A study of the role of organizational values in advanced manufacturing technology implementation

This research explored issues related to successful Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) implementation in Taiwan. Of particular interest was the applicability of the Competing Values Model of organizational effectiveness and the role of organizational culture on the outcome of AMT implementation. The results provide a clear picture of the differences between companies that have had a history of successful AMT implementation and those with a history of unsuccessful AMT implementation and provided a test of the Competing Values Model (CVM) outside of the United States.;The four values in the CVM represent the organization and manager's desired goals. The model implies that these values are often in conflict with each other and that each organization or type of organization needs to understand the importance of each. The results of this study indicate that an organization's value set may be predictable based on the contextual variables considered.;The results also indicate that organizations with a history of successful AMT implementation are different in several ways. The perceived culture of these organizations is more likely to be a 'clan' culture with an emphasis on supporting the workers and an environment that is somewhat like an extended family. A warm, open and supportive environment is a key element in organizations that have successfully implemented AMT. Organizations that have not had such success are more likely to be entrepreneurial and risk taking. It appears that the initial behavior of the organization is one that seeks out new opportunities like those provided through AMT implementation but that the basic culture is not appropriate to support the long-term success of the implementation.;Further, successful organizations were more likely to involve integrated value systems of internal process, rational goals and horizontal coordination. Organizations that have a value system of vertical coordination are less likely to be successful when implementing AMT. The results found in this study indicate that there is indeed a difference in the companies that have a history of successful AMT implementation than those that do not. The findings will assist organizations in understanding the potential for success and failure, provide guidelines to organizations which are contemplating using AMT.