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 to an industrial, mass production, mass consumption economy. He first implemented his Fordist methods by virtue of his Ford Motor Company in the automobile industry, which is still the world's largest manufacturing activity today (Fucini & Fucini, 1990). The highlight of Ford's system was general standardization, which standardized components and manufacturing processes, and to create a simple, easy to manufacture, repairable standard product (Pierce, 2003). Standardization among the Fordist system required nearly perfect interchangeability of parts, which meant to quickly and concisely adapt to a continuous process (Sheppard & Barnes, 2003). This method of standardizing allowed Ford to insti...