ABSTRACT
This chapter examines that an up-to-date concept of flexible specialization must also take account of the fact that the institutional setting has changed during the last three decades. The deliberations highlight three aspects, dealing with the results of such recommendations for flexible specialization and the ensuing strategies in the production process: First, 'flexibility' is not a general solution for companies, but a strategy leading to advantages as well as disadvantages. Yet in some regions such as Baden-Wurttemberg, Herrigel did find strong regional debates on the possibility and desirability of a future local economy; we will focus on such networks of regional actors and their discourse on regional specialization and diversification. An executive of a world market leader with more than 5,000 employees illustrated this as follows: 'German mechanical engineering companies are often so strong in terms of innovation that the single long-term risk for dropping out of the market is their financial situation'.
