In this paper we focus on the integration of strategic objectives and process knowledge that a manufacturing factory collects from its external interfaces. Using data from a variety of manufacturing industries, this study examines four different types of strategic integration at the manufacturing plant level. We use a path analytic approach to simultaneously assess the contributions of the various types of integration to manufacturing-based competitive capabilities and business level performance. In addition, we examine the intervening roles that manufacturing-based competitive capabilities play in mediating the relationships between strategic integration and business performance. We find that each type of integration activity has unique benefits and detriments. These findings extend prior studies of manufacturing and supply chain integration by broadening the theory relating to strategic integration. The results also provide implications for manufacturing managers who seek to design integration policies and associated resource deployments. #

Despite the growing interest in environmental management practices (EMPs), research to date has typically analyzed a limited range of these practices and used traditional data sources. In contrast, this paper uses an innovative data source to explore EMPs. We use a more comprehensive set of the practices than prior works in order to test relationships between EMPs and firm performance. The data used in this study comprised environmental and business performance data from 45 corporate reports. Content analysis is used to gather the data and canonical correlation is used for analysis in a two-step process in order to explore the relationships between EMPs and performance measures. Results support previously posited relationships based on traditional data and indicate that EMPs are associated with firm performance. #

Supply chain strategies and practices depend on not only the nature of the business, the competitive environment, and technological intensity of the product, but also on product and market characteristics. Consequently, supply chain integration (SCI) strategies should be evaluated in the light of a company's market and product strategies. This paper examines the effect of SCI on the relationship between diversification and a firm's competitive performance. The results of the study can be useful in integrating supply chain strategy into market and product diversification (PD) strategy. By comparing the main and interaction effects of SCI and diversification on performance, the paper shows that SCI strategy modifies the relationship between diversification and performance. Additionally, it is argued that coordinated use of SCI and diversification strategies has a significant effect on firm performance.

Manufacturing plant managers have sought performance improvements by adhering to the guiding principles of leanness and agility. Lean manufacturing and agile manufacturing paradigms have also received considerable attention in operations management literature. However, paradoxically, the extant literature is lacking in clarity and fails to delineate with sufficient precision how and why leanness and agility differ. Given the resource constraints within which most manufacturing firms have to operate today, it is useful, if not critical, to develop a good understanding of how these paradigms differ and what their constituent dimensions are. Such an understanding is also essential for developing and testing theories relating to leanness and agility.Through a literature review we discuss leanness and agility in two ways: (1) as manufacturing paradigms and (2) as performance capabilities. Our empirical study attempts to determine whether lean and agile forms occur with any degree of regularity in manufacturing plants. The results confirm the existence of homogeneous groups that resemble lean and agile performing plants, and they identify important differences pertaining to their constituent performance dimensions. The results indicate that while the pursuit of agility might presume leanness, pursuit of leanness might not presume agility. While the performance capability differences across the empirically derived groups accord well with expected differences across plants that excel in leanness and agility, the practice differences across the groups are not as clearly distinguished. We discuss the implications of our findings for further research and theory development. #

There has been increased interest in supplier integration in recent years, much of it supporting such initiatives in organizations. We operationalize supplier integration as a bundle of practices that include a set of ''internal'' and ''external'' practices. We hypothesize that such practices in specific configurations can be as important a source of performance differentials as the adoption of individual practices themselves. We theorize the existence of a level of integration that results in optimal performance. The paper uses data from a cross-section of more than 300 US manufacturing companies to test the notion of an optimal level of supplier integration, and examine the conditions surrounding its development. The results provide empirical support for the concept of an optimal set of supplier integration practices. We show that deviations from the optimal profile are associated with performance deterioration, and that indiscriminate and continued investments in integration may not yield commensurate improvements in performance. #

Purchasing integration remains an under‐researched concept, despite being described as a key competence in the literature. This study explicates the concept of purchasing integration and examines its relationships with purchasing practices and manufacturing performance. Purchasing integration refers to the integration of strategic purchasing practices and goals with a firm’s objectives. Alternative models linking purchasing integration to purchasing practices and manufacturing performance are hypothesized and tested using empirical data. Purchasing integration was found to moderate the relationship between purchasing practices and manufacturing performance. Increased investments in purchasing integration were observed to lead to higher performance returns from investments in purchasing practices.

Manufacturing plant managers have sought performance improvements through implementing best practices discussed in World Class Manufacturing literature. However, our collective understanding of linkages between practices and performance remains incomplete. This study seeks a more complete theory, advancing the idea that strategy integration and enhanced manufacturing capabilities such as cost efficiency and flexibility serve as intermediaries by which practices affect performance. Hypotheses related to this thesis are tested using data from 57 North American manufacturing plants that are past winners and finalists in Industry Week's "America's Best" competition (Drickhamer, 2001). The results suggest that strategy integration plays a strong, central role in the creation of manufacturing cost efficiency and new product flexibility capabilities. Furthermore, strategy integration moderates the influences of product-process development, supplier relationship management, workforce development, just-in-time flow, and process quality management practices on certain manufacturing capabilities. In turn, manufacturing cost efficiency and new product flexibility capabilities mediate the influence of strategy integration on market-based performance. These findings have implications for practice and for future research.

In this paper we investigate the key causal linkages in supply chain management. We propose a conceptual framework and test this framework on data from 2 15 North American manufacturing firms using structural equation modeling techniques. Three major research issues are addressed in this study: Do sourcing decisions affect the degree to which firms achieve manufacturing goals of cost, flexibility, dependability, and quality? Does the degree of manufacturing goal achievement lead to higher customer responsiveness? Does the degree of manufacturing goal achievement lead to higher internal manufacturing performance? The study examines the relationship among sourcing decisions, manufacturing goals, customer responsiveness, and manufacturing performance. The results support the notion that an integrated supply chain involves aligning sourcing decisions to achieve manufacturing goals that are set to respond favorably to the needs of customers. Subject Areas: Production/Operations Management, Strategy and Policy, and Structural Equation Modeling.where E E 8, = diag(8,,, e2,, ..., e47).Covariance matrix of 6, is 8, (2 x 2)where Ram Narasimhan is a professor of operations management in the E l i Broad Graduate School of Management at Michigan State University. He holds a BS in mechanical engineering, an MS in industrial engineering, and a PhD in management science from the University