Flexible specialization and small size: The case of Caribbean tourism

Abstract

If export industrialization was fashionable in the 1960s and 1970s, today flexible specialization is definitely “in.” Appealing to the very heart of the developing world — traditional, small-scale and craft production — flexible specialization has become the new passport to development. This article cautions that the prescription of small-scale, flexible specialization (Piore and Sable, 1984) leads to a very dangerous kind of optimism in the developing world. The danger lies in equating flexibility with small size. This is because small size may not be necessary, and certainly is not a sufficient condition, for flexible specialization. The keys to flexible specialization lie elsewhere—in information technology applications, networks, synergies, systems gains, scope economies, production and organizational flexibility — not in small size. This argument is developed with reference to the Caribbean tourist industry. A comparative analysis of Jamaica's Superclub hotel chain and Italy's Benetton textile company is undertaken. This is done with a view to determining the factors in the success of their flexible specialization strategies. Implications for policy are drawn out.