A taxonomy of manufacturing strategies in manufacturing companies in Ireland (original) (raw)
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A Taxonomy of Manufacturing Strategies
Management Science, 1994
T his paper describes the development and analysis of a numerical taxonomy of manufacturing strategies. The taxonomy was developed with standard methods of cluster analysis, and is based on the relative importance attached to eleven competitive capabilities defining the manufacturing task of 164 large American manufacturing business units. Three distinct clusters of manufacturing strategy groups were observed. Though there is an industry effect, all three manufacturing strategy types are observed in various industries. The two main dimensions along which the manufacturing strategy groups differ are the ability of the firms in them to differentiate themselves from competition with their products and services, and the scope of their product lines and markets. A general method for mapping manufacturing strategies on these dimensions is described. For each manufacturing group, the relationships between the competitive capabilities (which describe the manufacturing task), the business context (the business unit strategy), manufacturing activities (manufacturing strategy choices), and manufacturing performance measures are explored and compared.
A taxonomy of manufacturing strategies in China
Journal of Operations Management, 2006
A taxonomy not only provides a parsimonious description of strategic groups that is useful in discussion and research, but also aids theory building. However, taxonomic studies in the operations strategy literature are scarce. Major studies that use North American or European data to develop taxonomies of manufacturing strategies contend that the applicability of their identified taxonomies to other countries remains unclear. Furthermore, the construction of theory is not complete without regular verification and replication to account for competitive paradigm shifts and new environmental imperatives. In our study, we replicated the wellacknowledged taxonomy of manufacturing strategies of [Miller, J.G., Roth, A.V., 1994. A taxonomy of manufacturing strategies, Management Science 40 (3), 285-304] using data from one of the world's fastest growing economies-China. A taxonomy of manufacturing strategies is identified and is found to be different from the strategic clusters of Caretakers, Marketeers and Innovators in Miller and Roth. The underlying dimensions that defined our clusters are also different from those in Miller and Roth. Our study also derived an interesting insight that a taxonomy that is based on realized strength rather than emphasis on competitive capabilities can better explain a company's financial performance. #
Alternative paradigms for manufacturing strategy
International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 2005
Manufacturing strategy as a concept and an area of study and practice has been growing for the last 30 years. However, as it has grown the clarity of manufacturing strategy has decreased as different views and different approaches have emerged. This article will briefly review the history of manufacturing strategy, then it will review the field from several different perspectives. It will finally compare and evaluate these different perspectives and look for the linkages between them.
A study of Ericsson regarding manufacturing and its position in the company. At Ericsson manufacturing has a fairly high rank and is also involved in the product development process at an early stage. The responsibilities for developing manufacturing strategies are delegated to the people at the different plants. Some small differences and competition between the plants are accepted, as long as it does not have a bad influence on the result. Any cultural differences could however be a severe obstacle to realizing the strategies. Further studies could cover small and medium enterprises and their adoption of manufacturing strategies.
An exploratory study of the manufacturing strategy process in practice
Journal of Operations Management, 1990
This work presents an exploratory empirical study of the process of formulating and implementing manufacturhrg strategy within the framework of overall corporate strategy, as practiced by a crosssectional representation of leading-edge firms.
Evolving forms of manufacturing strategy development
This paper outlines, using evidence from several case studies, the use of alternative forms of manufacturing strategy processes. Our investigation shows that the manufacturing strategy development practices of manufacturers are evolving in many directions; we found several alternatives to the formal top-down planning process. Manufacturers use one or more of the following alternatives with or without the top-down manufacturing strategy process: a coherent pattern of actions; manufacturing/process improvement programs; or the pursuit of core manufacturing capabilities. It appears that the various manufacturing strategy development processes may be tied to the strategic role of manufacturing in a company. This paper offers a framework that captures the relationship between the strategic role of manufacturing and the process of manufacturing strategy development. An in-depth case from a UK company illustrates the evolving forms of manufacturing strategy development processes.
Theoretical developments in manufacturing strategy literature
2016
For investigating the extent of theory development in manufacturing strategy (MS), empirical quantitative literature in MS is categorized into reporters, testers, qualifiers, builders, and expanders following the taxonomy of Colquitt and Zapata-Phelan (2007). Trends, analyses, and future research directions are provided both in terms of theory building and theory testing.
International Patterns in Manufacturing Strategies Manufacturing Strategies
This paper explores and analyses patterns in manufacturing strategies, based on data from the Fourth International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS), conducted in 2005. Based on a principal components analysis a selection of the thirty-one most important contributing variables from the IMSS dataset a self-organizing map (SOM) is used to cluster manufacturing companies according to their strategy, performance, manufacturing and supply-chain practices, and improvement programs. The clusters of companies and patterns of strategies are analyzed and discussed. Special attention is attached to differences between countries. The results reveal some interesting patterns.
Manufacturing Strategy: A Methodology and an Illustration
Interfaces, 1985
A manufacturing strategy is a critical component of the firm's corporate and business strategies, comprising a set of well-coordinated objectives and action programs aimed at securing a long-term, sustainable advantage over the firm's competitors. A manufacturing strategy should be consistent with the firm's corporate and business strategies, as well as with the other managerial functional strategies. We present a process and a structured methodology for designing such a manufacturing strategy. This methodology has been successfully tested in actual manufacturing environments. An illustration is given based on work at Packard Electric. 1.