Title: Manufacturing strategies and the development of taxonomies: an international empirical research

Authors: Roberto Filippini, Pietro Romano, Andrea Valeri

Addresses: University of Padova, Department of Management and Engineering, Viale X Giugno 22, 36100 Vicenza, Italy. University of Padova, Department of Management and Engineering, Viale X Giugno 22, 36100 Vicenza, Italy. University of Padova, Department of Management and Engineering, Viale X Giugno 22, 36100 Vicenza, Italy

Abstract: The paper describes the development of a taxonomy of generic manufacturing strategies based on an empirical study. Data was gathered by means of a survey from 88 American, Japanese and Italian plants. Four different groups of plants have been identified, which differ in three dimensions orientation towards differentiation, orientation towards cost leadership and market scope. It was also observed that there are differences between the groups in the way they manage decisions involving manufacturing strategy and technology. Lastly, the taxonomy obtained has been compared with the main classifications of generic manufacturing strategies existing in literature.

Keywords: business strategy; cluster analysis; manufacturing strategy; performance; survey; taxonomy; technology management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMTM.2002.001436

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 2002 Vol.4 No.1/2, pp.36-71

Published online: 03 Jul 2003 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article