Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

To describe a manufacturing strategy as “generic” implies that a single and unique type of manufacturing strategy has generally been adopted by a substantial number of manufacturing businesses. This may, at first, seem improbable given the considerable diversity of manufacturing companies and the variety of products that they produce. To assess the probability of the existence of a small number of generic manufacturing strategies, consideration must be given to how a manufacturing strategy is designed. Skinner (1969) , in his pioneering research of the manufacturing strategy management process, recommends that the manufacturing capabilities of an organization should be congruent with the competitive strategy of a firm. Porter (1980) claims that organizations of all types implement generic competitive strategies; it therefore seems logical that their implementation would induce the establishment of a common set of generic manufacturing strategies. The concept of generic manufacturing strategies fulfilling an ideological fit with generic competitive strategies is helpful to the creation of a vision of how the manufacturing capabilities of a firm should be developed. A framework that links generic competitive strategies with generic manufacturing strategies would therefore provide an aid to the manufacturing manager when planning the long‐term development of the manufacturing capabilities ... log in or subscribe to read full text