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Japan has no more rabbits to pull out of the hat -- its automotive production system has matured, and the industry is in decline. So argues the author, who shows how exchange rates, demographics, and the increasing sophistication of U.S. management are causing a shift in relative competitiveness. Furthermore, these changes affect most Japanese industries, and U.S. managers should be prepared to take advantage of them.

What happens if an applicant for a job in your firm has a disability -- is blind or infected with HIV or epileptic? Will you know how to treat that applicant without discrimination? The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed to make sure that the 15 million disabled people not already covered by antidiscrimination legislation would be assessed for jobs on their skills and abilities, not on their disabilities. This article will help you begin to plan for the day that applicant walks in your door.

Analog Devices is a case study in how management innovation is a key to competitiveness.

Accounting is an integral part of the planning and control system of any manufacturing operation. Yet in many companies the accounting function has failed to adapt to a new competitive environment that requires continuous improvement in the design, manufacturing, and marketing of a product. As a result, corporate strategies that depend on success in manufacturing are endangered by obsolete and restrictive accounting systems. This article describes how one division brought its accounting systems into line with the rest of the operation.

There is an abundance of theories about the organizational impact of information technology -- but an odd lack of consensus, given the extraordinary attention this subject receives. Researchers at MIT's Center for Information Systems Research recently attempted to refocus the issue, and in this article they describe the results of their investigation. They looked at the major theoretical approaches that have been propounded and found that each contributed something important, but that none was sufficient by itself. The authors synthesize the various schools of thought -- and the results of their own research -- by arguing that IT's most important role is allowing firms to manage organizational interdependence.

The classic article has been read by countless business-school students and marketing professionals since it originally appeared in 1977. The model proposed at that time -- which outlined how an independent entity should go about assessing an existing marketing program -- was sufficiently streamlined that it holds up very well today. In their retrospective comments, the authors discuss marketing issues that have come to the forefront in the intervening years: globalization of markets, information technology, communications/promotion technology, strategic planning, more sophisticated analytical tools, and the increased attention paid to marketing throughout the organization. They close with suggestions on how to implement marketing audit recommendations.

The fact that Japanese manufacturers made tremendous inroads on the global automobile market during the 1970s will surprise nobody. What may surprise many is that Toyota's productivity rates exceeded U.S. manufacturers' as long ago as the 1960s. Business historian Michael A. Cusumano details the spectacular developments in Japanese productivity, quality, and process flexibility that have occurred over the past thirty years.

Originally published in 1968, Edgar Schein's article examined the process by which a new member adapts to the value system of an organization. It pointed out that both nonconformity and overconformity to an organization's norms present their own dangers. In an afterword to this republished article, Schein reflects on the paradoxes that have arisen in the field of organizational development in the past twenty years. Some experts now argue that corporate culture should encourage diversity; others argue that it should stress loyalty (in a sense, nonconformity versus overconformity). Schein himself defends a less "canned" approach: accept the culture that exists and make the best of it.

The author examines the simple but profound hypothesis that reducing throughput time (the length of time between the arrival of raw materials at the factory and the shipment of the finished product) is the single most important determinant of improved factory productivity. He concludes that focusing on throughput time forces managers to reduce inventories, setup time, and lot sizes; in addition, it encourages improved quality, revamped factory layout, stabilized production schedules, and minimized engineering changes. The three research studies on which this article is based indicate that, of all the possible techniques for improving productivity, only the JIT-related ones are statistically, demonstrably effective.