HOW GREEN PRODUCTION MIGHT SUSTAIN THE WORLD

A 1990 MIT study of the world auto industry celebrated lean production (producing more product of higher quality with fewer people in less t ime) as the management paradigm used with great success by many Japane se companies over the past three decades to gain a decisive competitiv e advantage over western competitors (Womack et al. 1990). Evidence is accumulating, however, that the end of the lean production era may be near, and a new strategic paradigm-''green production''-may be taking shape. Indeed, green business strategies based on the principle of en vironmental sustainability may constitute a key competitive advantage in the coming decades.