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The study is based on the need to improve a management process, especially the linkage between strategies, and performance measurement and analysis. This need concentrates on understanding information requirements in order to ensure high quality of managerial decisions. This study aims to develop an information‐requirement baseline when considering manufacturing and supplier‐selection strategies. The focus of this study is on selecting a supplier to provide transportation services for a manufacturer.

The study collects the opinions given by eight top executives from three high‐performance manufacturers in Thailand. The survey has three parts: strategic objectives for manufacturing operations, supplier‐selection strategies, and possible business performance areas to be impacted. It uses a five‐point scale from 1 (least importance) to 5 (extremely important). The correlation analysis was applied.

There are altogether eight alignments reflecting positive interrelationships between manufacturing and supplier‐selection strategies. Each alignment indicates performance information needed. For examples, top executives express the need to have information on profitability, customer relation, and quality of work life under the following circumstance – management representing a strategic criterion for supplier selection and quality reflecting a manufacturing strategy.

The development of this baseline appears to be helpful in prioritizing the agendas of a meeting as well as time and cost for preparing management reports. The management process would be strengthened due to better information that corresponded to strategies.

The study highlights the need to link between information requirements and strategies. This highlight enhances the research in the areas of a management process.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a preliminary conceptual scale for the measurement of distributed manufacturing (DM) capacity of manufacturing companies operating in rubber and plastic sectors.

A two-step research methodology is employed. In first step, the dimensions of DM and different levels of each dimension have been defined. In second step, an empirical analysis (cluster analysis) of database firms is performed by collecting the data of 38 firms operating in Italian mould manufacturing sector. Application case studies are then analyzed to show the use of the proposed DM conceptual scale.

A hyperspace, composed of five dimensions of DM, i.e. manufacturing localization; manufacturing technologies; customization and personalization; digitalization; and democratization of design, is developed and a hierarchy is defined by listing the levels of each dimension in an ascending order. Based on this hyperspace, a conceptual scale is proposed to measure the positioning of a generic company in the DM continuum.

The empirical data are collected from Italian mould manufacturing companies operating in rubber and plastic sectors. It cannot be assumed that the industrial sectors in different parts of the world are operating under similar operational, regulatory and economic conditions. The results, therefore, might not be generalized to manufacturing companies operating in different countries (particularly developing countries) under different circumstances.

This is first preliminary scale of its kind to evaluate the positioning of companies with respect to their DM capacity. This scale is helpful for companies to compare their capacity with standard profiles and for decision making to convert the existing manufacturing operations into distributed operations.

Manufacturing organisations are striving towards adapting and responding to the unprecedented challenges posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, along with the operations research streams endeavouring to support their recovery. With a view to bridging our knowledge gap on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the manufacturing operations, this paper investigates the key challenges and strategies formulated by manufacturing organisations operating in the Northern region of Cyprus.

The research was conducted through 10 in-depth interviews that analyzed the effects of the pandemic, the associated causes and the response strategies implemented.

The effects of the pandemic on the manufacturing organisations investigated are identified, along with the associated causes, and the response strategies deployed. Learnings and countermeasures implemented to date are established in light of the insights captured from the practitioners.

Contributions are made to the body of knowledge on manufacturing management and manufacturing supply chain resilience through fostering our understanding of the impacts that the pandemic had on manufacturing organisations, and practical contributions are presented through evidencing and transferring of the operations management knowledge and solutions devised in various sectors to date.

The study presents various barriers to adopt big data analytics (BDA) for sustainable manufacturing operations (SMOs) post-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemics. In this study, 17 barriers are identified through extensive literature review and experts’ opinions for investing in BDA implementation. A questionnaire-based survey is conducted to collect responses from experts. The identified barriers are grouped into three categories with the help of factor analysis. These are organizational barriers, data management barriers and human barriers. For the quantification of barriers, the graph theory matrix approach (GTMA) is applied.

The study presents various barriers to adopt BDA for the SMOs post-COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, 17 barriers are identified through extensive literature review and experts’ opinions for investing in BDA implementation. A questionnaire-based survey is conducted to collect responses from experts. The identified barriers are grouped into three categories with the help of factor analysis. These are organizational barriers, data management barriers and human barriers. For the quantification of barriers, the GTMA is applied.

The study identifies barriers to investment in BDA implementation. It categorizes the barriers based on factor analysis and computes the intensity for each category of a barrier for BDA investment for SMOs. It is observed that the organizational barriers have the highest intensity whereas the human barriers have the smallest intensity.

This study may help organizations to take strategic decisions for investing in BDA applications for achieving one of the sustainable development goals. Organizations should prioritize their efforts first to counter the barriers under the category of organizational barriers followed by barriers in data management and human barriers.

The novelty of this paper is that barriers to BDA investment for SMOs in the context of Indian manufacturing organizations have been analyzed. The findings of the study will assist the professionals and practitioners in formulating policies based on the actual nature and intensity of the barriers.

The respective roles of marketing and operations management in contributing to effective strategy are considered. This article considers both the technological developments and the changes in management perspectives. Technology has presented management with increased flexibility in the strategic positions available. Some argue (Porter, 1996) that technological developments have been viewed as opportunities to increase productivity rather than to shift the organisations strategic direction. An increasing application of value as a customer requirement has resulted in a corporate value proposition: a statement of how superior value is to be created and delivered. Operations strategy has typically been described as being supportive (to the overall organisational strategy) or exceptionally as a major element of an organisations competitive advantage. A number of authors have identified operations strategies which link manufacturing operations and strategic management. A missing link is an exploration of the marketing/operations interface and how this may lead to an effective value based strategy.

