This paper takes issue with accounts that argue that flexible specialization is the appropriate industrial paradigm for the high-end, fashion segment of the apparel industry. Many accounts have argued that apparel factories using mass-production face three obstacles in this segment of the industry: they cannot produce goods quickly enough, they cannot change styles fast enough, and they cannot meet quality standards. Evidence from two case studies and a review of the industry press reveals that large firms in the 1990s have been able to meet these challenges using mass production methods. Quality challenges have been met by the implementation of hyper-Taylorist labor practices such as “statistical process control.”
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