Explores the Latin American economy and management through the study of Japanese companies in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. Based on detailed case studies, this volume offers a bird's eye view of foreign investments in Latin America.

How to speed up business processes, improve quality, and cut costs in any industryIn factories around the world, Toyota consistently makes the highest-quality cars with the fewest defects of any competing manufacturer, while using fewer man-hours, less on-hand inventory, and half the floor space of its competitors. The Toyota Way is the first book for a general audience that explains the management principles and business philosophy behind Toyota's worldwi...

Machining for Hobbyists is for do-it-yourselfers and hobbyists who want to set up or expand a small machine shop in their garage, basement, shed or perhaps in a rented space. With their own shop, hobbyists can build models and undertake other building and maintenance projects that involve using different metals. Working in metal requires skills, knowledge, and equipment that are unlike other hobbies.Through easy-to-follow explanations, as well as detailed illustrations...

Adopting a multi-disciplinary approach and using the case of the automotive industry as a starting point this volume discusses how industrial companies can remain competitive in spite of the current economic downturn.

Global Production is the first book to provide a fully comprehensive overview of the complicated issues facing multinational companies and their global sourcing strategies. Few international trade transactions today are based on the exchange of finished goods; rather, the majority of transactions are dominated by sales of individual components and intermediary services. Many firms organize global production around offshoring parts, components, and services to producers in distant ...

This book offers a detailed analysis of the key sectors in the Italian economy, with the focus especially on areas in which the economy excels, such as the automatic packaging machinery sector, pharmaceutical production, the food and wine industry, and tourism. The book explains how, contrary to widespread opinion, Italy is one of the world’s most competitive countries in foreign trade, as confirmed by a new index compiled by Fondazione Edison that highlights its strengths and top traded p...

First published in 1984. This book represents a major study of union responses to the economic crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. Abjuring governmental or managerial outlooks, it argues that unions, as representatives of essential producer groups, would be central to the renegotiation of the economic world. The work also stresses the importance of situating union responses to the crisis within the socio-historical evolution of their political economies during the rise and decline of the post-w...

In this new work, Arthur O. Eger and Huub Ehlhardt present a 'Theory of Product Evolution'. They challenge the popular notion that we owe the availability of products solely to genius inventors. Instead, they present arguments that show that a process of variation, selection, and accumulation of 'know-how' (to make) and 'know-what' (function to realize) provide an explanation for the emergence of new types of products and their subsequent development into families of advanced versions. Thi...

In Inside China's Automobile Factories, Lu Zhang explores the current conditions, subjectivity, and collective actions of autoworkers in the world's largest and fastest-growing automobile manufacturing nation. Based on years of fieldwork and extensive interviews conducted at seven large auto factories in various regions of China, Zhang provides an inside look at the daily factory life of autoworkers and a deeper understanding of the roots of rising labor unrest in the auto industry. Combin...

In large cities in developed countries, the share of manufacotruing has declined drastically in the last decades and the share of service has grown as many manufacturing firms have closed or moved to lower-cost locations. The process of deindustrialization is often seen as part of the inevitable shift towards a knowledge based economy and urban economies come to rely on research and development, financial services, tourism and the creative industries. This book looks at the changing link b...

Do you get stuck with your future state maps?This short guide, 'Optimised Future State', can help you and your team to adopt a very straightforward and easy to use framework that takes the guesswork out of developing an optimal future state map for your business.Whether your process mapping is part of a Lean initiative, or is part of your existing culture, the framework presented will help you to handle the multitude of options you generate and leave you with a single disti...

OverviewFleet Purchasing and Maintenance is a concise, easy to understand guide on vehicle purchasing and fleet maintenance for the benefit of business and maintenance managers at all levels, plus students and academics. Not a textbook full of formulas but a guide containing both detail and insights for the practicing fleet and financial manager.The book first covers all aspects of the vehicle and fleet purchasing process from the perspective of th...