Purpose – While the attention of most OM scholars has shifted to supply chain management, there is still a need to understand how supply chain strategies are linked with internal manufacturing strategies. The literature shows some studies in this field, but a deep investigation of the linkages between these two areas is still missing. The purpose of this study is to investigate on an empirical basis the relationship between two supply chain integration dimensions – the integration of information flows and the integration of physical flows – and two manufacturing improvement programmes – lean production and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.\ud Design/methodology/approach – Evidence is drawn from a sample of 297 European companies from the third edition of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey. Data are analysed using exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical regression. Findings – Results show that the adoption of the lean production model has a strong influence on the integration of both information and physical flows along the supply chain, while no significant influence emerged from the adoption of ERP.\ud Research limitations/implications – Findings open up new research questions about the missing link between ERP and information integration along the supply chain. Further developments concern the investigation of the impact of consistent adoption of internal and external practices on performance.\ud Practical implications – The paper provides managers with clear evidence of the need for consistency between internal and external integration. Originality/value – This paper contributes to research by providing empirical evidence of the link between manufacturing and supply chain integration practices
Organisations increasingly see sustainability as an important element of their business strategies, and the role of purchasing and supply functions is critical in translating sustainability commitment into performance. Yet, the impact of sustainability commitment on purchasing processes and routines, as well as the effect of such capabilities on performance, remains empirically under-explored. From a Resource-Based perspective, we argue that commitment to sustainability leads purchasing and supply functions to develop intra-and inter-firm collaborative capabilities, and that in turn these capabilities deliver improved performance. Based on survey data from 383 procurement executives in ten European and North American countries, we use structural equation modelling to empirically test our hypotheses. Our results provide strong support for the hypothesised links between sustainability commitment and both intra-and inter-firm collaborative capabilities; and between inter-firm collaborative capabilities and environmental and social, and cost performance. Conversely, our data do not support the hypothesised links between intra-firm collaborative capabilities and both aspects of performance. In our discussion, we reflect on both confirmatory and conflicting findings in relation to theory and practice, before examining the study's limitations and opportunities for future research.
This paper deals with the role of advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT) within the context of changes in the basic principles to organize and manage manufacturing systems. In particular, the use and effectiveness of various technologies and their computer‐based integration are investigated in the light of three emerging principles: (i) strategic multi‐focusedness, (ii) process integration across functions, and (iii) process ownership. Together, these principles are referred to as Strategically Flexible Production (SFP). In an international sample of 392 manufacturing units from the metal‐working industry, the use of AMT is analyzed in three groups: core adopters, partial adopters or non‐adopters of SFP. Data show that while core adopters do not use stand‐alone AMT more than the other groups, they have a higher level of computer integration (CI), in particular in their forefront departments. However, the use of integrating technologies varies much within the core adopters, suggesting that SFP does not necessarily require massive information technology (IT) support. This is further confirmed by the analysis of performance improvements. The mere adoption of stand‐alone AMT per se does not provide companies with superior improvements in performance. On the contrary, SFP alone or combined with a higher level of integration of stand‐alone AMT fosters increased time responsiveness.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretically sound and empirically tested classification system composed of purchasing strategic categories as a basis for purchasing portfolio\ud models.\ud Design/methodology/approach – An international, cross-industry survey has been designed to assess the characteristics and corresponding strategies of the purchasing categories.\ud Findings – The paper operationalises the constructs derived from previous scientific contributions related to purchasing portfolio management and transaction cost economics (TCE) to empirically test\ud the purchasing portfolio. In total, four different types of strategic categories have been identified, and distinctive competitive priorities have been found.\ud Research limitations/implications – Managers might be able to identify different types of purchasing strategic categories, whose characteristics drive specific purchasing strategies. Longitudinal data and more extensive tests of the characteristics of each category might contribute to improving the proposed research framework.\ud Originality/value – The research overcomes some of the classical limits of purchasing portfolio models, including the absence of a theoretical and empirical basis. In particular, TCE is used to\ud support and expand traditional purchasing portfolio approaches, and a broad empirical base is used to test such an approach
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