Book Reviews : John T. Mentzer (ed.), Supply Chain Management, New Delhi: Res ponse Books, 2001, pp. 524

acy, and direct community participation. Ironically, the industrial sector in Kerala has remained backward despite a highly disciplined labour force. While the production base has remained underdeveloped the social relation of production has been transformed. Despotic management practices have been replaced by a sophisticated industrial regime resilient enough to adopt class compromise. Mobilisation and the act of bringing together various organised and unorganised labourers under the umbrella of unions resulted in narrowing the gap in wages between the two. It also forced the adoption of modem management techniques and an industrial reconciliation process unique to Kerala where the ’brokerage’ role of the union leaders and the politics of ’fragmented incorporation and appeasement’ on the part of the government have been kept to a minimum. Instead of the role