Manufacturing in the 1990s - productivity, flexibility and innovation

The article outlines the evolution of large multinationals as a result of the appearance of new market demands. Companies having to meet specific market demands, are shown to possess certain characteristics, related to the market demands concerned. The analysis shows that innovativeness will, in all probability, be the new market demand in the 1990s, in addition to the already existing ones of efficiency, quality and flexibility. Descriptions of ideal types illustrate the evolution of companies as they move from the Efficient Firm to the Quality Firm on to the Flexible Firm to, finally, the Innovative Firm. The phase model also includes the symptoms of crisis, when moving from one phase to another. Skipping phases appears to be difficult, if not impossible. The same holds true for moving to the next phase, while the organization has not finished with the preceding phase

Toward the innovative firm - challenge for R&D management

An analysis of the changing character of international competition shows how and why success is increasingly dependent upon the R&D function

Manufacturing: the new case for vertical integration

The article argues that the solid corporation will continue to view vertical integration as a critical part of manufacturing reform. Manufacturing reform and backward integration are related in insidious ways to the three stages of production over which the big manufacturers preside. Without integration, technology-based corporations may wind up pauperizing upstream components producers in order to earn premiums for downstream assembly and distribution operations, businesses that are comparatively flush. The authors elaborate on the production process which are divided into three stages: the assembly stage, the sub-assembly stage, and the component stage; at each there is a separate tier of factories and businesses. They also discuss the implications of the Western companies' leaning toward less integration