Manufacturing strategy and competitiveness

The importance of manufacturing strategy (MS) has never been questioned and has been emphasized in many theoretical concepts, frameworks, and models. There are only a few empirical studies, however, which examine whether these theories work in practice. In this paper the hypothesis that the existence of MS contributes to company level competitiveness (ROS, inventory turnover) is tested. The study is based on international data, which were collected in the second round of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey. The database contains more than 700 companies from the machinery industry (ISIC 381-385), from 23 countries. The results partially support the hypothesis. The existence of MS seems to have a positive effect on ROS, however, it does not have any relation to inventory turnover. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.