Not Flexible Accumulation—Contradictions of Value in Contemporary Economic Geography: 1. Workplace and Interfirm Relations

1996 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 2063-2079 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Gough
Keyword(s):  
Economic Geography ◽  
Economic Change ◽  
Subsequent Paper ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Interfirm Relations ◽  
Paper Work ◽  
Flexible Accumulation ◽  
Value Relations

In this and a subsequent paper, work by geographers that is based on the idea that we are in a period of transition to an epoch of flexible accumulation, or post-Fordism, is examined. It is argued that this thesis relies on abstracting the technical and organisational aspects of current restructuring from its value relations. An account which includes value relations shows that the phenomena said to characterise flexible accumulation are more contradictory and unstable, more varied, and more open to struggle than is supposed in work in which a new epoch is assumed. An approach based on value relations can give a richer account of current spatial-economic change. In this first paper, capital—labour relations within production, and the relations between firms are discussed.

Not Flexible Accumulation—Contradictions of Value in Contemporary Economic Geography: 2. Regional Regimes, National Regulation, and Political Strategy

1996 ◽  
Vol 28 (12) ◽  
pp. 2179-2200 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Gough
Keyword(s):  
Economic Geography ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
National Regulation ◽  
National Space ◽  
Paper Work ◽  
Regional Regimes ◽  
Flexible Accumulation ◽  
Value Relations

In this and a previous paper, work by geographers that is based on the idea that we are in a period of transition to an epoch of flexible accumulation, or post-Fordism, is examined. It is argued that this thesis relies on abstracting the technical and organisational aspects of current restructuring from its value relations. An account which includes value relations shows that the phenomena said to characterise flexible accumulation are more contradictory and unstable, more varied, and more open to struggle than is supposed in work in which a new epoch is assumed. In this second part of the study internal regimes of regions, the relations between regions, and regulation of national space economies are discussed. It is argued that the politics flowing from the flexible accumulation accounts oscillate between fatalism and utopianism, and that an approach based on value relations is able to provide a clearer basis for political struggle.

The Transnational Corporate Networks of Breakfast Cereals in Asia

2000 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 789-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Pritchard
Keyword(s):  
Economic Geography ◽  
Spatial Behaviour ◽  
Breakfast Cereal ◽  
Intrafirm Trade ◽  
Manufacturing Facility ◽  
Corporate Networks ◽  
Relational Networks ◽  
The Us ◽  
Interfirm Relations ◽  
Network Approaches

Network perspectives have recently been proposed as a theoretical base for research in economic geography. However, there is an unclear relationship between the advocacy of network approaches and the development of methodological tactics to frame related empirical research. By reference to one episode of corporate spatial behaviour—the establishment of a manufacturing facility in Thailand by the US-headquartered breakfast-cereal company, Kellogg—an organising framework for network-inspired economic geography is suggested. Kellogg's entry into Thailand is analysed in terms of the construction and mobilisation of relational networks producing five overlapping geographies: (1) geographies of place; (2) geographies of intrafirm trade and relations; (3) regional geographies of accumulation; (4) geographies of interfirm relations; and (5) geographies of consumption.

scholarly journals Human Rights in the Hungarian Labour Code

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 573
Author(s):  
Alexander Szakats
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Economic Change ◽  
Private Enterprises ◽  
Free Market Economy ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Statutory Protection ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights

Protection of human rights, particularly the rights of persons working in the free market economy, features prominently in the Hungarian Labour Code enacted after the great political and economic change.  As the state ceased to be the only, or the principal employer, either directly or in the guise of various "voluntary" cooperatives, the proliferation of private enterprises necessitated a law to regulate labour relations between the employers and employees.  In this article Professor Szakats provides an overview of the Code by selecting certain provisions which emphasise human rights, and comparing them with the corresponding New Zealand statutory protection, and relevant ILO Conventions and Recommendations.

