IMPLEMENTATION OF STANDARDS: WHAT ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF A CONVERGENCE PRODUCTION SYSTEM BY INTERNATIONAL RULES?

Globalisation puts an increasing adaptation pressure on national systems and their economic actors, the companies. This pressure leads-as is one point of view-to an increasing convergence on a “global model”, which maybe a result of a “race-to-thebottom” or “race-to-the-top”-process, or just an Anglo-American model. The opposing view states that because of path dependencies national idiosyncrasies continue to exist and that national characteristics for example in business organisation and industrial organisation do not converge on an international pattern. This raises the question in what way economic actors have to adapt to global rules or if they are left with some scope to act.