Research methodologies and publication trends in manufacturing strategy

Systematic review of manufacturing strategy studies focusing on congruence aspect

Purpose

This study provides a systematic review of the literature within the manufacturing strategy (MS) domain focusing on the congruence aspect of different strategic functions to determine the state-of-the-art research progression and the trend of publications.

Design/methodology/approach

We have adopted a five-stage review methodology consisting - 1) Article Identification; 2) Inclusion/Exclusion; 3) Review of the Articles; 4) Literature Analysis; 5) Future research directions. 121 articles focusing on congruence aspects and specific to the MS domain are identified and reviewed. Bibliometric analysis comprising keyword co-occurrence using a VOSviewer© software, and citation analysis is performed. Further, content analysis is carried out to categorize articles based on the type of research methodology, type of tool/method used, and aspects considered for congruence study.

Findings

Based on the research gaps identified in the existing literature on the congruence aspect within the MS domain, this study offers future research directions. Majorly, the work found is an empirical survey. Literature scants to develop a framework that helps to quantify the congruence between two strategic functions.

Research limitations/implications

This study facilitates researchers and practitioners to understand the congruence between different strategic aspects studied in the literature and the level of fit between them. Further, the identified research directions can encourage researchers and practitioners to conceive novel approaches to conduct future works on congruence theme.

Originality/value

The unicity of the current review lies in its theme, i.e. congruence aspect within MS. To the best of author's knowledge, no comparable study is observed to review the congruence aspect in any other domain.

Behavioral strategy: mapping the trends, sources and intellectual evolution

Purpose

This paper presents a comprehensive review of academic research dedicated to the field of Behavioral Strategy. Based on a series of Bibliometric and network analyses, the paper identifies the prominent trend and growth patterns pertaining to the evolution of this important strategic management subfield; it documents which particular journals, articles and authors have most influenced its development, and it maps the intellectual structure and network of authors, publications and countries. Finally, the paper considers the substantive research themes emerging from the analyses reported, in terms of their implications for future work.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors undertook a series of Bibliometric and network analyses of 217 relevant articles, published between 1975 and 2020, in journals listed in the Scopus database, using R-studio and VOSviewer. Articles incorporated in the study were selected based on relevant key terms searched from the title, abstract and list of keywords associated with each publication.

Findings

The results demonstrate that behavioral strategy has enjoyed robust and sustained growth, with widespread impact across many areas of the heterogeneous business and management field as a whole. Three distinct periods are identified: an infancy stage (prior to 1999); a steady growth stage (1999–2010); and a take-off stage (2011 onwards). The top three journals in terms of content coverage, based on the number of relevant articles published in relation to behavioral strategy, are Strategic Management Journal, Advances in Strategic Management (AiSM) and the Journal of Management, while the top three most influential journals, in terms of citations pertaining to Behavioral Strategy, based on an analysis of citations in the Scopus database, are Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Perspectives and Journal of Management Studies. Gerard P. Hodgkinson and Thomas C. Powell are the most prolific authors. The emerging themes based on intellectual structures have been identified as Behavioral Strategy, Behavioral Theory of Firm; Strategic Leadership and Dynamic Capabilities; and Strategic Cognition and Decision Making.

Practical implications

The study contributes to knowledge advancement concerning Behavioral Strategy by opening new possibilities to discover important research areas.

Originality/value

The study is the first of its kind on Behavioral Strategy providing a comprehensive systematic literature review.

Miles and Snow Typology: most influential journals, articles, authors and subject areas

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to find out the most influential journals, articles, authors and the subject areas where Miles and Snow typology is used. The study identifies the opportunities for future research as well.

Design/methodology/approach

Review is based on 196 journal articles selected through a systematic and rigorous search process from the four databases: ProQuest, Business Source Complete, Willy and Science Direct. Total Citation, threshold citations, fractional citation and citation per year techniques are used for analyses.

Findings

Strategic Management Journal (SMJ), Academy of Management Journal (AMJ) and Journal of Marketing (JOM) are the most influential Journals. The most influential and prolific articles on the subject are from Hambrick (1983), Conant et al. (1990), Doty et al. (1993), Sabherwal et al. (2001), Desarbo et al. (2005) and Fiss (2011). Management, strategic management and marketing are the most studied subject areas.

Originality/value

Although there have been many reviews of the literature on this typology, the systematic review on Miles and Snow typology to find out the most influential journals, authors, articles and subject area has not been done before.