Rapid rate of change in technologies, markets and other environmental factors make “integration of marketing and operations” as one of the most crucial decision for business survival and performance in today’s world. Integration between functions and departments is an important strategy for a firm in today’s dynamic and competitive environment. It is widely recognized that manufacturing/operations can be a formidable competitive weapon if equipped and managed properly, and that to achieve this success a company must have the correct alignment of manufacturing/operations and marketing strategies. This paper deals with the familiar but classic problem that afflicts every manufacturing as well as service organization, namely, conflicts between thse two functional areas. The various key decision areas between these functions are discussed. The paper covers the various aspects of integration: analytical, conceptual as well as empirical studies which are available in literature. Drawing on the literature and prior empirical work in marketing/operations (M/O) strategies, several frameworks and models developed so far in literature are reviewed in this paper.

The purpose of this paper is to explore links between the process of strategy formulation and subsequent performance in operations within firms.

An in‐depth literature review on resource‐based and operations strategy naturally led to three hypotheses. These are then tested using evidence from field‐based case studies of manufacturing/assembly plants in the computer industry.

The research suggests that world‐class plants incorporate both strategic operations content and strategic operations processes, whilst low‐performing plants do not.

It is argued that involving manufacturing/operations managers in the strategic planning process helps align manufacturing and business strategy, and this alignment is associated with higher manufacturing performance. This should be of interest to operations managers and strategists within firms.

By linking strategic alignment and the manufacturing strategy process to world‐class manufacturing practices and performance, this research adds a new dimension to the study of world‐class manufacturing and more generally to the best practices and practice‐performance debates.

Reports findings from an empirical investigation into the process of operations strategy formation in six small manufacturing companies in the UK. A two‐stage methodology was used, with three companies being studied in‐depth and three as supplementary cases. The top‐down strategic planning mode, which dominates the manufacturing strategy literature, was found to be inadequate as a depiction of manufacturing strategy formation in SMEs in practice. Manufacturing strategy formation was shown to be a complex process involving a combination of deliberate and emergent actions and decisions, influenced by organisational culture, politics and powerful individuals. Emergent actions and decisions within manufacturing always played a part in manufacturing strategy formation. Manufacturing strategy formation could be more deliberate if greater use was made of business planning and by the identification of a set of explicit objectives for manufacturing. Manufacturing strategy formation could be less emergent if political behaviour could be reduced. Other factors that seemed to be influential included the interpretative processes of managers, the role of a corporate parent and the level of management education.

With the current global downturn, companies must develop new and innovative approaches to ensure that economic sustainability is achieved. The purpose of this paper is to propose a Fit Manufacturing Framework (FMF), the adoption of which can help manufacturing companies to become economically sustainable and operate effectively in a global competitive market. This contribution extends the previous work by the authors and provides an evolution on the initial work through enhancing the development of Fit manufacture through developing a more robust framework and a more comprehensive functional testing of the framework.

The proposed FMF provides a new manufacturing management perspective and a new manufacturing management strategy for creating economically sustainable manufacturing organisations. It builds upon the principles of existing manufacturing paradigms, along with innovative management concepts, to set up the conditions necessary for sustainability. A pilot application of the framework in three SMEs shows positive initial results when assessed against four Measures of Performance.

Manufacturing strategies such as Lean and Agility allow companies to deliver bottom‐line savings in production terms, although their effectiveness depends upon the volume and demand profile of their products. The trend towards mass customisation requires companies to provide personalised products and services at mass production prices. This now places a further burden on companies and therefore a holistic manufacturing framework must be developed in order to ensure that the factory of the future is able to meet this new demand. This paper proposes a Fit manufacturing paradigm which integrates the manufacturing efficiencies achieved through Lean and Agility with the need to break into new markets through effective marketing and product innovation strategies to achieve long term economic sustainability. The small‐scale application of the approach in a case company shows the initial results to be positive when measured against key MOPs developed within this paper.

The development of a Fit paradigm aimed at tackling directly the issues of economic sustainability is proposed and is considered by the authors as one of a kind. Fit will also provide a framework for the implementation of sustainable manufacturing operations within organisations.

The purpose of this paper is twofold; first, to investigate whether the manufacturing specializations of network plants fulfilling similar strategic plant roles (Ferdows, 1997) are common in type. Second, to examine current strategic manufacturing network management practice and develop a map of this process.

Three multisite manufacturing businesses participated in this case research. The first phase of the study consisted of an initial visit made to the headquarters of each firm to be briefed on its manufacturing network strategy and to collect company manufacturing performance data. Visits were then made to 11 network plants to collect site manufacturing performance data and to research the manufacturing specialization of each site and the degree of autonomy of its management team. The second phase of the research comprised a number of additional visits to the headquarters of one of the three case study firms to investigate the process employed to downsize its existing manufacturing network capacity in response to a significant decline in customer demand.

Three common types of manufacturing specialization have been identified in the networks of plants studied and the case research findings have enabled the development of a process for manufacturing network strategy deployment.

The proposed process for the strategic management of a manufacturing network is based upon the findings of a single case study and thus the generalizability of the findings is limited.

Auditing the manufacturing specialization of network sites is an essential preparatory procedure for determining a manufacturing network strategy. How this information is used to facilitate the management of manufacturing network configuration and coordination and for manufacturing network strategy deployment is detailed in the paper.

A process map has been developed that includes a review of current network configuration and coordination policies, in combination, as these underpin manufacturing network strategy deployment. Such a process map has not been detailed previously in the literature.