Part 1 Volvo's innovative Uddevalla and Kalmar plants: the creation of a new production system at the Volvo automobile assembly plant in Uddevalla, Sweden, Kajsa Ellegard; production system design - a brief summary of some Swedish design efforts, Tomas Engstrom and Lars Medbo; the Uddevalla plant - why did it succeed with a holistic approach and hyw did it come to an end?, Lennart Nilsson; Volvo Kalmar - twice a pioneer, Thomas Sandberg. Part 2 The performance of the Uddevalla plant in a comparative perspective: the fate of the branch plants - performance versus power, Christian Berggen; assembly skills, process engineering and engineering design, Henrik Blomgren and Bo Karlson; building for new production concepts, Colin Clipson, Jesper Steen, Anders Tornqvist and Peter Ullmark; designed for learning - a tale of two auto plants, Paul S. Adler and Robert E. Cole; limits to innovation in work organization?, Bob Hancke and Saul Rubenstein; group work and the reception of Uddevalla in German car industry, Ulrich Jurgens. Part 3 Volvo car plants internationally and the alliance with Renault: Volvo truck and bus in the UK - the clash of the titans, Paul Thompson and Terry Wallace; Volvo-Gent - a Japanese transplant in Belgium or beyond?, Rik Huys and Geert Van Hootegem; first DAF, then Volvo and now Mitsubishi, Ben Dankbaar; missing the road - working life at Volvo Nova Scotia, L. Anders Sandberg; Volvo in Malaysia, Hing Ai Yun; the origins of team work at Renault, Michel Freyssenet; fait accompli / - a Machiavellian interpretation of the Renault-Volvo merger, Karel Williams et al. Part 4 Beyond lean production: Japanese work policy - opportunity, challenge or threat?, Norbert Altmann; lean production in the automobile industry - second thoughts, Dan Jonsson; humanization of the production system and work at Toyota Motor Co and Toyota Motor Kyushu, Koicki Shimizu; recent developments at Toyota Motor Co, Terje Gronning; social preconditions for lean management and its further development, Paul Lillrank; lean production - the micro-macro dimension, employment and the welfare stater, Peter Auer.
