The theory of metabolism-repair (M, R) systems is developed as a means for mathematically characterizing an industrial firm, and a network of such (M, R) systems is proposed as a suitable vehicle for describing an entire industry composed of several interacting firms. It is shown that virtually all of the important features of an industrial process including production, marketing, innovation, growth, decline, emergence of new firms and so on can be accommodated within the (M, R) framework.
Theoretical issues associated with time-lags, dynamics, adaptation and selection are explored from the vantage point of (M, R) systems, as are practical questions involving the application of the theoretical ideas to the world automotive industry. The paper concludes with a discussion of how (M, R) systems can be used as a means for comparison of entire industries using the mathematical machinery of category theory.