Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the moderating effect of uncertainty impacts the relationship of operational responsiveness and firm performance. Research on the relationship of supply chain fit and firm performance is discussed in isolation in different streams of research – such as in studies on responsiveness, agility, flexibility, efficiency and lean – without promptly recognising cross-stream contributions. This, at worst, prevents theory development. Therefore, the authors build a synthesis of literature from these streams. Grounded in the synthesis, a well-positioned empirical study that uses best research practices of past studies on the phenomenon is presented. Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional survey sample of 875 Russian manufacturing firms was analysed with hierarchical regression. Findings – The findings show that operational responsiveness leads to superior organisational performance if the relationship is moderated by uncertainty and supply chain responsiveness. Additionally, a direct relationship between operational responsiveness and operational performance was found. These results imply that efficiency is a precursor to responsiveness. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the unification of practice–performance studies on lean, agility, flexibility, efficiency and responsiveness into a single stream of research: supply chain fit. The empirical results support contingency theory in the context of supply chain design. This paper also contributes by shedding light on supply chain dynamics of an under-researched national context. For managers, this paper offers concrete advice on decision-making regarding supply chain strategy trade-offs.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of lean in a longitudinal context. Lean is currently experiencing its second coming. In spite of this, the current body of research on lean is especially lacking in longitudinal studies. Design/methodology/approach The methodology used in this study is a longitudinal case study. The authors combined elements of multiple-case study and survey research by analyzing interview data on the same 23 Finnish manufacturing firms at three distinct points in time (1993, 2004 and 2010) with a methodology called qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) that is novel to the field. Findings The “thick” results of our exploratory contingency theoretic analysis suggest that the holistic and adaptive use of lean bundles is effective. It seems that especially the firm status of ownership and the phase of the business cycle exert an impact on successful lean bundle use. There is also evidence that a certain maturation effect takes place within lean bundle use: lean is increasingly being used as a complete management philosophy. Research limitations/implications The authors hope that this research encourages researchers to use more QCA in their research, especially with small samples. Originality/value This is a unique longitudinal study on the same 23 manufacturing firms and their development. Furthermore, this study opens new avenues for lean theory development, introduces a new methodology to the field and helps decision makers to gain a better understanding of the long-term dynamics of lean.

Purpose – Ownership change has been an overlooked contingency factor in past plant level practice-performance studies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of ownership changes to practice-performance dynamics by longitudinally following the same 23 manufacturing sites from year 1993 to 2010. Design/methodology/approach – Interview data of the made in Finland – study are used for presenting different paths of plant development in the long term. Both narratives and descriptive statistics are used to support the analysis. Findings – The findings suggest that the benefits of long-term domestic ownership may in fact exceed the positive knowledge spill-over effects that derive from foreign acquisitions. Foreign acquirers seem to “cherry-pick” well-performing sites. Also it seems that the likelihood of inferior performance and plant shutdowns may increase due to foreign acquisitions. Research limitations/implications – Due to the exploratory nature of the study the sample size did not allow for testing statistical significance of the results. Originality/value – The exploratory findings of the study open new avenues of theory development for practice-performance studies, and corroborate research in other disciplines such as economics and corporate governance.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the applicability to the service business of general models used in the manufacturing environment. This is done by applying Ferdows’s model, “the strategic role of the plant”, in two cases. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses the case approach. One case (IBM Nordic) is based on an interview, while the other case (Google) relies on secondary data. In each case the operations are mapped on Ferdows’s model. Findings – The cases indicate that the same kind of roles can be found in the service business as in traditional manufacturing environments, and that these roles are widely used. However, for communicative purposes, the model was terminologically slightly modified. Research limitations/implications – Although this study presents the findings of only two cases, the knowledge of material available from public sources leads us to believe that these findings are universal. The model is easy to communicate in the service sector and is thus a very valuable tool. Originality/value – Models used in the traditional manufacturing and operations management environment have not yet been fully discovered by, nor sufficiently applied in, the service sector. Academics and practitioners are busy trying to create new models in this sector, without noticing that the “old” tools are still usable. Benchmarking against the models used in other sectors might be a worthwhile exercise.