Fordism
...and consumption characteristics of highly developed economies in the 1940’s – 1960’s. At the time the emphasis turned towards specialisation, standardisation and control. Mass production rested on presumption that activities should be simplified and controlled from above.
Post Fordism was seen as a direct confrontation with principles of fordism. It involved the introduction of an increasingly skilled, highly motivated and extremely flexible workforce. The main aim was to engender flexibility and innovation through the decentralization of power.
Neo Fordism was originally subsumed under the more general concept of post fordism. It involves modification of fordist practices rather than direct confrontation. Changes with Neo fordism includes centralizing research and management functions in advanced industrialized nations, transference of production to lower cost countries, and use of flexible patterns of production and labour organizations in order to reduce costs.
Effects of a Changing Economy:
1. Globalisation
Need to be flexible with ability to reconfigure resources in order to take full advantage of potential benefits of globalization. There may be advantages to coordinating activities on a worldwide scale but shouldn’t ignore opportunities at a local level – aspects of standardization and flexibility need to be integrated. Increased globalization means increased complexity for a firm and thus the bureaucratic firms associated with Fordism need to be adapted to deal with complexity.
2. New Technologies
New technologies have facilitated greater interdependence between organizations. Options created by the internet and ICT have led to a whole new area of choice as to organization structures. Technology has enabled greater flexibility in production and also aided the development of mass production. Therefore technology has facilitated the expansion...
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