Knowledge Wharton
Can 'Cash for Clunkers' Help Jump-start the Auto Industry?Ford reported its first sales gain in 20 months, thanks to the U.S. government's "cash for clunkers"... More »
How Hyundai Sells More When Everyone Else Is Selling Less
In 2008 -- a brutal year for the auto business -- Hyundai Motor's global unit sales rose 2%, lifting revenues ... More »
John Paul MacDuffie
Research Publications Biography
Research Areas
Flexible/lean production systems; organizational learning and knowledge transfer; modularity and "build-to-order"; managing organizational and technological change; collaborative design and production; international comparative human resource strategies; the changing employment contract
Current Projects
Lean production: its consequences for productivity, quality, and product variety; its diffusion across company and country boundaries; and its reliance on high performance work systems. Longitudinal data collection over 10 years from international sample of 70+ automotive assembly plants. "Build-to-order" how it may be facilitated by the Internet and by experiments with modular design and production. The impact of B2B exchanges on historically-established modes of exchange between customers and suppliers.