Where to Go with Corporate Sustainability? Opening Paths for Sustainable Businesses through the Collaboration between Universities, Governments, and Organizations

This study aims to identify and analyze the Scientific–Technical Scenario on Corporate Sustainability (STS-CS) and propose a Triple Helix-based framework for its development and guidance of future scientific and technological investments. The study was developed using a combined method of bibliometric analysis and content analysis of scientific papers and technical publications (patents, white papers, publications from public bodies, etc.). The scientific papers were searched in the Scopus database and technical publications in the Orbit Intelligence, ProQuest, and UN Global Compact platforms. The STS-CS was analyzed in light of the scientific and technical literature and experience of the authors of the study, which allowed the proposition of the framework with initiatives expanded and adapted to the domains of the Triple Helix sectors “Universities,” “Governments”, and “Organizations” through a process of enriching the good practices identified in the CS scenarios. The main academic contribution of this work is the upgrade of the scientific block of knowledge on CS based on cooperation between the sectors of Triple Helix that expands and deepens the research aimed at contributing to sustainable business development. As for the applied contributions, companies can identify business opportunities to increase their profits in a sustainable way, governments can find suggestions for public measures for the development of CS, and universities can identify recommendations for training professionals capable of managing socio-economic issues and developing partnerships with companies for the innovation and development of sustainable products and processes.

Twenty-five years’ contribution of “Benchmarking: an International Journal” to manufacturing strategy: a scientometric review

Purpose

This study aims at reviewing the articles on the themes of manufacturing strategy (MS) published in “Benchmarking: An International Journal (BIJ)” and investigating the trends of publication for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

Five-stage methodology to conduct a literature review is adopted comprising: (1) article collection, (2) inclusion/exclusion criteria, (3) reviewing the articles, (4) analyzing the articles and (5) future research directions. A total of 57 articles specific to MS domain published in BIJ are reviewed. Further, a bibliometric analysis comprising keywords co-occurrence, citation and co-citation using a VOSviewer© software followed by content analysis to analyze the type of research, type of industry and type of tool/method used is carried out.

Findings

The study helps to find the scope of the journal and research gaps in the MS domain to provide future research directions. Most of the work found is survey-based or case-based in nature. However, there is a need for empirical research to be done in the field of MS.

Research limitations/implications

The study facilitates researchers willing to publish in BIJ to understand different themes of accepted papers concerning MS domain. The identified research gaps and future research direction can motivate researchers and practitioners to coin new approaches in the MS domain.

Originality/value

A comprehensive review and analysis of the MS literature published in BIJ has been provided. To the best of authors' knowledge, the current study is the only review study in MS domain focusing on one specific journal.

Supply chain innovation research: content analysis based review

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze research methodologies and publication trends across geographical regions in the field of supply chain innovation (SCI) and provide a discussion of future research in the SCI.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a content analysis approach, this paper investigates 26 years of SCI research based on a sample of 473 journal articles published in 77 peer-reviewed international journals.

Findings

There has been an increasing focus on empirical quantitative research design as compared to empirical qualitative, conceptual quantitative and conceptual qualitative designs in the field of SCI. Continued research interest in SCI from all parts of the world including North America, Europe and Asia illustrates the importance of SCI in the broader field of management.

Research limitations/implications

The inclusion of a large number of journals provides greater confidence in the identified trends. However, as the top-tier journals publish only the most rigorous studies, considering all journals as equally weighted will give rise to a mixed pool of studies. Identifying trends from this mixed pool may provide more comprehensiveness at the cost of inclusion of non-core journals of the field.

Originality/value

The current study builds a holistic view of the methodological progress made so far in the field of SCI.

Returns management employee development: antecedents and outcomes

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the antecedents and impacts of a largely overlooked concept, employee development, within the challenging area of returns management.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed relationships are validated through structural equation modeling analysis with survey data collected in India.

Findings

Combining the ability–motivation–opportunity model in human resource management and the theoretical tenets associated with dynamic capabilities, the authors confirmed that supply chain learning, returns management orientation and information support are important antecedents of returns management employee development. In turn, the findings suggest that, as a dynamic capability, returns management employee development positively impacts a firm’s returns management and market performance.

Practical implications

To successfully tackle the challenges related to handling returns, companies must focus their resources not only on new technologies and related processes, but also on employee training and development as well.

Originality/value

Although recruiting and retaining talent in supply chain management has long been recognized as a serious global challenge, no previous research has empirically studied employee development practices in the returns management context.

Healthcare marketing: A review of the literature based on citation analysis

This study identifies the principal sources of knowledge in the healthcare marketing field based on the most prolific and influential journals and authors, drawing on a sample of 1,950 articles published in 11 journals from 1987 to 2016. The three most influential journals are the International Journal of Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Marketing, the International Journal of Healthcare Management, and the Academy of Health Care Management Journal. Health Marketing Quarterly is another highly influential and prolific journal. The most prolific authors are Brian Smith, David Loudon, Donald Self, and Robert Stevens. The most influential authors, on the basis of fractional citations, are Philip Brown, Renuka Garg, and Jayesh Aagja. This is the first study to systematically review the burgeoning body of healthcare marketing literature with the aim of mapping the research that has been undertaken in this area. This is by far the most comprehensive review on this topic to date.

