The concept of fit among business strategy, manufacturing structure and choices in CIM technology--an exploratory study

This thesis develops a conceptual framework that is based on three typologies: manufacturing structure typology, generic strategy typology, and Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) technologies typology.; First, drawing on ideas and concepts from the business strategy literature and manufacturing literature, a conceptual link is drawn between the strategy and manufacturing structure typologies. Second, using the structure and CIM technology typologies, it is proposed that by focusing on information processing needs of different "generic CIM environments," managers can evaluate the architectural "fit" between the CIM technologies and structure. Third, based on the interactions among three typologies we posit, for a business unit (firm) to be effective it is critical that the CIM architecture (i.e., emphasis on various computer technologies in manufacturing) be consistent with the structure and bussiness strategy of the firm and vice versa. Specifically, it is argued that "fit" among business strategies, manufacturing structures, and choices in CIM technologies has an important influence on performance. This is based on the premise that higher levels of "fit" lead to superior performance.; To examine "fit," questionnaire data was collected from manufacturing executives in a field setting and a series of congruent propositions were examined. Some important conclusions include: (1) Many predictions are borne out by the findings, indicating integral relationships among certain dimensions of strategy, manufacturing structure, and technologies. (2) The proposed structure typology has stoodup well to the factor analytical techniques used to check for internal consistency and provides a useful refinement to the traditional product-process classification. (3) Factor analytical results on the CIM technology typology indicate that manufacturing executives are not viewing technology in multiple dimensions. This supports the argument made that contingency/gestalt approaches, popular in strategy/management literature, have yet to influence management systems and engineering literature. (4) This study has validated Porter's generic strategy typology with a group of manufacturing executives drawn from across a variety of industries, thus undermining the notion that manufacturing managers lack an understanding of strategic issues.; The framework and the "manufacturing contingency theory" concepts presented here provide a partial synthesis of knowledge in the broader disciplines of engineering and management, without sacrificing academic rigor and practitioner relevance.