Does the Institutional Context Shape International Operations Strategy? Country-Level Analysis

Vitor Fabian Brock,Iuri Gavronski

doi:10.12660/joscmv6n1p106-121

Abstract

Recent literature has proposed that institutions play a pivotal role in corporate andbusiness strategies. We argue that this role holds for manufacturing strategy as well. Despite extensiveliterature regarding international operations management (OM), few studies verify how importantvariables in OM vary across different institutional contexts. This scarcity of comparative crosscountryresearch reveals an important gap both for research and practice. In this paper we addressthis gap by providing a data analysis of a recent survey collected in Canada and Brazil. We replicateand extend previous research by comparing important variables of manufacturing strategy in thesetwo institutional contexts such as knowledge exchange, green process management, environmentalsupplier management and the traditional manufacturing performance dimensions.DOI: 10.12660/joscmv6n1p106-121URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.12660/joscmv6n1p106-121

Highlights

Manufacturing is already a globalized economic activity and global manufacturing will be increasingly geographically dispersed
This paper provides a country comparison of the levels and the relationships among important variables of operations strategy, such as the competitive priorities, environmental management, green supply management, and organizational learning
We found that for the Brazilian plants, where machinery is costlier and wages are lower, internal knowledge exchange plays a key-role in deploying manufacturing capabilities, such as green process management

Summary

Introduction

Manufacturing is already a globalized economic activity and global manufacturing will be increasingly geographically dispersed. Forecasts from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) predict that the global share of the gross domestic product (GDP) from developed countries will drop from 60% in 2000 to 43% by 2030 (Radjou & Kaipa, 2010). This dispersion will require new capabilities and skills from operations managers. Despite the relevant contribution of the OM literature to the international OM field, it still does not provide evidences of the consistency of operations strategy between countries Can an operations manager in AGCO, the global agricultural equipment manufacturer, rely on published research relating environmental performance and financial performance to make decisions to his/her tractor plant in Brazil? despite the relevant contribution of the OM literature to the international OM field, it still does not provide evidences of the consistency of operations strategy between countries

Methods

Results

Conclusion