Flexible Specialization Research Articles

Built to Adapt: Mechanisms of Cognitive Flexibility in the Human Brain

Adaptability is a distinguishing feature of the human species: We thrive as hunter-gatherers, farmers, and urbanites. What properties of our brains make us highly adaptable? We review neuroscience studies of sensory loss, language acquisition, and cultural skills (reading, mathematics, programming). The evidence supports a flexible specialization account. On the one hand, adaptation is enabled by evolutionarily prepared flexible learning systems, both domain-specific social learning systems (e.g., language) and domain-general systems (frontoparietal reasoning). On the other hand, the functional flexibility of our neural wetware enables us to acquire cognitive capacities not selected for by evolution. Heightened plasticity during a protracted period of development enhances cognitive flexibility. Early in life, local cortical circuits are capable of acquiring a wide range of cognitive capacities. Exuberant cross-network connectivity makes it possible to combine old neural parts in new ways, enabling cognitive flexibility such as language acquisition across modalities (spoken, signed, braille) and cultural skills (math, programming). Together, these features of the human brain make it uniquely adaptable.

Social Systems of Flexible Production: Organizational Conditions for the Resurgence of Craft

Abstract Against the background of a growing interest in the resurgence of craft work, this article examines the organizational conditions that characterize craft-based production in contemporary society and how they help to facilitate craft resurgence. The paper identifies three organizational conditions of contemporary craft-based production, relating to the mass market, producing by means of flexible specialization, and using infrastructures. By applying a historical lens, I argue that these organizational conditions have formed into a particular way of organizing craft-based production which is attuned to local and temporal specificities. Therefore, this study builds on a complementary, symbiotic notion of craft which considers industrial manufacture, serial production and digital technologies to be constitutive of craft making. By offering an alternative conceptual framework to grasp the resurgence of craft, this article contributes to the understanding of organizational resilience.

Market making and the production of nurses for export: a case study of India–UK health worker migration

BackgroundHigh-income countries increasingly look to the international recruitment of health workers to address domestic shortages, especially from low-income and middle-income countries. We adapt conceptual frameworks from migration studies to examine...

Marketing via Shangbangs (Chinese business networks)

PurposeThis study examines how informal business networks achieve marketing goals in socially uncertain contexts. Drawing from multiple historical sources, Shangbangs, a type of business network that thrived in pre-1949 China, are analyzed.Design/methodology/approachThe Critical Historical Research Method (CHRM) undergirds a study of Shangbangs’ historicity (i.e. their socio-historically embedded multiplicity, including organizational forms, activities and connotations.FindingsAs informal regional, professional, project-based, special-product-based or mixed marketing networks, Shangbangs relied on “flexible specialization” and coupled multiple business needs to market goods and services, business organizations, specific social values and, when necessary, to debrand business rivals.Research limitations/implicationsThis analysis extends theories about marketing networks by probing their subtypes, diverse marketing activities, multipronged channels and relationship building with social entities (including underground societies, business associations and guilds) in response to pre-1949 China’s market uncertainties. Substantiating an alternative approach to “flexible specialization” and marketing innovations within the pre-1949 Chinese economy shows how a parallel theoretical framework can complement western-based marketing theories.Originality/valueThis first comprehensive analysis of Shangbangs, an innovative historical Chinese marketing network outside the conventional market-corporate dichotomy, can inform theory building for marketing strategy-making and management conditioned by social contexts.

Approaches to Assessing Knowledge Level of Business-Organization

The article assesses the level of knowledge of business - organization with regard to transformation processes taking place in conditions of new economy development. Key stages of business-organization evolution were studied: pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial, as well as the transition period to economy of knowledge. Specific features of creating and exchanging knowledge at each of the mentioned stages were shown. A model of organization in economy of knowledge was put forward, whose distinguishing feature is priority of organizational culture, knowledge and intangible factors, flexible specialization, relevant management and innovation character of all business-processes, as well as implementation of two key goals: maximum satisfaction of customer needs and development of personal abilities. The authors substantiate specificity of knowledge with regard to its dubious nature and propose methodological approach to assessment of the organization level of knowledge, which is based on analysis of 16 indicators combined in 4 groups: dynamics of business-organization development, system of education and training of personnel, scientific and technical and innovation potential, information system and information support of business-organization. In conclusion algorithm of estimating the index of knowledge level is described and advantages of this method are demonstrated.

The Design of Flexible Specialisation

This article discusses the aesthetics of flexible specialisation, a form of labour marked by micro-enterprises, skilled artisans, flexible machinery, municipal welfare and strong kinship and subcultural networks. Focusing on the writing and projects of Nanni Strada and Andrea Branzi, the article describes the fate of this labour configuration within so-called ‘Radical’ design in the central and northeastern sections of Italy (‘The Third Italy’) during the 1970s. I look at how these practices were exported abroad and deteriorated in the face of increasing global competition. The article pays particular attention to the Soviet reception of Third Italy design and the reciprocal interest by Radical designers in Soviet Productivism in order to consider the persistent ideologies of third way production.

