Lucía Avella

Agility drivers, enablers and outcomes

– Despite the fact that agile manufacturing has been frequently promoted as a means of improving business competitiveness, little empirical evidence exists in the literature validating its positive link with business performance. The purpose of this research paper is to analyse agile manufacturing in Spain and study whether it is a critical factor for success in different industries., – A conceptual model is drawn up, based on the literature and a previous case study, to relate turbulence in the environment with agile manufacturing practices and business performance. The model is tested on a large sample of Spanish manufacturers using a survey methodology to obtain information and a structural equation model to analyse the data., – The results obtained show that, in turbulent environments, the integrated use of agile manufacturing practices promotes manufacturing competitive strength, leading to better operational, market and financial performance., – This study has two main limitations. First, it is difficult to determine the most suitable unit of analysis when studying agile manufacturing. Second, single respondent bias may be considered a limitation., – Managers should consider the integrated implementation of agile manufacturing practices in order to develop manufacturing strength and to outperform competitors in turbulent business environments., – This study adopts a systematic approach to the analysis of agile manufacturing, considering various agility practices or enablers in an integrated way and relating them not only to environmental characteristics but also to business performance. This approach is especially interesting because most of the literature on agile manufacturing deals with agility strategies or techniques in an isolated way. The study also tests the suitability of agile manufacturing in real organisations – for the first time in the Spanish context.

Analysis of manufacturing strategy as an explanatory factor of competitiveness in the large Spanish industrial firm

Abstract This work focuses on analysing the growing importance of manufacturing strategies for the competitiveness of firms. It is considered that the emphasis on certain manufacturing competitive priorities (or capabilities) and decisions or practices (on the key decision areas) and their internal coherence can be the base for achieving sustainable or lasting advantages over competitors, thus originating superior business performance. The aim of this research work is to analyse whether or not there exists a correlation between the manufacturing strategy and the competitive success or business performance of a sample of large Spanish industrial firms. The database used is mainly made up of the information from a mail survey, aimed at the industrial firms set up in Spain which in 1994 (study reference date) employed over 200 workers. The results obtained, with the proposed methodology, reveal that it is not possible to identify a direct relationship between the manufacturing strategy and business performance of the sample of firms analysed. In this sense, the chosen manufacturing strategy, that is to say, the emphasis on certain manufacturing competitive priorities and decision areas (or practices) and their coherence, does not enable us to distinguish between best and worst performers, and so does not allow us to explain the level of competitiveness of the sample of large Spanish industrial firms analysed in this work.

Cross‐functionality and leadership of the new product development teams

This study analyses the effect of the use of cross‐functional teams and effective leaders on the success of the new product development (NPD) process. With this aim, a sample of 125 firms representing the most innovative industries in Spain has been used. Results show that firms using cross‐functional teams obtain a more effective NPD process (that is, better development times and costs, and superior products) and a higher percentage of new products that are successful in the market. Likewise, the firms that use effective leaders achieve better development times, superior products and a higher level of customer satisfaction.

Cumulative manufacturing capabilities: an extended model and new empirical evidence

There has been intense debate in the manufacturing strategy literature on the way in which firms work on different manufacturing capabilities, with two opposing approaches considered – the trade-off model and the sand cone model. Analysis of these models has essentially been based on study of the links amongst four classic manufacturing capabilities (quality, delivery, flexibility, and cost efficiency) and has obviated the need to consider environmental protection as an important manufacturing capability. This study analyses the theoretical arguments and the prior empirical evidence on the two models, and proposes and tests an extended sand cone model which includes the environmental protection objective alongside the four traditional ones. The research uses structural equation modelling and data from a sample of 274 manufacturers to contribute additional empirical evidence on the existence of cumulative effects amongst manufacturing capabilities. It is observed that the predominant strategic model in these firms is one of multiple, non-incompatible capabilities with cumulative effects according to the following sequence: quality, delivery, flexibility, environmental protection, and cost efficiency.

