Premium
A review of empirical research on manufacturing flexibility
Author(s) -
Vokurka Robert J,
O'LearyKelly Scott W
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of operations management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.649
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1873-1317
pISSN - 0272-6963
DOI - 10.1016/s0272-6963(00)00031-0
Subject(s) - flexibility (engineering) , empirical research , computer science , contingency theory , contingency , work (physics) , process management , operations management , manufacturing engineering , business , knowledge management , management , engineering , economics , mathematics , mechanical engineering , statistics , linguistics , philosophy
Manufacturing flexibility is widely recognized as a critical component to achieving a competitive advantage in the marketplace. A comprehensive look at the empirical research pertaining to manufacturing flexibility highlights the very fragmented nature of this body of work. We present a comprehensive contingency‐based framework for examining the content related issues involving the relationships and variables included in past studies. We also examine several important research design/methodology issues (e.g., sampling, data collection and measurement) and propose solutions to some identified problems.