Investigating the alternative paradigms of manufacturing competence: an empirical study

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship of strategic manufacturing effectiveness utilizing the four-stage model of Hayes and Wheelwright (H-W) with overall performance of manufacturing, market alignment and production competence (PC). In addition, it attempts to understand the relationship of strategic manufacturing effectiveness with manufacturing capability development modes, strategic groups of companies and the nature of improvement programs being employed.

Structured questionnaire was used to capture data from manufacturing organizations. Responses from managers of 47 Indian manufacturing companies were used to test the seven propositions that were developed to examine the paradigms of manufacturing competence.

The analysis revealed that the strategic manufacturing effectiveness of manufacturing companies based on H-W’s four-stage model has significant positive correlation with the overall performance of manufacturing and PC of the company. Further, the analysis substantiated the relationship of strategic manufacturing effectiveness with capability development process and the nature of improvement programs.

This exploratory study is based on a small sample of manufacturing companies with diversity and hence it may not be representative of all industry sectors. Second, it has used several scales for measuring the relevant constructs which themselves are not proven, hence, the findings should be taken with caution.

This is an initial research focussing on the relationships among different elements of manufacturing competence such as manufacturing capabilities, PC, manufacturing capability development mode and overall performance of manufacturing with strategic manufacturing effectiveness using H-W model. H-W model was primarily proposed as an audit tool for managers, was hitherto not adequately studied in relation to other paradigms of manufacturing competence.