Automotive production systems and standardisation : From Ford to the case of Mercedes-Benz
The introduction of the Mercedes-Benz Production System (MPS) is exemplary of a trend within the automotive industry: the creation and introduction of company-specific standardised production systems. This book contributes to the debate about production systems by examining the social and economic implications of the role of standardisation in production systems. In this context it addresses three core issues: First, the driving forces behind the changing forms and functions of standardisation and the role of institutions therein. Second, the impact of standardisation on the evolution of automotive production systems. Third, based on the author's own empirical research conducted over a three year period at the Mercedes-Benz plant Stuttgart-Untertürkheim/Germany, the book examines the influence of standardisation on the work of actors on the shop floor in terms of organisational learning processes and the regulation of work.
Applying fuzzy mathematics to formal models in comparative politics
This book explores the intersection of fuzzy mathematics and the spatial modeling of preferences in political science. This book develops single- and multidimensional models of fuzzy preference landscapes and characterizes the surprisingly high levels of stability that emerge from interactions between players operating.
A Modern Course in Aeroelasticity
In this new edition, the fundamental material on classical linear aeroelasticity has been revised. Also new material has been added describing recent results on the research frontiers dealing with nonlinear aeroelasticity as well as major advances in the modelling of unsteady aerodynamic flows using the methods of computational fluid dynamics and reduced order modeling techniques.


