Persistent Structures in a Turbulent World: The Division of Labor in the German Chemical Industry

10.1068/c9866 ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Bathelt
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Chemical Industry ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Customer Relations ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Postal Survey ◽  
Spatial Proximity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Product And Process ◽  
Mode Of Development

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, often referred to as a post-Fordist or after-Fordist mode, is often assumed to be characterized by flexibility in 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, with the aid of results from a recent study of the German chemical industry (basic chemicals; pigments, dyes, paints, varnishes; and pharmaceuticals). Using 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 relations and customer relations to meet the changing technological, economic, and societal settings. According to my analysis, it seems unlikely that industrial development will follow a single growth trajectory towards flexibility. Increases in flexibility in products and processes are often only subordinate goals, or are not considered necessary. I describe how chemical firms benefit from spatial proximity to their supplier and customer bases. I also provide evidence that most firms rely on strategically important stable linkages within the short and middle distance.

scholarly journals Exploring the Classification and Restructuring of Chemical Industrial Cities in China: The Perspectives of Sectoral and Spatial Differences

Complexity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Hui Zou ◽  
Xuejun Duan ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Tingting Jin
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Industry ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
Spatial Transformation ◽  
Location Factors ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Industrial Cities ◽  
Spatial Differences ◽  
Development Goals

As an economic pillar, major resource consumer, and polluter of cities, the chemical industry determines many cities’ transformation, prosperity, and decay. It is thus a major concern for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In China, which is at the stage of accelerated industrialization that is varied across regions, the chemical industry has gradually retreated from developed cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, in the eastern region, and has become the inevitable choice for industrialization of less-developed cities, such as Xi’an, Chengdu, and Chongqing, in the western region. This study took the perspectives of chemical industrial sectors and their spatial differences to understand the changing patterns of the chemical industry and its dominant cities. It identified chemical industrial cities (CICs), examined their spatial-temporal patterns with respect to their industry scale and structure, and accounted for factors influencing the spatial evolution from coastal areas to inland regions. The results show that large CICs were mainly located in coastal port regions with balanced industrial sectors, while small CICs were mainly distributed in inland areas with abundant oil and coal resources and a single dominant industrial sector. The location factors of ports, markets, and technology play important roles in the eastern region, while resource conditions and foreign direct investment promote the chemical industry’s development in the central, western, and northeastern cities. These findings improve the understanding of CICs’ spatial transformation and shed light on the policy-making of chemical industrial development in China and other developing countries.

ON THE REGIME OF COVID-19 EPIDEMIC IN RUSSIA AND ITS IMPACT UPON THE FUEL AND ENERGY COMPLEX, INCLUDING IN EDUCATIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC SPHERES

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana Punanova ◽  
Mikhail Rodkin
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Data ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Research Education ◽  
Energy Complex ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Modernization ◽  
Mode Of Development ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Regions Of Russia

The mode of development of the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia and the impact of the epidemic on the areas of scientific research, education and functioning of the fuel and energy complex are discussed. The official statistics revealed evidence both of effectivity of the taken anti-epidemic measures in Moscow and of possible cases of incorrectness of statistical data. The social situation and the mode of development of the epidemic in Moscow and in the regions of Russia are essentially different, that reduces the effectiveness of anti-epidemic measures introduced uniformly throughout the whole country. The conditions of the pandemic and quarantine are difficult for everyone, but organizations and persons with a more modern informational character of production adapt to them more easily. In general, it can be suggested that the epidemic besides the very essential losses gives an important impulse for social-economic and political modernization of the society.

