Surfing the Global Tide : Automotive Giants and How to Survive Them

Car manufacturing epitomizes modern industry, yet the overall perspective has been lost in speculation and self-promotion. Based on six years of research, this book is the first in years to reassess the industry. The result is a paradigm that quantifies the fundamental economies of scale and firm organizational structure. Although the automotive industry is one that, for many, represents a defining feature of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, it is also an industry that is poorly understood. Despite the plethora of literary material dedicated to the subject, the overall perspective of the industry has been lost in speculation and self-promotion. The result of six years of research at Cardiff Business School, 'Surfing the Global Tide' is the first book in years to reassess the structuring forces that shape the industry. The result is a new paradigm for the industry that sets out how firms should be integrated and quantifies the economies of scale necessary for long-term survival. The book explains why the global giants have grown bloated beyond economic necessity, and suggests the vertical joint venture as a strategy for small firms to punch above their weight Front Matter....Pages i-xii Raising the leviathan....Pages 1-19 Fundamentals of scale....Pages 20-40 Economies of scale in the automobile industry....Pages 41-71 Structuring the firm....Pages 72-99 Constructing the automobile industry paradigm....Pages 100-130 Approximating to the automobile industry paradigm....Pages 131-182 Opening the door to China....Pages 183-216 The paradigm in the automobile industry of the future....Pages 217-238 Epilog 2009: The Battle for the United States....Pages 239-243 Back Matter....Pages 244-271

Car manufacturing epitomizes modern industry, yet the overall perspective has been lost in speculation and self-promotion. Based on six years of research, this book is the first in years to reassess the industry. The result is a paradigm that quantifies the fundamental economies of scale and firm organizational structure.