ABSTRACT. Scott offers an analysis of the complex interrelationships between metropolitan development in the United States and the logic and dynamics of the system of economic production. Kovács and Moniz analyze the problems and trends of the introduction of anthropocentric production systems (APS) in small less industrialized member states of the European Union (specifically the case of Portugal). Hudson argues that recognizing the pervasiveness of inter-firm co-operation highlights the necessity to conceptualize production as a system organized across as well as within firm boundaries. Mochida and Ohira point out that the training of people who can be active anywhere in the world where oil and natural gas resources exist is an urgent task for Japan.