In this analysis of Americanisation in European and Japanese industry after the World War II, contributors analyse the autonomous and creative role of local actors in selectively adapting US technology and management methods to suit local conditions and, strikingly, in creating new hybrid forms.

Chapter 1: Introduction: Americanization and Its Limits: Reworking US Technology and Management in Post-War Europe and Japan ; PART I: EXPORTING THE AMERICAN MODEL? ; Chapter 2: Americanization: Ideology or Process? The Case of the US Technical Assistance and Productivity Program ; Chapter 3: Transplanting the American Model? US Automobile Companies and the Transfer of Technology and Management to Europe after the Second World War ; PART II: REWORKING US TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT: NATIONAL, SECTORAL, AND FIRM-LEVEL VARIATIONS ; A: BRITAIN AND SWEDEN ; Chapter 4: Americanizing British Engineering? Strategic Debate, Selective Adaptation, and Hybrid Innovation in Post-War Reconstruction ; Chapter 5: Failure to Communicate: British Telecommunications and the American Lesson ; Chapter 6: Creative Cross-Fertilization and Uneven Americanization of Swedish Industry: Sources of Innovation in Post-War Motor Vehicles and Electrical Manufacturing ; B: FRANCE AND ITALY ; Chapter 7: A Slow and Difficult Process: The Americanization of the French Steel Producing and Using Industries after World War II ; Chapter 8: Remodelling the Italian Steel Industry: Americanization, Modernization, and Mass Production ; Chapter 9: Mass Production or 'Organized Craftsmanship'? The Post-War Italian Automobile Industry ; C: GERMANY AND JAPAN ; Chapter 10: The Long Shadow of Americanization: The German Rubber Industry and the Radial Tire Revolution ; Chapter 11: The Evolution of the 'Japanese Production System': Indigenous Influences and American Impact ; Chapter 12: American Occupation, Market Order, and Democracy: Reconfiguring the Japanese and German Steel Industries after World War II

A major addition to [the] literature ... this book is a major enrichment of our understanding of 'Americanization', combining a rich array of new research with a rigorous attention to problems of conceptualization.

`this is an important book bringing together for the first time a great deal of useful information.' History, vol. 86, no. 284 `The detailed essays provide some fascinating examples of transatlantic interaction.' History, vol. 86, no. 284 `this book is the best by far of the recent spate of studies of Americanization, and it will be invaluable to scholars and students in a variety of fields.' Dr Raymond Stokes, University of Glasgow - Technology and Culture, Vol.42

Addresses central problems of cross-national diffusion and transfer of productive models Particularly relevant for contemporary debates regarding globablization, Americanization, and Japanization in the industrial economy Based on a rich set of sectoral and firm-based studies Analyses cover the UK, France, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and Germany

Jonathan Zeitlin is Professor of History, Sociology, and Industrial Relations, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA; and Jean Monnet Fellow, European University Institute, Florence, Italy. Gary Herrigel is Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago, USA.

Addresses central problems of cross-national diffusion and transfer of productive models Particularly relevant for contemporary debates regarding globablization, Americanization, and Japanization in the industrial economy Based on a rich set of sectoral and firm-based studies Analyses cover the UK, France, Italy, Japan, Sweden, and Germany