The system of flexible production at dispersed location is known as _____.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Post-Fordism
Option (1) Post-Fordism — Correct. With globalisation, firms outsource work and use flexible labour. Instead of mass production at one centralised location, production has moved to a system of flexible production at dispersed locations, called post-Fordism. A car sold as American, for instance, is made with labour, parts and services from several countries.
Option (2) Fordism — Incorrect. Fordism is the earlier system that post-Fordism replaced: mass production of goods at a centralised location, as on Henry Ford’s assembly line.
Option (3) Taylorism — Incorrect. Taylorism is the system invented by Taylor, involving the break-up of work into small tasks under management control. It is about organising work inside the factory, not about spreading production over many places.
Option (4) Post Taylorism — Incorrect. Moving beyond Taylor’s system would concern how work is controlled, not where it is located; the name for production spread over dispersed locations is post-Fordism.
NCERT (2025-26): “Globalisation and a New International Division of Labour … This entire process makes the labouring population very vulnerable and insecure. This flexibility of labour often works in favour of the producers. Instead of mass production of goods at a centralised location (Fordism), we have moved to a system of flexible production at dispersed locations (post-Fordism).” |