MIDC Role in Infrastructural Development in Navi Mumbai

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Prashant H. Bhagat
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Development ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
The State ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Industrial Areas ◽  
Industrial Estates ◽  
Development Corporation ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Industrial Development Corporation

The BID (Board of Industrial Development) framed the legislation and it was introduced before the state legislation and passed in the form of Maharashtra Industrial Act which gave birth to Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), as a separate corporation on August 1, 1962. The BID was the first personnel strength of MIDC. A small ceremony at Wagle Estate Thane, under the Chairmanship of the Chief Minister Shri Y.B. Chavan, marked the birth of MIDC on August 1, 1962. The Board of Industrial Development during its existence between October 1, 1960 and August 1, 1962 has done enough spade work to identify the locations for setting up industrial areas in different parts of the state. Thus, right in the first year of establishment MIDC came up with 14 industrial areas, to initiate action for infrastructure and help entrepreneurs set up the industrial units in those areas. Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation is the nodal industrial infrastructure development agency of the Maharashtra Government with the basic objective of setting up industrial areas with a provision of industrial infrastructure all over the state for planned and systematic industrial development. MIDC is an innovative, professionally managed, and user friendly organization that provides the world industrial infrastructure. MIDC has played a vital role in the development of industrial infrastructure in the state of Maharashtra. As the state steps into the next millennium, MIDC lives up to its motto Udyamat Sakal Samruddhi i.e., prosperity to all through industrialization. Indeed, in the endeavor of the state to retain its prime position in the industrial sector, MIDC has played a pivotal role in the last 35 years. MIDC has developed 268 industrial estates across the state which spread over 52653 hectares of land. The growth of the Corporation, achieved in the various fields, during the last three years, could be gauged from the fact that the area currently in possession of MIDC has doubled from 25,000 hectares in 1995.

Diversity, Rationality, and the Division of Cognitive Labor

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Muldoon
Keyword(s):  
Social Structure ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Additional Insight ◽  
Division Of Cognitive Labor ◽  
Social Structure Of Science ◽  
The Social ◽  
Insight Into

Existing models of the division of cognitive labor in science assume that scientists have a particular problem they want to solve and can choose between different approaches to solving the problem. In this essay I invert the approach, supposing that scientists have fixed skills and seek problems to solve. This allows for a better explanation of increasing rates of cooperation in science, as well as flows of scientists between fields of inquiry. By increasing the realism of the model, we gain additional insight into the social structure of science and gain the ability to ask new questions about the optimal division of labor.

The Social and Institutional Bases of Distributive Justice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Distributive Justice ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Social Cooperation ◽  
Economic Production ◽  
Political Cooperation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Principles Of Justice ◽  
Trade And Exchange ◽  
Cooperative Institutions

This chapter argues that distributive justice is institutionally based. Certain cooperative institutions are basic: they are necessary for economic production and the division of labor, trade and exchange, and distribution and consumption. These background institutions presuppose principles of justice to specify their terms, allocate productive resources, and define fair distributions. Primary among these basic institutions are property; laws and conventions enabling transfers of goods and productive resources; and the legal system of contract and agreements that make transfers possible and productive. Political institutions are necessary to specify, interpret, enforce, and make effective the terms of these institutions. Thus, basic cooperative institutions are social; they are realizable only within the context of social and political cooperation—this is a fixed empirical fact about cooperation among free and equal persons. Given the nature of fair social cooperation as a kind of reciprocity, distributive justice is primarily social rather than global in reach.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aled Davies
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Financial Centre ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
The Social ◽  
Post War ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

This book is a study of the political economy of Britain’s chief financial centre, the City of London, in the two decades prior to the election of Margaret Thatcher’s first Conservative government in 1979. The primary purpose of the book is to evaluate the relationship between the financial sector based in the City, and the economic strategy of social democracy in post-war Britain. In particular, it focuses on how the financial system related to the social democratic pursuit of national industrial development and modernization, and on how the norms of social democratic economic policy were challenged by a variety of fundamental changes to the City that took place during the period....

scholarly journals Effects of Social Media on Firm Performance and Customer Relations-Evidence from Ghana

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 101
Author(s):  
Asare Evans Kwabena ◽  
Kaodui Li ◽  
Osei-Assibey Mandella Bonsu ◽  
Obeng Belinda Faamaa ◽  
Baah Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Customer Relations ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
The Social ◽  
Use Of Social Media

