NUMMI VS UDDEVALLA - WHICH PRODUCTIVE MOD EL FOR TOMORROWS INDUSTRY

Among the many debates about the new productive systems designed to go beyond the Ford/Taylorist model, the notion of ''organizational learn ing'' constitutes one of the better ways to analyze the effectiveness of the ''models'' in question. This theory is applied to two, now clas sical, cases: Nummi and Uddevalla - a Japanese transplant in the USA a nd an original experiment in Sweden. With reference to these two cases , learning is theorized as an evolving process of both diffusion and i nnovation. This theory is broader than the much too static image conve yed by the notion of a model. Actors and the organization jointly part icipate in selecting and retaining knowledge, which alone can effectiv ely respond to the ups and downs of production and the marketplace.