Opel Eisenach GMBH—Creating a high-productivity workplace

The German automotive industry continues to struggle against increasingly adverse conditions—pampered workers, inefficient production techniques, and a strong currency that threatens to price cars out of the market. Enter an unlikely competitor-General Motor's Opel subsidiary in Eisenach, in the former German Democratic Republic. Designed as a unique experiment, the recreated plant combines a lean production system, cellular assembly, flexible working arrangements, learning opportunities, and teamwork to create a high-productivity workplace. Interviews with workers at Opel Eisenach show that this approach has a profound impact on worker motivation. The plant produced 160,000 cars in 1995, a remarkable accomplishment that has caught the attention of the entire European auto industry.     

II. Allgemeine und angewandte Statistik

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Perspektiven der globalen Erdöl–Versorgung und nationale Energiepolitik

Erdöl ist der mit Abstand wichtigste Primärenergieträger. Wie steht es um die langfristige Verfügbarkeit von Rohöl? Wie werden sich Angebot und Nachfrage entwickeln? Bleibt die deutsche Rohölversorgung langfristig gesichert?Dr. Jörg Adolf, 38, ist Mitarbeiter eines Energieunternehmens. Der Aufsatz gibt seine persönliche Meinung wieder.     

VII. Erzeugung und handle,warenmärkte

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Zur Synthese nutzen- und kostentheoretischer Ansätze in der Wertlehre

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Die konkurrenzwirtschaftliche Marktanpassung einzelner Unternehmungen innerhalb einer Industrie

Ohne ZusammenfassungMit 6 Textabbildungen     

Welche Rolle können Biokraftstoffe im Verkehrssektor spielen?

Biofuels have been the only alternative fuel which has substantially contributed to supplying transport with energy. Biofuels enjoyed broad support, but now they have come under criticism. In order to obtain answers to the question of what role biofuels could play in the future fuel mix, the following aspects are analysed: competing uses of scarce biomass and biofuels; sustainability of biofuels, standards and certification schemes; types and availability of biofuels; potentials for bioenergy and biofuels; and the technical compatibility of biofuels with vehicles. Finally, preconditions and necessary policy measures for the increased deployment of sustainable biofuels are examined.     

Estimating the trans-log cost function with insufficient observations

If the production technology is non-homothetic, efficient estimation of the trans-log approximation requires joint estimation of the cost and share equations. In this note we adopt the method of extraneous estimation to obtain a method of efficient joint estimation when there are insufficient observations on the cost equation.