ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the constructs of Fordism followed by a discussion of the effects of post-Fordism and neoliberal economic structures in higher education. The economic market effects on higher education systems are also described, as are the effects this may have for open and distance education providers. The successes of net-based distance delivered offerings by open and distance education providers were going unnoticed by established on-campus institutions of higher education. Beginning with the global economic downturn of the Great Depression, followed by the economic crisis of the 1980s, and more recently with the American financial crisis of 2007/08, institutions of higher education have been forced to reimagine themselves. Part of the persistence in this belief stems from the impact of a post-Fordist mode of capital accumulation that is characterized by flexible modes of mass production according to the just-in-time principle aimed at being more responsive to changes in consumer demand.
