Erica Schoenberger

From Fordism to Flexible Accumulation: Technology, Competitive Strategies, and International Location

Aspects of the transition from Fordism to what has been labeled a regime of flexible accumulation are analyzed. First the nature of the current crisis of Fordism is considered, with special emphasis on two elements of this crisis. The first has to do with the internationalization of Fordist production techniques without the corresponding elaboration of characteristically Fordist consumption patterns in the countries involved. The second has to do with the forms of competition that have arisen in conjunction with the Fordist regime of accumulation in the core countries. Both of these factors, it is argued, have played a significant role in the current predicament facing many advanced industrial nations. The shift to a regime of flexible accumulation is then considered with particular attention paid to the rise of new technologies and new ways of organizing production. These factors are related to changing competitive strategies and the spatial organization of production on an international scale.

Technological and Organizational Change in Automobile Production: Spatial Implications 1

SCHOENBERGER E. (1987) Technological and organizational change in automobile production: spatial implications, Reg. Studies 21, 199–214. The origins and implications of recent technological and organizational changes in the automobile industry are examined. The nature of competition in the industry is linked to the adoption of flexible automation technologies in production. This, it is argued, may foster the spatial re-integration of production in contrast to earlier decentralizing trends, an effect that may be reinforced by the move to just-in-time principles of production organization. Implications for regional development are considered with cautions stressed concerning the meaning of spatial proximity and the firms ability to construct agglomeration economies away from traditional industrial centres. SCHOENBERGER E. (1987) Changements technologiques et organisationnels dans la production automobile: implications spatiales, Reg. Studies 21, 199–214. Les origines et les implications des recents changem...

INTERDISCIPLINARITY AND SOCIAL POWER

This paper takes up the problem of how to structure a productive and genuine inter- disciplinary engagement from the standpoint of geography. It examines first what makes inter- disciplinarity difficult, focusing on the production of disciplinary cultures that define the material practices, social relations and epistemological commitments characteristic of a field of study. The paper then considers why interdisciplinarity seems to be in the ascendant and why and how geography has been used in this project. It cautions against a reductionist or imperialist style of interdisciplinary work and encourages geographers to develop their own approach to a productive engagement with other fields, in part through attending to the interdisciplinarity inherent in our own.

Corporate Strategy and Corporate Strategists: Power, Identity, and Knowledge within the Firm

In this paper it is argued that, to explain why whole groups of once-successful firms in a particular nation or region fail to react appropriately to new competitive conditions, we need to take a closer look at the people who devise and implement corporate strategies. That is to say, we need to analyze corporate strategists as social agents in a particular time and place, and try to understand what aspects of their social being might tend systematically to produce inappropriate corporate strategies. The argument centers on questions of power and identity and on how these shape knowledge and the ability to act. In this way an explanation of the origins and the power of the managerial commitments that shape strategic decisions is sought.

Multinational Corporations and the New International Division of Labor: A Critical Appraisal

The new international division of labor model assigns a major role to the multinational corporation as the orchestrator of a global reallocation of manufacturing away from core industrial countries towards the periphery. Here it is argued that the new international division of labor thesis construes too narrowly the relationship between technological and organizational change in production, cost competitiveness, and corporate location strategies. Further, understanding the role of the multinational corporation depends also on an analysis of the nature of output markets and the competitive strategies of firms. Evidence concerning the distribution of U.S. manufacturing investment abroad is presented, followed by a discussion of changes in production processes, markets, and competitive strategies as they influence international location choice.

Discourse and practice in human geography

This article examines the way in which our disciplinary discourse shapes our material practices as researchers and our ways of thinking. It uses as a case study the term ‘competitive ness’, considering its origins and meanings within economics and business, the way these are imported into our own work, and the consequences of an unexamined acceptance of the validity and meaning of the term. The article works through two examples of discourse in action, asking to what degree Nikes ‘competitiveness’ depends on access to low-cost labour in offshore pro duction sites, and whether the ‘competitiveness’ of Baltimore would be harmed by adopting the ‘living wage’ as the local minimum. The article argues the necessity of analysing ourselves as social and historical actors and assessing the way we work and the way we use language in order to strengthen our research and improve the standing of the discipline.

Thinking about Flexibility: A Response to Gertler

In a recent article in this journal, Gertler criticizes the notion of flexibility, focusing on the issues of the empirical pervasiveness of flexible production methods and the social, economic and technical barriers to their spread. Emphasizing the labour control advantages of an extensive spatial division of labour, he criticizes geographers who have linked flexible production with spatial reconcentration. This paper takes issue with Gertlers criteria for evaluating the significance of flexibility, his assessment of the origins of technological and organizational change in production, and the relationship between labour control and the spatial allocation of production. It presents an alternative interpretation of the meaning of flexibility in industrial history.

Foreign Manufacturing Investment in the United States: Competitive Strategies and International Location

This paper examines the growing phenomenon of foreign manufacturing investment in the United States in order to develop an understanding of the factors that draw production to the U.S. market despite relatively high costs of production in the international context. It does so by analyzing the investment strategies of a group of foreign investors operating in markets characterized by technology-intensiveness, a high degree of specialization, and rapid change. It is found that the competitive strategies of firms, specifically their orientation to particular kinds of markets within a given sector, serve to draw production to the market even where labor in production is unskilled.

Competition, Competitive Strategy, and Industrial Change: The Case of Electronic Components

This paper considers the changing foundations of competition in the electronic components industry and their implications for production and location at the international level. Pressures in favor of the adoption of competitive strategies based on product destandardization are described. As a consequence, it is argued, the industrys traditional spatial division of labor stands to be recomposed along different lines.

Some Dilemmas of Automation: Strategic and Operational Aspects of Technological Change in Production

This paper addresses the problem of automation from the perspective of the individual firm. It shows that the uptake of advanced automation techniques affords significant advantages to the firm whi...