Title: IT adoption and manufacturing performance in Kuwaiti industrial corporations

Authors: M. Tawfik Mady, Omar Khalil

Addresses: College of Business Administration, Kuwait University, PO Box 5486, Safat 13055, Kuwait. ' Charlton College of Business, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, 285 Old Westport Road, North Dartmouth, MA 02747-2300, USA

Abstract: Companies expect to gain competitive advantages as well as many tangible and intangible benefits as a result of adopting IT in manufacturing and operations. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between information technology (IT) applications and performance in sixty-one Kuwaiti industrial companies. IT adoption included applications that facilitate internal and external information sharing and applications that support manufacturing. Usage of IT applications varied across applications and companies. Manufacturing performance was evaluated along the five dimensions of cost, quality, delivery, flexibility, and productivity. Perceived use of intranets, computer aided design (CAD), computer aided manufacturing (CAM), quality control systems, and forecasting systems were found to have significant relationships with a number of manufacturing performance measures and their elements. The findings are discussed, and conclusions are made.

Keywords: adanced manufacturing technology; AMT; IT adoption; Kuwait manufacturing firms; manufacturing performance; information technology; performance measures; intranets, computer aided design; CAD; computer aided manufacturing; CAM; quality control; forecasting.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2006.009028

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2006 Vol.2 No.1, pp.60 - 77

Published online: 14 Feb 2006 *

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