Flexible Integration, Scope Economies, and Strategic Alliances: Social and Spatial Mediations

1988 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Cooke
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Strategic Alliances ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Spatial Integration ◽  
Scope Economies ◽  
Interfirm Relations ◽  
Flexible Integration ◽  
Flexible Accumulation

An outline of international productivity, competitiveness, and profitability indicators is given in support of the contention that capital has been reorganizing more or less successfully, albeit unevenly of late. There follows a discussion of the relative merits of two theories which seek to address what some have called the transition from Fordism to post-Fordism. It is argued that the notion of ‘flexible accumulation’, although superior in principle to that of ‘disorganized capitalism’ as a general orienting device, is too loosely specified at present. In particular, attention is drawn to the growth of social and spatial integration as a key element of interfirm relations in a context of growing flexibility. Empirical evidence is adduced in support of the argument that flexibility involves internal changes in work practices and external changes in relations with competitors which are likely to have far-reaching spatial resonances.

scholarly journals Labour relations at the transition from Fordism to Postfordism, or : why are an increasing number of "foreign foreigners" employed in the Swiss hotel and catering industry today?

2002 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 214-224
Author(s):  
K. Schneeberger ◽  
P. Messerli
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
National Development ◽  
Regulation System ◽  
Regulation Theory ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Ethnic Stratification ◽  
Catering Industry ◽  
Régulation Theory ◽  
Flexible Accumulation ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In the present paper, we discuss a key factor in the entrepreneurial and regional capacity of innovation and competitiveness. By basing our arguments on regulation theory, we consider changes in domestic and foreign wage relations and their regulation as an expression and a reflection of flexible accumulation. In doing so, the dominant discussion of a labour market orientated towards innovation and competitiveness is given a critical dimension that focuses on the winners of the modernisation process as well as on possible losers of the flexibilisation. We analyse the trend by using the hotel and catering industry as an example of an industry which assumes a pioneering role as far as the flexibilisation of the labour market is concerned. The Swiss example represents a national «development path», which is greatly challenged by the new conditions of competitiveness, giving rise to a strong call for a reduction in barriers that stand in the way of flexibilisation. The empirical discussion is the result of qualitative interviews. It shows that the changes are characterised firstly by an increasing diversity of labour relations and secondly by an accenluated lower ethnic stratification of the labour market. Thirdly, the increasing diversity and the ethnic stratification are projected on the regulative level. Fourthly, the analysis leads to an expanded notion of regulation, which not only focuses on the conflict line between capital and labour, but also on the conflict line between ethnicities or nationalities (the dual regulation System). Finally, as a coexistence of Fordist and Postfordist labour relations is apparent, the impact of regulation theory is erilieally examined.

Innovation, Collaboration, and Learning in Regional Clusters: A Study of SMEs in the Aberdeen Oil Complex

2003 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 1689-1706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Cumbers ◽  
Danny Mackinnon ◽  
Keith Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Economic Geography ◽  
High Technology ◽  
Regional Innovation ◽  
Regional Clusters ◽  
Interfirm Relations ◽  
Geographical Clustering

Issues of regional innovation and learning have attracted growing interest from economic geographers and related specialists in recent years. The advantages to be gained from localised networks and learning are claimed to be particularly important for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in helping offset the size-related advantages of larger firms. Such claims are part of a wider rediscovery of the benefits of clustering and agglomeration in economic geography. Yet, to date, theoretical speculation about the renewed importance of geographical clustering for SMEs has run ahead of detailed empirical research. Beyond a few well-known case studies of high-technology clusters, there have been few attempts systematically to ‘test’ assertions made about the links between innovation, collaboration, and learning. The authors' purpose in this paper is to contribute new empirical evidence to this debate through a case study of SMEs in the Aberdeen oil complex. Although they find some evidence to support the role of localised forms of collaboration among the most innovative SMEs, the authors' results also indicate the importance of extralocal networks of knowledge transfer and the unequal power relations that underpin interfirm relations. These findings reinforce recent calls for a shift of focus from ‘regions’ to ‘networks’, raising some fundamental questions about the substantive basis of clusters policy.

Improving Speech and Language Services through Effective Time Management

1983 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara W. Travers
Keyword(s):  
Time Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
School Based ◽  
Work Area ◽  
Paper Work ◽  
Areas Of Concern ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Therapeutic Services

This paper presents strategies for increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the school-based speech-language pathologist. Various time management strategies are adapted and outlined for three major areas of concern: using time, organizing the work area, and managing paper work. It is suggested that the use of such methods will aid the speech-language pathologist in coping with federal, state, and local regulations while continuing to provide quality therapeutic services.

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