Persistent Structures in a Turbulent World: The Division of Labor in the German Chemical Industry

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, various scholars have concluded that a recovery from the Fordist crisis will require that rigid Fordist practices and structures in the industrial sector be replaced by flexible ones. The mode of development to follow, often referred to as a post-Fordist or after-Fordist mode, is often assumed to be characterized by flexibility in technologies, labor, and production processes. Aside from idealistic scenarios and limited empirical findings, relatively little is known about the product, process, and linkage structures which will lead to a new mode of development. The degree to which flexibility processes will be influential is also unclear. It is within this context that I try to provide new insights into the changing nature of industrial production and the social and technical division of labor, with the aid of results from a recent study of the German chemical industry (basic chemicals; pigments, dyes, paints, varnishes; and pharmaceuticals). Using a postal survey of 155 German chemical firms and 18 firm case studies, I investigate how firms have adjusted their product and process configurations and their supplier relations and customer relations to meet the changing technological, economic, and societal settings. According to my analysis, it seems unlikely that industrial development will follow a single growth trajectory towards flexibility. Increases in flexibility in products and processes are often only subordinate goals, or are not considered necessary. I describe how chemical firms benefit from spatial proximity to their supplier and customer bases. I also provide evidence that most firms rely on strategically important stable linkages within the short and middle distance.