Journal article

Publication year: 1997

Pages: 193-212

Journal: Geographical Journal

Volume number: 85

Issue number: 4

ISSN: 0016-7479

Publisher: Franz Steiner Verlag

Abstract: 
Since the late 1980s, various scholars have concluded that a recovery from the Fordist crisis will require that rigid Fordist practices and structures in the industrial sector be replaced by flexible ones. The mode of development to follow, referred to here as an after-Fordist mode, is often assumed to be characterized by flexible technologies, labor and production processes. Aside from idealistic scenarios and limited empirical findings, relatively little is known about the product, process and linkage structures which will lead to a new mode of development. The degree to which flexibility processes will be influential is also unclear. It is within this context that I try to provide new insights into the changing nature of industrial production and the social and technical division of labor using results from a recent study of the German chemical industry (i.e, basic chemicals; pigments, dyes, paints and varnishes (PDPV); pharmaceuticals). Based on a postal survey of 155 German chemical firms and 18 firm case studies, I investigate how firms have adjusted their product and process configurations and their supplier and customer relations to meet the changing technological, economic and societal settings of the Fordist crisis. From this analysis, it seems unlikely that industrial development will follow a single growth trajectory towards flexibility. Increases in product and process flexibility are often only subordinate goals or are not considered necessary. It will be described how chemical firms benefit from spatial proximity to their supplier and customer base. In addition, evidence will be provided that most firms rely on strategically important, stable linkages within the short and middle distance.

Harvard Citation style: Bathelt, H. (1997) Continuity and change in the chemical industry: Technological structure, flexibility and proximity, Geographical Journal, 85(4), pp. 193-212

APA Citation style: Bathelt, H. (1997). Continuity and change in the chemical industry: Technological structure, flexibility and proximity. Geographical Journal. 85(4), 193-212.