In 2002 SAP Ag reported the success of the BMW Group's application of 'Just In Time' (JIT) practices, enabling the compression of customer order cycles and improved accuracy with regards to inventory. Yet that same year, Automotive News (2002, 25th March) reported that BMW had moved beyond the JIT production and adopted a more 'customer order' focussed global system. As one of the leading European automotive manufacturers, critically discuss the philosophies and approaches of JIT practice and their applicability, or not, in today's turbulent global environment for BMW? Appropriate credible academic and practitioner literature sources must be used to support your critical analysis, and the Harvard style of referencing must be adopted.