Flexibility at Work: Critical Developments in the International Automobile Industry

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Valeria Pulignano, Paul Steward, Andy Danford and Mike Richardson (eds.) Flexibility at Work: Critical Developments in the International Automobile Industry, London: Palgrave, 2008; 200 pp.: 9781403900418 £60 (hbk)

The historical significance of the automobile industry as a hotbed for the development of managerial techniques cannot be underestimated. In the early 20th century, Ford's assembly line changed factory life forever, while the lean production techniques of the 1990s quickly found imitators outside the car industry. As the editors of the book argue 'the ramifications of changes [in the industry] have always spread widely beyond the reach of the sector' (p. 1).

The …