ABSTRACT
Flexibility is one of the key terms used to characterise the radical change processes currently observed in many companies within the service and industrial sectors. As early as the 1980s, a ‘search for flexibility’ had been ascertained in the European context (Boyer 1988). What was meant by that term were the various attempts of companies to break up the Fordistic-era structures and regulations, which were felt to be rigid, in favour of a more flexible adaptation to the challenges of internationalised markets.