Public administration and politics meet turbulence: The search for robust governance responses

Public administration and politics meet turbulence: The search for robust governance responses

Determination of Relationships between Organizational Structure Dimensions and Intellectual Capital: An Ampirical Study in Export Organizations

The main purpose of this research is to investigate the interaction between organizational structure dimensions and intellectual capital components. In order to achieve this aim, a comprehensive literature survey was conducted and then a set of hypotheses developed within which the conceptual model of the research was tested using data obtained from 126 exporters operating in Aydın. According to the results obtained from the study, it has been determined that organizational structure dimensions affect intellectual capital and components at different levels and significance. The results of the research show that businesses should focus on an organization that focuses on looser, agile and flexible specialization by focusing on the elements of centralization, hierarchical order and division of work in the face of fierce competition.

Beyond “Industry 4.0”

The “Industry 4.0” paradigm is present in the strategy of governments, employers' associations and trade union federations. Revisiting Piore and Sabel's classic study on flexible specialisation, we criticise the one-sidedness and narrowness inherent in the discourse of Industry 4.0, to which we counter empirical analyses on decentralised factory networks. Contrary to the prevailing stylised account, flexibility is facilitated by “B2B” platforms that link manufacturers and customers – a model that relies more on the versatility of decentralised manufacturing networks than on sophisticated production technology. The effects on labour are ambivalent, as they involve both potential for a small-scale, skilled-labour-intensive manufacturing paradigm, and dangers arising from competitive pressure for cost reduction. In sum, our aim is to offer theoretical and empirical evidence for understanding changes in digitised manufacturing and to highlight the approach of “B2B” networks and platforms in the debate on the transformation of manufacturing and industrial work.

Beyond “Industry 4.0": B2B factory networks as an alternative path towards the digital transformation of manufacturing and work

AbstractThis article uses theoretical and empirical evidence of variations in digitalized manufacturing to revisit Piore and Sabel's 1984 work on flexible specialization and to criticize the inherent one‐sidedness of the Industry 4.0 discourse. This is juxtaposed with empirical findings on platform‐mediated business‐to‐business factory networks, in which flexibility is facilitated by the digital interconnection of a far‐flung network of small‐scale manufacturers rather than by sophisticated production technology. The effects on work are equivocal; they entail the potential for a craft‐like and skill‐intensive paradigm of small‐scale manufacturing that can upgrade work, but also for a race to the bottom in price‐sensitive industries.

Regional resilience: Lessons from a historical analysis of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Italy

Although regional resilience has been widely discussed in recent years, scholars recognise that there is little understanding of the determinants of the long-term adaptive capacity of regions. Policies for regional resilience have not been discussed at great length. This paper analyses industry evolution and industrial policies in a historical perspective, focussing on the case of the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy, that in the 1980s drew wide attention as a successful case of flexible specialisation based on industrial districts and has experienced important transformations. It has also consistently implemented industrial policies since the 1980s, and we suggest they had a role in favouring the region’s resilience, especially in terms of the long-term vision of industrial development that this policy provides and promotes through various instruments.

Innovationsmotor Medientechnik – Von der Schreibmaschine zur «Mittleren Datentechnik» bei der Siemag Feinmechanische Werke (1950 bis 1969)

Abstract The second half of the 20th century is commonly considered to be a time in which German companies lost their innovative strength, while promising new technologies presented an enormous potential for innovation in the US. The fact that German companies were quite successful in the production of medium data technology and had considerable influence on the development of electronic data processing was neglected by business and media historians alike until now. The article analyses the Siemag Feinmechanische Werke (Eiserfeld) as one of the most important producers of the predecessors to said medium data technologies in the 1950s and 1960s. Two transformation processes regarding the media – from mechanic to semiconductor and from semiconductor to all-electronic technology – are highlighted in particular. It poses the question of how and why a middling family enterprise such as Siemag was able to rise to being the leading provider for medium data processing office computers despite lacking expertise in the field of electrical engineering while also facing difficult location conditions. The article shows that Siemag successfully turned from its roots in heavy industry towards the production of innovative high technology devices. This development stems from the company’s strategic decisions. As long as their products were not mass-produced, a medium-sized family business like Siemag could hold its own on the market through clever decision-making which relied on flexible specialization, targeted license and patent cooperation as well as innovative products, even in the face of adverse conditions. Only in the second half of the 1960s, as profit margins dropped due to increasing sales figures and office machines had finally transformed into office computers, Siemag was forced to enter cooperation with Philips in order to broaden its spectrum and merge the production site in Eiserfeld into a larger business complex.

