Business literature, especially in the field of operations management, advanced several models of production systems used by firms, among which we can recall Fordism and Toyotism. While such a literature analyses the strenghts and weaknesses of each of these models, highlinghting their impact on firm competitiveness in general and logistics in particular, a less debated issue is the control and ownership relations that are particular to each of these models. From a certain perpective, such models are not only the result of a choice of production system (and, in particular, of a logistics option) of the firm but of a particular industrial organization, on the limits of the control of the firm. In other words, Fordism couldn’t but emerge in United States of America while Toyotism but in Japan as these two countries know different systems of corporate governance which are materialized in particular supplier-client relations. The answer to the question whether one of these models is optimal for a particular industry in a particular period must be paired with a fundamental debate on the control relationship of the firm towards its industrial suppliers and clients. The conclusion is that such a decision regarding the production system is not related to the logistics or the product strategy of the firm but to its ownership borders.
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Article provided by Department of International Business and Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest in its journal Romanian Economic Journal.
Find related papers by JEL classification: L62 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Automobiles; Other Transportation Equipment M11 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Business Administration - - - Production Management