From Efficiency to Flexibility: Entropic Measures of Market Complexity and Production Flexibility

		/vol03/finalst3/	© Copyright 1996
		Volume 03	Received: Accepted:	---- ----

From Efficiency to Flexibility: Entropic Measures of Market Complexity and Production Flexibility Robert B. Johnston
Abstract
	Current manufacturing rhetoric envisions a flexible producer servicing a demanding market-place with complex tastes. Conventional cost trade-off models fail to capture the complexity issues underlying the new vision. This paper analyses a simple model of a choosy customer and a flexible producer and shows how the terms market complexity, production flexibility and customer focus can be given precise definitions using information theory. Evidence is presented that lack of production flexibility in a complex market invariably results in costs to the producer which were not generally considered important in the mass production era.

Full Text

Multimedia Links
(none)

Reference Links
(none)

Citation Reference

Get viewers
for PS & PDF

[CI Editor] [Site Manager]