The Forming of E-platform-driven Flexible Specialisation: How E-commerce Platforms Have Changed China’s Garment Industry Supply Chains and Labour Relations

E-commerce platforms have promoted the rise of consumer-demand-driven supply chains in the garment industry. This kind of supply chain has raised the demand for a new type of production organisation exemplified by low processing costs, small batches, multi-varieties, and quick reorders. Drawing on the insights of flexible specialisation theory, this paper proposes the concept of e-platform-driven flexible specialisation to describe this emerging production organisation form. This flexible specialisation is characterised by highly fragmented and informal production organisations such as husband-and-wife-run workshops and production units based on daily wage workers. In the context of a severe labour shortage in the garment industry, workers participate in the construction of these informal production organisations in order to obtain higher wages and work autonomy. However, the increase in informal employment also makes garment workers more atomised and vulnerable to social risks such as the outbreak of COVID-19. It is necessary to innovate labour relation negotiation modes to cope with the impacts of the rise of the platform economy on labour relations.

СИСТЕМА СТАЛОГО РОЗВИТКУ ЕКОНОМІКИ ЯПОНІЇ (1600–2020): ЧОМУ СТАЛОСЯ «ЕКОНОМІЧНЕ ДИВО»?

Introduction: Why economic miracle has happened in Japan? As Michael Piore and Charles Frederick Sabel said, Japanese economy had developed not only by ‘mass production system’, but also ‘flexible specialization’. Methodology: Economic history and survey. Research: In Edo period, many companies, which still exist now, emerged. Famous and largest department store Mitsukoshi was opened in 1673, Daimaru was opened in 1717. By Western impact in the latter half of 19th century, Japanese people thought shogunate government could not defend Japan from USA, British Empire etc., there was Meiji restoration that Emperor’s army fought against Shogunate army, so rule of Shogun was ended,it meant Edo period was ended, in the same time roll of Samurai was also ended in Japanese history. This was discontinuity of Japanese political system. From corruption of Shogunate government, new government established under the name of Emperor of Meiji. Meiji government had two priorities, strong armed forces and promotion of industry, so slogan was very simple, «Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Armed Forces». Most brand new European and American technologies were imported, it was a time of Westernization, and large factories were build all over Japan, and they started a mass production. But, even in this period, continuity and discontinuity coexisted in Japanese history. It’s very important historical fact for Japanese economy. Between Edo and Meiji period, there was discontinuity, for example, samurai banished in Japan, but also there was continuity, for example economic system. Edo period is known as time of Monozukuri. Monozukuri means ‘production’ or ‘making of things’ in Japanese, and is the Japanese term just for ‘manufacturing’. This Monozukuri spirit was not lost after Meiji restoration on that time of mass production. This is one continuity in Japanese economic history. The system of Japanese economy has also a diversity. Many Japanese economic historians believe that fundamental system of economic policy making had not changed from 1940 till 2000. What happened in 1940? To fight against America, all tax revenue was integrated to central government, and centralization of Japan was completed. By the time of 1950’ to 1970’s, they said Japanese bureaucrats were the smartest in the world, and Ministry of International Trade and Industry planned and decided which sector of industry was current priority to develop. During 1950’s Japan was not a rich country, so they made some law projects and proposed to law makers. Almost any law was approved in the parliament. During 1960’s, after success of the first Tokyo Olympic in 1964 which was held in Asia for the first time, Japan became richer than 1950’, so bureaucrats made plans of capital investment from governmental budget. Conclusion. Japan archived economic miracle mainly by old war time economy and centralization. This is paradox,but these cases are not contradicted because Japan has diversity in any fields. Correct way of economic development will change depending on the period and the situation, and now Japan has also time of decentralization.

Roadwork: expertise at work building roads in the Maldives.

This article engages critically with concepts of ‘skill’, ‘expertise’, and ‘capacity’ as they operate as markers of distinction and domination and shape migratory labour relations among road construction workers from across South Asia in the Maldives archipelago. The article examines roadwork at three levels: the professional biographies leading to ‘flexible specialization’ rather than technical expertise amongst Maldivian managers; the technical expertise and social incorporation of ‘skilled’ Sri Lankan supervisors; and the key material expertise of ‘non‐skilled’ Bangladeshi labourers in precarious employment. Whilst discussions of South Asian labour migration have been dominated by caste and class, this article argues that it is important to consider how the cultural production and understanding of concepts such as ‘expertise’, ‘capacity’, and ‘exposure’ at worksites can (also) become distinguishing factors in (hierarchical) migratory labour relations.

A Hardware–Software Blueprint for Flexible Deep Learning Specialization

This article describes the Versatile Tensor Accelerator (VTA), a programmable DL architecture designed to be extensible in the face of evolving workloads. VTA achieves “flexible specialization” via a parameterizable architecture, two-level Instruction Set Architecture (ISA), and a Just in Time (JIT) compiler.

