PRODUCTION NETWORKS, LINKAGES, INNOVATION PROCESSES AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES : A METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH APPLIED TO THE ARGENTINE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY

MARTA NOVICK; GABRIEL YOGUEL

Congreso; Réseau International, N° 32, Recents trends in the relationships between automobile OEMs and their suppliers; 2001

This paper deals with the international debate referred to the new forms of organization of more complex production processes arisen from theappearance of new information-intensive technoorganizational paradigms which catalyze the development of globalization and open regionalism processes. These transformations have brought about a crisis in the conception of competitiveness as a phenomenon of exclusively macroeconomic and sectorial nature, determined either by compared static advantages or by factorial resources.Demand volatility, market segmentation, product life cycle reduction, strategic uncertainties associated to the new world scenario, and the possibility ofcombining scale and scope economies, also imply a considerable increase in the competitive pressure that economic agents must confront. To the traditionalmacroeconomic and sectorial factors which constituted the key elements of competitiveness in the previous scenario, other elements depending uponthe degree of development of the local milieu, the creation of networks and the conduct of agents are to be added.