Operations strategy processes and performance: Insights from the contract apparel manufacturing industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the significance and dynamics of alternative operations strategy (OS) processes towards developing a more complete picture of the strategy process-context-performance nexus. The findings are based on the statistical analysis of empirical evidence drawn from the contract apparel manufacturing industry in a developing country. Design/methodology/approach – Using a structured questionnaire and the key-informant approach data were collected from 109 contract apparel manufacturing firms in Sri Lanka. Cluster analysis was used to identify alternative configurations of strategy process modes. Findings – The analyses confirmed that the existence of alternative forms of OS development is statistically significant and that the alternative configurations of strategy process modes tested can all lead to superior performance, under certain circumstances. Research limitations/implications – The generalizability of these findings to other industry sectors within developi...

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