ABSTRACT
The late 1970s and early 1980s witnessed the nadir of Coventry's economic fortunes in the latter half of the twentieth century, with the city having a distinct air of gloom surrounding it. Coventry's car industry gradually pulled itself away from the dark days of the late 1970s, and stabilised, but not without periods of serious uncertainty. The Japanese producers entered an industry that was trying to rationalise itself and improve its productivity and quality in attempts to make itself competitive in Britain, let alone in Europe or globally. Lean production taught that assemblers, manufacturers and suppliers should attempt to avoid adversarial confrontational bargaining, in favour of long-term agreements and partnerships. This was not simply a structural change in the bargaining process, it was part of Rover's attempts to introduce Total Quality Improvement, not only within itself but also with its associated companies, which ultimately would lead to total customer satisfaction.
