AbstractProduction and inventory control systems as steering and monitoring mechanisms were formalized at an early stage in large American firms. The shape and use of these systems contains many core features which are identifiably American and reflect their societal embedding. These core features are evident in their contemporary variants. When the systems were transferred to Japan, key elements of the core were repositioned to create an alternative template of corporate coordination. In Britain their adaptive implementation is impeded by the competing templates of international best practice and by the structured inability to create a relevant blending of the available elements.