Citation

Discussion Paper Details

Please find the details for DP131 in an easy to copy and paste format below:

Full Details

Title: Between Fordism and Flexibility: The Automobile Industry and its Workers - Past, Present and Future

Author(s): Steven Tolliday and Jonathan Zeitlin

Publication Date: October 1986

Keyword(s): Automobile Industry, Flexibility, Industrial Relations, Mass Production, Technology Transfer and Trade Unions

Programme Area(s): Human Resources

Abstract: Since the days of Henry Ford the automobile industry has served as a model of economic expansion and technological progress based on mass production. But from the mid-1970s, sweeping changes in markets and technology have transformed international competitive conditions and spurred automobile manufacturers in every country to experiment with new strategies based on greater product diversity and more flexible methods of production. This paper surveys the behaviour of the industry from its origins to the present in a perspective informed by current developments. It looks first at the emergence, diffusion and modification of the Fordist model in different countries, before going on to examine international variations in trade union structure, bargaining strategy and job control practices. The final section traces the recent transformations in the international automobile industry, considers the extent to which new production and marketing strategies mark a break with Fordism, and draws out the implications for industrial relations and trade union strategy.

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Bibliographic Reference

Tolliday, S and Zeitlin, J. 1986. 'Between Fordism and Flexibility: The Automobile Industry and its Workers - Past, Present and Future'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=131