Patterns of change in manufacturing strategy configurations

Purpose - The paper aims to address the question of how and how often companies change their manufacturing strategy in the medium and long run, thus addressing a lack of evidence in the literature.Design methodology approach - This paper explores the movements made by companies among four manufactur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of operations & production management 2005-07, Vol.25 (7), p.701-718
Main Authors: Cagliano, Raffaella, Acur, Nuran, Boer, Harry
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business planning
Change management
Changes
Competition
Competitive advantage
Corporate planning
Design
Flexibility
Manufacturing
Manufacturing industries
Market strategy
Marketing
Mission statements
Studies
Taxonomy
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Summary:Purpose - The paper aims to address the question of how and how often companies change their manufacturing strategy in the medium and long run, thus addressing a lack of evidence in the literature.Design methodology approach - This paper explores the movements made by companies among four manufacturing strategy configurations drawn from the literature (market-based, product-based, capability-based and price-based configuration). Analyses are based on three longitudinal samples from the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS) database.Findings - Results show that while strategic configurations are rather stable, many companies do indeed change strategy and identifies which patterns of change prevail. Product-based strategy is the most-widely spread and most stable strategy. Capability-based competition is the rising star. The market-based strategy is struggling and price-based competition is on its way out.Research limitations implications - The main limitation is the small size of longitudinal samples, leading to tentative propositions for further testing.Practical implications - No strategic configuration appears to be the final "maturity" target for manufacturers. Companies select their configurations according to life cycle of the organization and market competition.Originality value - The paper contributes to fill a lack of longitudinal evidence of strategic change and flexibility of manufacturing companies.
ISSN:0144-3577
1758-6593
DOI:10.1108/01443570510605108