The multidimensional nature of production competence and additional evidence of its impact on business performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look into production competence theory by proposing and validating a multidimensional construct, and offering additional empirical evidence regarding the contribution of production competence to business performance.Design/methodology/approach – Production competence is defined as a second‐order factor/construct in terms of five underlying dimensions: cost, flexibility, quality, delivery and environmental protection competence. Different scales are used to measure the construct, validated by a multi‐step process. Data from 274 manufacturing firms and structural equation modelling as the main technique are used for the analysis.Findings – The paper suggests that manufacturing capabilities and their alignment with the competitive priorities pursued must be considered to explain the contribution of manufacturing to business performance. The provided evidence suggests that the manufacturing function significantly contributes to business performance, and enables us to ...

Focal points in manufacturing strategic planning in Spain

The aim of this work is to analyse the manufacturing strategies of the large Spanish industrial companies during the 1990s, making a comparison with the experience of American and other European manufacturers. To this end, and taking 1994 as a reference, this paper describes the planning process and content of the manufacturing strategies of a representative sample of the largest industrial companies in Spain, analysing, in particular, the high priority manufacturing objectives and policies maintained during the period 1992‐1993 and those foreseen for the period 1995‐1999. The information analysed has been obtained from a mail survey. The comparison of the Spanish companies with American and other European manufacturers attempts to observe how the Spanish experience is similar to that of other countries, in order to obtain interesting conclusions for the managers who may be responsible for managing industrial companies located in Spain.

TAXONOMY OF THE MANUFACTURING STRATEGIES OF LARGE SPANISH INDUSTRIAL COMPANIES

This work presents a classification of the manufacturing strategies of large Spanish industrial companies in Spain. For this purpose the various international empirical studies on alternative manufacturing strategies have been taken as a reference, reviewed and compared. The database used in this study is made up of information on 114 factories and has been designed using the information from a survey mailed to the industrial companies which have production plants in Spain and which in the financial year of 1994 (reference date of this research) employed over 200 workers. Cluster analysis methodology has been used and the classification criterion taken was the competitive advantages or strengths of each factory concerning the five competitive priorities in manufacturing: efficiency, flexibility, quality, delivery and customer service. Finally, this work identifies a taxonomy of the manufacturing strategies of a sample of the largest industrial companies in Spain, differentiating three alternative producti...

The large Spanish industrial company: strategies of the most competitive factories

The growing role played by production as a key strategic element for competitive success is widely recognised. Many companies have obtained sustainable competitive advantages and, consequently, superior results, due to the manufacturing excellence or superiority obtained through the development of resources and capabilities in this area and thus, through the implementation of certain manufacturing objectives and policies. The work reported is part of a broader research programme which has enabled us to ascertain the present situation of Spanish industrial companies in the field of production strategic management. It uses a database of the manufacturing strategies of a sample of 114 factories belonging to large companies in Spain. Specifically, the aim of this paper is to verify, for the Spanish case, the hypothesis that there exist manufacturing objectives and policies which are applied in a general way in the industrial companies which are most competitive in manufacturing. For this purpose we have distinguished the factories with strengths or advantages in manufacturing in relation to their best competitor (for the manufacturing priorities taken as a whole, as well as for each of them considered individually), from those factories which are not competitive in this area. Using the discriminant analysis technique and taking 1994 as a reference, the manufacturing objectives and policies followed in the past (1992-1993) and those foreseen for the future (1995-1999) which enable us to differentiate the companies that are competitive in manufacturing from those which are not, have been recorded. In this way the manufacturing strategies of the large Spanish companies which are most competitive in this area have been identified, as opposed to the least competitive ones.

Spanish University Business Chairs used to increase the deployment of Action Research in Operations Management: A case study and analysis

This research identifies Action Research as a methodology that can play an important role in enhancing the contribution of universities to the improvement of business competitiveness through Operations Management research. We propose that a Business Chair, defined as an agreement between a university and a business organization, can be a useful tool in research projects based on Action Research methodology. We analyze a set of Business Chairs in the field of Operations Management in Spanish universities. We draw up a set of research questions aiming to determine the degree to which Action Research methodology is used in the Chairs analyzed, and to define the key factors for the successful implementation of Action Research projects.

New product development process: strategic and organisational success factors

The aim of this study is to identify which new product development (NPD) success factors most frequently mentioned in the international literature are also critical for Spanish firms. The analysis is based on a sample of 125 firms representative of the most innovative manufacturing industries in Spain. The results show both similarities with and differences from previous international studies. Similarities could suggest that there is, to some extent, a global or worldwide formula for successful NPD; differences, however, could imply that research results from one country should be applied cautiously to other countries.