Environmental turbulence and the role of business functions in the manufacturing strategy debate: The case of UK-based SMEs and the Great Recession

This study provides an empirical assessment of the United Kingdom (UK) manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) sector, exploring the impact of environmental turbulence specific to the post–Great Recession (2008) era on changes to the way manufacturing strategy is formulated and implemented. The study identifies changes to the frequency, fluidity, formality and focus of manufacturing strategy review and how the various business functions play a changing role in contributing to this strategic process. A mixed-methods research approach is applied, incorporating a survey of 104 UK-based manufacturing SMEs supported by 17 in-depth interviews with senior managers. The research uses a parallel mixed analysis of the two data sources, thereby offering an alternative to the mono-quantitative approaches to manufacturing research that have dominated. The findings show that during, and emerging from, the post–Great Recession environment, the majority of manufacturing SMEs employ a fluid, highly frequent approach to manufacturing strategy review with increasing contributions from their marketing, sales and finance business functions driven predominantly by function-specific response to changes in the external environment, although internal drivers sill influence high-level strategy, finance and human resources. The implications of the study to theory, practice and general management suggest that the MSME sector is dominated by organizations experiencing continual impact from the external environment.

Current Practices in Data Analysis Procedures in Psychology: What Has Changed?

This paper analyzes current practices in psychology in the use of research methods and data analysis procedures (DAP) and aims to determine whether researchers are now using more sophisticated and advanced DAP than were employed previously. We reviewed empirical research published recently in prominent journals from the USA and Europe corresponding to the main psychological categories of Journal Citation Reports and examined research methods, number of studies, number and type of DAP, and statistical package. The 288 papers reviewed used 663 different DAP. Experimental and correlational studies were the most prevalent, depending on the specific field of psychology. Two-thirds of the papers reported a single study, although those in journals with an experimental focus typically described more. The papers mainly used parametric tests for comparison and statistical techniques for analyzing relationships among variables. Regarding the former, the most frequently used procedure was ANOVA, with mixed factorial ANOVA being the most prevalent. A decline in the use of non-parametric analysis was observed in relation to previous research. Relationships among variables were most commonly examined using regression models, with hierarchical regression and mediation analysis being the most prevalent procedures. There was also a decline in the use of stepwise regression and an increase in the use of structural equation modeling, confirmatory factor analysis, and hierarchical linear modeling. Overall, the results show that recent empirical studies published in journals belonging to the main areas of psychology are employing more varied and advanced statistical techniques of greater computational complexity.

V, R. R. Critical success factors of TQM, Six Sigma, Lean and Lean Six Sigma

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the existing literature on the critical success factors (CSFs) of various continuous improvement (CI) like total quality management (TQM), Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma (LSS), and perform a content analysis (CA) leading to an agenda for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

CA is based on literature review of 41 papers published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. A four-stage methodology is used by the authors, with Stage 1 featuring relevant material collection; Stage 2 presenting a descriptive analysis; Stage 3 outlining the category selection; and Stage 4 featuring the material evaluation using clustering and Pareto analysis.

Findings

The CA revealed various research implications and directions for the future. The number of studies in the literature regarding CSF assessment is found to be far from substantial while compared to CI implementation. Assessment methodologies developed have been ranging from qualitative to quantitative models. Key gaps were identified and directions for CSF assessment are proposed which requires further validation.

Research limitations/implications

Only articles that appeared in peer-reviewed journals were analyzed; conference papers, reports, manuals and white papers from practice were excluded. Another limitation of the paper would be the scope of CA limited to four CI constructs – TQM, Lean, Six Sigma and LSS. Research implications indicate that the future studies in this domain would be intensive toward analyzing the vital CSFs for enterprise organizational excellence and not merely process excellence.

Practical implications

This review study can serve as a resource for both researchers and practitioners to understand the importance of CSFs and positioning CSFs for the successful implementation of CI programs.

Originality/value

The CA on the existing literature on CSFs for CI presents a unique, systematic effort to identify an agenda for future research. This study is the apparently the first of its kind on CSF assessment.

Theoretical developments in empirical quantitative manufacturing strategy literature

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report the extent and trends of theoretical developments in the empirical quantitative manufacturing strategy (MS) literature published between the years 1966 and 2015 and provide research gaps that can be bridged by the future research.

Design/methodology/approach

This content analysis-based literature review analyzes 133 empirical quantitative MS articles published in refereed international journals in the discipline of operations management. These articles are categorized into five article types, namely, reporters, testers, qualifiers, builders, and expanders following the framework of Colquitt and Zapata-Phelan (2007). Analyses are carried out to unearth important trends in theory development in these article types.

Findings

Theory development is progressing in empirical quantitative MS literature. However, the trend is shifting from theory testing to theory building. MS discipline has borrowed theories from other disciplines. Expectancy theory and media richness theory are the micro theories while resource-based view, contingency theory, and trade-off theory are the major macro theories used in this domain. The most impactful constructs include environmental technology portfolio, enterprise resource planning, manufacturing proactiveness, and modularity-based manufacturing practices, and the most dominant article types are qualifiers and expanders.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are based on the empirical quantitative articles published in the MS discipline which provides a partial view of theory development in the MS discipline.

Practical implications

The paper highlights predominant theories, frameworks, and constructs that can be utilized by practitioners to improve their understanding of MS, their ability to predict future scenarios and solve practical problems.

Originality/value

No such study has been conducted to date in the MS discipline, and it is hoped that this study will play a significant role in further developing theory in the MS discipline.