Incluye bibliografía.

1. Introduction: Between Imitation and Innovation: The Transfer and Hybridization of Productive Models in the International Automobile Industry ; PART I. THEORY AND HISTORY ; 2. Hybridization and Models of Production: Geography, History, and Theory ; 3. The Diffusion and Transformation of Fordism: Britain and Japan Compared ; PART II. BETWEEN TRANSFER AND HYBRIDIZATION ; 4. Making Toyota in America: Evidence from the Kentucky Transplant 1986-1994 ; 5. Stability and Change at NUMMI ; 6. Mazda and Ford at Flat Rock: Transfer and Hybridization of the Japanese Model ; 7. The Japanese Transplants in North America: Production Organization, Location, and Research and Development ; 8. Hybridization of the Japanese Production System in North America, the Newly Industrializing Economies, South-East Asia, and Europe: Contrasted Configurations ; PART III. BETWEEN ADAPTATION AND INNOVATION ; 9. The NedCar Experience: The Configuration of Dutch, Swedish, and Japanese Ideas about Car Manufacturing ; 10. FASA Renault: Innovation in Productive Flexibility and Job Security ; 11. The Transfer and Hybridization of New Models of Production in the Brazilian Automobile Industry ; 12. Ford's Hermosillo Plant: The Trajectory of Development of a Hybrid Model ; 13. Implanting Change: The Role of 'Indigenous Transplants' in Transforming the German Productive Model ; 14. Volkswagen's Shanghai Plant: Between Chinese Tradition and Modernization Strategy ; 15. Saturn: A Different Kind of Company? ; 16. Conclusion: Transplants, Hybridization, and Globalization: What Lessons for the Future

Recent years have seen intense debates among management and academics on the rise of 'lean production' and 'Japanization'. Some authors have stressed the 'universal' impact of new forms of work organization and 'best practice' while others have questioned the limits of convergence, stressed the weight of national contexts or 'societal effects', or highlighted the evolutionary effects of unpredictability in the external environment. The international automobile industry has been a focus for much of this debate and this book, written by a team of leading international researchers in the field, uses this industry to examine in detail the actual practice of the transfer and adaptation of productive models and the trajectories of innovation, compromise, and failure that can result. Case studies cover in detail the Japanese transplant experience in North America, and the global experience of hybrid production systems in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The book contributes to theoretical discussions about the transfer, adaptation, or convergence of productive models. In particular, the authors argue that direct transplantation or imitation of these models is rarely feasible or even desirable. Systems cannot be transferred without being significantly reshaped. Instead, the book focuses on the process of 'hybridization', the complex interaction of productive models with national and societal effects. Hybridization, it is argued, is inevitable. But this should be seen not simply as a process of compromise and retreat but also as an important dynamic of innovation and learning. This book is from the French-based international research network GERPISA (Groupe d'etude de recherche permanent sur l'industrie et les salaries de l'automobile). See related titles below.