Fifty years of shifting paradigms

Abstract

This paper considers some of the changes in thinking and the resulting paradigm shifts which have influenced the nature of business since the International Journal of Production Research was first published in 1961, and which have significantly transformed the productivity of industry and the quality of its goods and services. Rather than speculating on the likely paradigm shifts over the next 50 years, the paper considers some of the current social and economic pressures which are likely to contribute to future changes.

Keywords:

• manufacturing
• paradigm
• productivity
• supply chains
• sustainability