This casebook focuses on the introduction of change at the plant level. The cases look at implementing new technology, systems, and structures and what it takes to turn around "rust-belt" factories. The cases are action oriented and force students to make realistic decisions. The book is interdisciplinary, in that it integrated the social and technical aspects of change.

For three years, seventeen university researchers worked with representatives of thirty-four corporations to analyze the present state of Japanese manufacturing and to identify the challenges Japan will face in the twenty-first century. The result of their study is Made in Japan. Winner of the Shingo Research and Professional Publication Prize for 1999In 1989 the MIT Press published Made in America, a landmark study by The MIT Commission on Industrial Productivity, an interdisciplinary group of MIT faculty members. The study analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of American industry and set forth a strategic plan for revitalizing American productivity. Inspired by the MIT study, the Japan Techno-Economics Society formed the Japan Commission on Industrial Performance (JCIP). For three years, seventeen university researchers worked with representatives of thirty-four corporations to analyze the present state of Japanese manufacturing and to identify the challenges Japan will face in the twenty-first century. The result of their study is Made in Japan. Made in Japan has a broader perspective than its American model, whose focus was limited to issues of productivity. The book is divided into three parts. Part I is a general overview. Part II is an in-depth analysis of seven industries: industrial electronics, consumer electronics, automobiles, metal products, industrial machinery, chemicals, and textiles. Part III identifies common problems and makes recommendations for industrial policy. The topics covered in the study are grounded in such fundamental issues as global environmental problems, competitiveness, and the free market economy system.

Pakistan’s development efforts are guided by its 2011 Framework for Economic Growth, which identifies actions needed to create a prosperous, industrialized Pakistan through rapid and sustainable development. Industrialization has the potential to drive Pakistan’s economic growth and contribute significantly to meeting both economic and human development goals in Pakistan. Expansions of industrialization activities, whether in highly developed or developing countries, can be stimuli for intense debate about such projects’ benefits and costs to the region in which they are to be located, to the national economy—and to human health and the environment. Pakistan’s 2011 Framework for Economic Growth recognizes that, to accelerate industrialization, Pakistan must reduce the cost of doing business and create an incentive structure designed to achieve a competitive, dynamic, and export-driven industrial sector capable of providing employment to the growing labor force. Competing in global markets requires a socially and environmentally sustainable industrialization strategy. The four main inputs for sustainable industrial growth in Pakistan discussed in this book are 1) Macroeconomic stability and sectoral policies to support industrial competitiveness by allowing long-term planning, including investments in infrastructure and cleaner production. 2) Upgraded trade facilitation and infrastructure (particularly transport and energy) to address some of industrialization’s spatial aspects. Improved transport infrastructure will lower production’s environmental costs. 3) Greening of Pakistan’s industrial sector to enhance international competitiveness—“greening” will make Pakistan a more attractive export partner for nations and firms committed to green production. 4) Strong institutions—for example, environmental management agencies to control pollution, and cleaner production centers to increase domestic awareness of international environmental standards—to implement industrialization initiatives effectively, including those for small and medium-sized enterprises. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of issues relating to the debate about Pakistan’s green industrial growth and lays out priorities and strategies for “greening” Pakistan’s industrial growth.

This book aims to investigate how cities in China's rust belt restructure their urban industries and economies. Over the years, China's “economic miracle” has been mainly attributed to rapid development in its coastal region, where the majority of research into the country's development has originated from. Development in the rest of China seems to be attracting relatively scant research attention, especially in China's rust belt. In fact, the urban industrial restructuring process is an ongoing process in inland China, notably in the recent decade in terms of the scope, scale and speed of restructuring.The old industrial cities in northeast China (Manchuria) were the cradle of China's industrialization and had significantly contributed to the industrialization of the nation during the Mao era. Deng's open door policy and economic reform disadvantaged the region and left it behind others. In the context of market economy and competition from rapidly growing coastal areas, northeast China became the burden to China's overall economic development. With a high concentration of state-owned heavy industries, cities in this region suffered from heavy losses in revenue and massive layoffs of millions of former state-owned enterprise workers, known as the “Northeast Phenomenon” or “Neo-Northeast Phenomenon”. The once towering economic giant was down. Such a “phenomenon” is not uncommon in other “rust belt” regions in industrialized economies.However, since the implementation of the Chinese Government's “Revitalisation Strategy of Northeast China” in 2003, cities in northeast China have gone through various transformations. Their recent economic performance has made many Chinese economists predict that northeast China will become China's new growth engine and catch up with the economic performance of other prosperous regional economies such as the Pearl River Delta, Lower Yangtze River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin region.This book investigates how cities in northeast China are shaking off their economic disadvantages and implementing various forms of restructuring in their industries. The authors identify six different reindustrialization models, namely Shenyang Tiexi Model — repacking old industries; Dalian Model — beyond the China's coast development model; Daqing Model — extension of industrial chain; Fuxin Model — modern agro-processing saved the coal mining city from “ghost town”; Jilin city — low carbon-oriented model; and Central Liaoning Urban Cluster Model — negotiated/agreed industrial division. All these models will be explained through analysis of their approaches, key actors, and mechanisms.

Community development expert Ilana Preuss explains how local leaders can revitalize their downtowns or neighborhood main streets by bringing in and supporting small-scale manufacturing. Small-scale manufacturing businesses help create thriving places, with local business ownership opportunities and well-paying jobs that other business types can't fulfill.