Business Strategy, Manufacturing Flexibility, and Organizational Performance Relationships: a Path Analysis Approach*
PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Vol. 5. No. 3. Fall 1996 PIinlPd in u.SA. BUSINESS STRATEGY, MANUFACTURING FLEXIBILITY, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIPS: A PATH ANALYSIS APPROACH* YASH P. GUPTA AND TONI M. SOMERS Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Colorado at Denver, Denver, Colorado 802 17, USA Department of Finance and Business Economics, School of Business Administration, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202, USA It has been argued in the literature that business strategy and manufacturing flexibility inde- pendently affect the performance of an organization. However, no empirical examination of the interrelationship among these three constructs has been performed. In this paper, based on a field study of 269 firms in the manufacturing industry, the identified constructs have been used to test a theoretical model using path analysis techniques. Our re+sultsindicate that business strategy contributes both directly and indirectly to organizational performance. The findings provide evidence of direct effectsof(i) businessstrategy on manufacturing flexibility and (ii) manufacturing flexibility on organizational performance. (MANUFACTURING FLEXIBILITY; BUSINESS STRATEGY; ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE; PATH MODEL) 1. Introduction Manufacturing flexibility is one of the most difficult goals for organizations to achieve. Concomitantly, evidence suggeststhat the focus of competition in global markets is shifting from quality and service toward flexibility (Ferdows and De Meyer 1989). In Europe, for example, extensive programs are being initiated to enhance manufacturing flexibility. These include implementation of advanced manufacturing technology, decrease of cycle times through lead time and setup time reductions (Giffi, Roth, and Seal 1990). Manufacturing flexibility is a multidimensional concept (in this paper manufacturing flexibility and flexibility are used interchangeably).
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