From Fordism to Flexibility
Throughout the history of the industrialized world, numerous managerial strategies have been implemented to make maximum profits and productivity a certainty, along with ensuring the utmost cost-efficiency. One of these methods put forth in the mid-twentieth century was known as Fordism. This refers to the system of mass production and consumption characteristic of increasingly developed economies during the 1940s-1960s (Sheppard & Barnes, 2003). Under Fordism, mass consumption was combined with mass production to produce steady economic growth and widespread material advancement (Krahn & Lowe, 2002). However, the 1970s-1990s brought along a period of slower growth and disgruntled labourers, which sharply increased union membership (Heron, 1996). Society knew a major change was on the horizon. During this period, the system of organization of production and consumption seems to have undergone a second transformation. This new system is often referred to as Post-Fordism, which entails a flexible system of production - sometimes referred to the "Japanese management system" (Fucini & Fucini, 1990). The pioneer of Fordism was none other than Henry Ford, who was and is a popular symbol of the transformation from an agricultural
had only one task - to put two nuts on two bolts or perhaps to attach one wheel to each car. " One cannot help but notice that Gramsci's prediction of "the creation of a new psycho-physical nexus" has actually taken place, and is still in development. This phase will itself be superseded by the creation of a new psycho-physical nexus, both different from its predecessors and superior. Despite significant gains made by unskilled industrial workers, Fordist mass-production system always had its critics. The technology in those plants allows auto makers to build more models and respond to shifts in market demand and consumer tastes. This discussion of Post-Fordist production seems positive at first glance, but as the saying goes, there are always two sides to every story. However, the practice of JIT production - which means to schedule manufacturing and shipping of goods from a plant to the retail market using just enough human and capital resources - makes stockpiling a thing of the past (Fucini & Fucini, 1990). Housekeepers periodically cleaned the work area. Flexible production also requires highest competent workers, capable of a high degree of self-direction because now, the hierarchy of authority within a Post-Fordist organization has been flattened, which delegates increased responsibility to the workers (Krahn & Lowe, 2002). More often than not, these so-called "unnecessary" elements are people, which are regularly treated like objects in industrial production environments. These conditions develop into alienation, whereby the worker is separated from his/her work, other employees, upper management and the surrounding environment as a whole (Rinehart, 2001). Under mass production, not only were parts interchangeable, so too were labourers.
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