Key success factors when implementing strategic manufacturing initiatives

Abstract

IntroductionManufacturing companies formulate strategies to develop their manufacturing capabilities and therefore to increase their competitiveness in the marketplace. The main emphasis in the strategic manufacturing literature has for many years been on the formulation side of strategies (Grundy, 1998;. The issue of implementation has received less attention, although implementation of strategic initiatives has frequently been considered to be the graveyard of strategy (Grundy, 1998). Many companies are still facing major difficulties during the implementation of strategic decisions derived from the formulation of business, marketing or manufacturing strategies (Al-Ghamdi, 1998). As Grundy (1998) points out, strategic management should move from a 90:10 concern with strategy formulation relative to implementation to at least a 50:50 concern with each. Otherwise, no matter how good the strategic decisions are, companies would not benefit from them ). This argument is reinforced by Beer et al. (1990) who attribute much of the shortcomings in the strategy area to failures in the implementation process rather than in the formulation of strategy itself. Unfortunately, once a strategy has been developed, its implementation appears to be seen as a matter of operational detail and tactical adjustment carried out within the boundaries of existing company's structures and procedures . Over the last few years there has been increasing interest in the research of new methods to improve the efficiency of strategy implementation. Project management has received much of this interest. Authors such as Van Der Merwe (2002) have argued that strategies do not fail when they are being analysed or when the objectives are being set but during implementation and, more particularly, due to the lack of proper project management. Project management is gaining in popularity as a vehicle for the implementation of business and marketing strategies. Increasingly, project management is being applied outsides its core domain. Strategic manufacturing literature is lagging behind in the research and development of project management as a vehicle for the implementation of formulated manufacturing strategies.This paper contributes to the literature on implementation of manufacturing strategies by identifying the key success factors (KSFs) in the project management of the implementation of strategic manufacturing initiatives (SMIs). It describes a survey of practitioners internationally. The paper presents the research methodology and the findings from the survey. This study is part of a larger research programme that aims to develop a methodology that provides a consistent step by step discipline for implementing SMIs and includes the tools, templates and techniques that reflect the distinctive nature of project management within the strategic manufacturing implementation area.The results of our survey suggest that in the manufacturing environment the project manager of SMI implementation projects assumes a high responsibility for the overall su...

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