The possibilities for companies to reach out more people to get in-depth understanding about brand, products, and services is through social media pages. We examined effects of social media on performance and customer relations of companies in Ghana. We obtained data from 390 respondents through structured questionnaires, and was analyzed with statistical package for social science (SPSS). The findings indicate increased awareness and usage of social media by companies in Ghana. However, customer’s desire for a products could be influence by company’s advertisement through social media post. We established that, managers are expectant with the use of social media enhancing customer’s relationship. Therefore, managers should modify their website to complement the social media strategies, identify the actions, wants and demands of customers to improve performance. We discussed several managerial recommendations.

The System is the Solution: Marx's Analysis of Capitalism

1986 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 13-13
Author(s):  
George Galster
Keyword(s):  
Production Process ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Economic Base ◽  
Radical Theory ◽  
Labor Theory Of Value ◽  
Labor Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
Theory Of Value ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Pedagogic Device

The following note describes a skit designed primarily as a pedagogic device to illustrate in a meaningful (and, hopefully, provocative and humorous) way Marx's analysis of capitalism. Numerous concepts and phenomena are “brought to life” in the skit: exploitation, immiseration and alienation of workers, maintenance wage, labor theory of value, mechanization and the division of labor, systemic tendencies toward economic crises, relationship of various superstructural components (welfare, religion, etc.) to the economic base, and the radical theory of the state. More specifically, the economic base of a hypothetical capitalist society consists of a stylized production process involving “resources” (Oreo cookies), “labor” (students selected from the class) and eventually “capital” (table knives). The ability of the monopoly capitalist to accumulate surplus by exploiting workers becomes manifest. Other elements of the social superstructure (unions, government, religion, etc.)

Introduction of Flexible Manufacturing Systems as a Necessary Measure for the Russian Industrial Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 957 ◽  
pp. 195-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizaveta Gromova
Keyword(s):  
Flexible Manufacturing ◽  
Flexible Manufacturing Systems ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Manufacturing Systems ◽  
Manufacturing System ◽  
Agile Manufacturing ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Maximum Speed ◽  
Industrial Enterprises

With the onset of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the business environment becomes inherent in changes that occur with maximum speed, as well as characterized by the systemic nature of the consequences. One of them is the transformation of operational management models in industrial enterprises. The modern manufacturing system should focus not only on speed of response and flexibility, but also on the cost and quality of products. Integration of effective models: agile manufacturing, quick response manufacturing and lean production, in order to extract the best from them is proposed. The purpose of this study is to analyze this flexible manufacturing system and to relate it to the current state of the Russian industrial development. Theoretical and practical aspects of this model are presented. The examples of the flexible models introduction in the Russian industrial sector is allocated. The conclusion about the necessity of the flexible manufacturing systems implementation for the Russian industrial development is drawn.

Regional Industrial Development under Liberal Economic Regime in Punjab

2021 ◽  
pp. 339-349
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Development ◽  
National Level ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Industrial Restructuring ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Development Trends ◽  
Indian States ◽  
Secondary Information ◽  
Economic Regime

The objective of this study was two-fold, firstly, it analysed industrial development trends and deceleration across major Indian states since 1980-81 and, investigated industrial development in Punjab, a mineral resources deprived and a land-locked state. It was important as the policy changed at the national level in 1991 and removed various benefits for industrial development in mineralresources deprived regions and economically backward regions. To analyse the objective, both primary as well as secondary information was used. Findings of the study highlighted that industrial restructuring took place across major states in India during 1980-81 to 2017-18. In general, economically poor states and mineral resources deprived states witnessed the deceleration of the industrial sector. The position of the industrial sector in Punjab declined as compared to other states and compared to its past. The discussions with various stakeholders, including sampled industrial units, representatives of industrial associations, etc., highlighted various economic and non-economic factors behind the ongoing industrial deceleration in Punjab.

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