Customer relationship management
1. Fordism and Post Fordism

In the early twentieth century production of goods moved from small scale, craft production to mass production. Increased technology and mechanisation meant that goods could be produced on a large scale. The most well-known organisation that introduced this new type of mass production was the Ford Motor Company. Fordism involved the introduction of the assembly line which increased mechanisation of the labour process and control over the pace and intensity of work. It was marked by inflexibility in a process that was overseen by a bureaucratic and hierarchical managerial system. A semi-skilled labour force was employed for highly specialized and repetitive tasks. Ford’s assembly line process spread to other industry as well. Fordism forwarded the idea of centralized control, standardization and the ability to foster and meet the needs of mass consumption of goods and services.
Post-Fordism refers to the age of technological advancements post World War II that transformed the mechanics of production. Post-Fordism also saw a streamlining of the management system to give greater flexibility, smaller work forces and specialist sections within the same company. Fordism was wholly focused on mass consumption: building an entire car to be bought by millions. Post-Fordism was concerned with consumer choice and the segmentation of the marketplace. There was a higher emphasis on personal consumer tastes and individuality. Instead of producing generic goods, firms now found it more profitable to produce diverse product lines targeted at different groups of consumers, appealing to their sense of taste and fashion. Instead of investing huge amounts of money on the mass production of a single product, firms now needed to build intelligent systems of labour and machines that were flexible and could quickly respond