J. Service Science & Management, 2010, 3, 419-428 doi: 10.4236/jssm.2010.34048 Published Online December 2010 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/jssm) Copyright © 2010 SciRes. JSSM 419 A Roadmap for Reconfiguring Industrial Enterprises as a Consequence of Global Economic Crisis (GEC) Ibrahim H. Garbie Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman. Email: garbie@squ.edu.om Received September 2 nd , 2010; revised October 14 th , 2010; accepted November 20 th , 2010. ABSTRACT Due to the existing depression, industrial enterprises in most of the world require to be reconfigured and/or reorgan- ized especially the manufacturing firms (companies). As a consequence of the global economic crisis (GEC), great po- litical and economical maybe changed and some companies will go out from business and others will be merged with other firms. Also, a big effecting will be represented in unemployment. The industrial enterprises will start to deal in- tensively for better utilization of resources (e.g., equipments, machines, etc.) and human resources. There are a lot of issues needed to be addressed to cope with this recession. The most important issue is then the opportunity to learn new skills and techniques. The other issues which this paper illustrated representing in complexity level of industrial enter- prises, designing hybrid or innovative manufacturing systems, applied manufacturing strategies and philosophies, product development, management for change, and good accounting system. In this paper, a conceptual framework as a roadmap for discussing these issues of reconfiguring industrial enterprises will be explained and discussed. The analy- sis shows that reconfiguring industrial enterprises is not easy task and a multi-dimensional problem. Keywords: Reconfigurable Industrial Enterprises, Global Recession 1. Introduction As the world leaders of group of 20 (G20) discussed the need for a fiscal stimulus package at the global level, which should be coordinated by industrialized nations, the leaders of the 20 top economies, led by the United States and the European Union, reached a deal to better regulate global financial markets and take steps to halt a global economic slide. They said also if you would like to initiate this process in the global economic crisis (GEC), it requires a coordinated global response. As also reconfigurable industrial/manufacturing enterprises are increasingly recognized today as a necessity for indus- trial enterprises in a global economy due to this global recession, the idea of reconfiguration was appearing as a new philosophy or strategy since almost 10 years ago. This concept will allow customized needs and require- ments not only in producing a product or a variety of products and changing in market demand, but also in changing and reengineering the industrial enterprise itself. This reconfiguring is not only in the physical system but also in every item involved in the infrastructure. One feature with respect to this depression is how these ex- isting companies (firms) reconfigured to be adaptive to a change in market, thereby enabling an enterprise to be responsive to a dynamic market demand. Based on these concepts and due to the existing depression, industrial enterprises in most of the world require to be reconfig- ured and/or reorganized especially the manufacturing firms (companies). Also, a big effecting will be repre- sented in unemployment. Unemployment has become the global top concern. Now, the number one concern is the fear of unemployment which was caused by the global economic crisis especially in North Americans, Europe- ans, the Asia Pacific and the Group of Eight industrial- ized nations (the US, UK, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Japan, and Russia). Automobiles is among the sectors the most affected in many countries because sales have fallen sharply in re- sponse to declining consumer confidence and toughening terms for consumer credit. Japan’s Toyota auto-maker cutting its production in Thailand after its sales in the country fell by 21% [1]. Also, the Chinese automobile industry has been affected in GEC through long supply