Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
furnace process. But the pace of innovation has been slight compared with the
learning ability of LDCS, which now threaten all the old steel regions of Europe,
such as South Wales or the Basque country in Spain.
From the above commentary, it is apparent that the product cycle poses some
problems for central regions. But in reality, for most kinds of products and most
kinds of regional division of labour, it is the peripheral regions that are at
greatest risk from the cycle processes. In these outer regions, the labour force
suffers from the lack of any attempt on the part of the controlling firm to build
new skills. Since standard low-skill work is all that is required, the labour force
is poorly paid, which gives it little chance to improve its lot; there is no role for,
or creation of, innovators and entrepreneurs who might be able to develop their
own technology and thus new firms. Perhaps the main drawback is the
dependency relationship of peripheral factory to central factory, or peripheral
firm to central firm. The peripheral unit has no connections to other firms or
outlets for its products, and is dominated by the central firm or factory. It is often
also a unit producing a single standard product, using a single type of process.
This technological rigidity means that the peripheral unit, and the whole region
associated with it, has no obvious means of developing the skills or the
machinery to produce other goods. It is such regions that feel the blight of
technology moving on. For Massey (1984), they are the victims of mobile
capitalism; in reality, they are the victims of moving technology, of
technological change. Rigidity in operation, whether of process or product or
both, means that any change in fashion (in the case of such sectors as textiles and
clothing), or change in raw materials (substitution of an expensive metal for a
cheaper or a more durable one in car manufacture), may mean that the factory
cannot continue production at all. At the simplest level, the product cycle leads to
all countries or regions having the technology and other factors to make the
product (such as the generator); in reality, there is constant innovation, which
favours the central regions as a whole, especially if they have control of complex
manufactures such as motor vehicles, and a choice of processes and products to
put into the finished machine.
Flexibility
The product cycle is thus linked to the division of labour, and both are linked to
the industrial fate of regions and countries. But on its own, the product cycle
does not tell us the complete story of the structure of modern industry. In the
situation for industries of relatively advanced technology such as car-making,
and because there is a constant stream of new products through innovation, a semi-
permanent division arises, between the tasks undertaken by productive units in
the centre, intermediate and peripheral areas. Central units conduct
administration, research and development tasks. Those in intermediate locations
make components or even finished products, but without the higher
administrative and research functions. The outer regions are given the tasks of
