Research on Post-Fordism -- Innovation in Production Organization and Corporate Competition

Author: Liu Gang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: Facing several major changes in external business conditions since the 1970s, the evolution of production organization methods in developed Western countries has shown a significant trend: the shift from Fordism to post-Fordism. The rise of post-Fordist production organization methods marks the second revolution in the history of human manufacturing development. Compared to Fordist production organization methods, the basic characteristics of post-Fordism can be summarized as "continuous innovation + agile manufacturing" and "specialization + networking." From the historical perspective of the development of production organization methods, whenever one production method replaces another, product competition is essentially a competition of production organization methods. The surplus of products often hides the surplus of outdated production organization methods. Historically, the shift in production organization methods is accompanied by changes in the comprehensive national strength or international competitiveness of countries. Therefore, the latecomer advantage embedded in the transformation of production organization methods is a crucial opportunity for a country to enhance the international competitiveness of its enterprises and industries. Fully utilizing the latecomer advantage in the shift from Fordism to post-Fordism is an important pathway to improving the international competitiveness of China's enterprises and industries.