems of employment are being challenged by four cross-national patterns. The patterns, which are becoming ever more prevalent, can be categorized as low-wage, human resource management, Japanese-oriented, and joint team-based strategies."--BOOK JACKET. "The authors go on to show that these changing employment patterns are closely related to the decline of unions and growing income inequality. Drawing on plant-level evidence of emerging employment practices, they provide a comprehensive analysis of changes in employment systems and labor-management relations."--BOOK JACKET.