A flexibilidade por trás das câmeras: transformações na cadeia produtiva do cinema e os impactos no mercado de trabalho

O artigo tem como objetivo analisar as transformações na cadeia produtiva do cinema brasileiro a partir da entrada da Globo filmes no mercado cinematográfico e os impactos para o mercado de trabalho neste setor. O trabalho em cinema caracteriza-se pelas suas dimensões de flexibilidade e incertezas. Neste contexto, a reestruturação da produção de filmes no Brasil acarreta em um processo de desintegração vertical da cadeia produtiva, ao passo que estabelece uma organização extensiva de cooperação entre empresas, apontando para um processo de especialização flexível entre as diversas empresas envolvidas na produção cinematográfica. Como resultado desta dinâmica, ao se observar os dados referentes ao emprego com vínculo no setor do audiovisual, pode-se perceber que as configurações das cadeias produtivas deste segmento compartilham da lógica flexível de produção, marcada pela descentralização dos processos produtivos e terceirização das atividades inerentes à realização das obras audiovisuais. Exemplo disso é o crescimento do número de estabelecimentos empregadores nas atividades de produção e pós-produção, grande parte deles categorizados como pequenas e microempresas.

A Preliminary Exploratory Study on the Implications of Specialization of Labor at the Workplace: The Case of Production Managers in Lebanon, their attitude towards Specialization of Labor and the Consequences of the Implementation of Specialization at the Workplace

“Specialization is for insects,diversification is for humans”.Horizontal division of labor is based on specialization of work. The basic assumption underlying horizontal division of labor is that by making each worker’s task specialized, more work can be produced with the same effort through increased efficiency and quality.However, no known studies in Lebanon were conducted to investigatethe implications of specialization of labor at the workplace.This survey studied the attitude of the production managers in Lebanon towards the specialization of labor, in general, and the consequences of the implementation of specialization at the workplace, in particular. An exploratory survey was conducted using a 17–item questionnairewith 20production managers.It was concludedthat the attitude of the production managers in Lebanon toward the specialization of labor, in general, and the consequences of the implementation of specialization at the workplace, in particular, cannot be considered completely positive; specialization offers advantages and disadvantages for both the management and the labor. Moreover, production managers are hesitant to implement specialization concept in an unpredictable environment like Lebanon; they recommend a flexible specialization.

Turkey s entrepreneur weapons: the driving forces behind Anatolian tigers

Purpose - Liberalization policies of 1980s had transforming and accelerating influence over the formation of Anatolian capital. Taking innovativeness as granted, New Regionalist studies especially on Turkish SMEs explains the reasons of this development. The aim of this article is to evaluate concerning literature and concepts of development style of (Afterwards so called) Anatolian Tigers. Methodology - This research is based on methodology of secondary data analysis: selection and discussion of theoretical and descriptive material, in context, and detailed comparison of theories in terms of their applicability. Findings- Briefly factors to the economic rise of Anatolian Tigers are New industrial spaces conceptualization, Flexible Specialization, Changing aspect of international division of labour, Core-periphery paradigm. Conclusion- Anatolian Tigers development process is reflect of liberalization term of 1980’s, opening Turkey’s doors to the global economy. This development model and the way they integrate to the world economy is unique development style of T

MSMEs Productivity in Nigeria

This study uses the World bank enterprise survey data for Nigeria to examines Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) productivity rate in the Nigerian economy. The study explores factors that constrain MSMES output growth in Nigeria. Some of the factors identified include huge infrastructural gap, inadequate institutional support and low access to credit. The resultant effect is a low investment commitment amongst MSMEs thus hampering the productivity of MSMEs in the Nigerian economy. The MSMEs productivity growth rate was measured using annual sales of firms from the World bank enterprise survey data for Nigeria. This research employs the non-parametric variance estimation using the locally-weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS) method on three sets of two-points data (2006 and 2003, 2008 and 2002, and finally 2012 and 2009) of annual fiscal sales for each category of firms comprising micro, small, medium and large firms. The result shows that the small businesses have a negative productivity growth rate in Nigeria. This in line with IFC (2013) which found that small businesses have the least productivity growth rate amongst firms of all sizes. However, this study departs from IFC findings which states that small businesses’ low productivity growth rate is tenable across all the sectors of the economy. The study found that small businesses actually recorded high productivity growth rate in some subsectors of the economy that specializes in product customization such as garment and furniture. Therefore, this study validates the flexible specialization theory that emphases the economic importance of MSMEs in the post-industrial era where product customization is the new order of production. The policy implication of this study is that any targeted intervention in the MSMEs sub-sector of the economy designed to increase productivity, should be channeled into the subsector with the most employee specialization as well as product customization.Keyword(s): MSMEs, small business, Output, Productivity, JEL Classifications: P42 M13 O55