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This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/01443570310496607. When citing the article, please cite: Raffaella Cagliano, Federico Caniato, Gianluca Spina, (2003), “E-business strategy: How companies are shaping their supply chain through the Internet”, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 23 Iss: 10, pp. 1142 - 1162.

This paper is aimed at overcoming the contrast between the paradigmatic views and the strategic approaches to manufacturing. It challenges the idea that the paradigmatic perspective actually narrows the strategic space for manufacturers to build their own competitive advantages, because it drives them to conform to emerging best practice. The empirical evidence is drawn from a global sample of 79 production units in the engineering industry that revealed consistent orientation to the strategically flexible production, an emerging manufacturing paradigm characterised by three generic principles to organise and manage production systems, namely: multi‐focusedness and strategic flexibility; integration of business processes across functions and firms’ boundaries; and process ownership, i.e. delegation, involvement and harnessing of intellectual capabilities of the workers. The purpose of the article is twofold: first, to verify the existence of different manufacturing strategies within strategically flexible production, in terms of improvement goals and innovative programs; and, second, to build an empirically‐based taxonomy of such strategies.

Gives results of a survey on the application of the just‐in‐time (JIT) approach in Italy, based on a sample of 173 industrial companies. The methodological framework used to evaluate JIT application was described in a previous article (International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 9 No. 8, 1989). Interest in JIT is wide and is growing. The evidence shows the compatibility and complementarity of JIT with different classes of innovation; the need for an integrative approach emerges. Pull‐controlled flow, supply quality certification, preventive maintenance, job enlargement/enrichment and product modularization emerge as the core features of JIT, even though most are widely adopted in JIT implementation. In terms of operating conditions, the most significant improvements obtained by those who adopt JIT are: a speed‐up in production flow and synchronization between production and market and between the different productive and logistic phases. Consequently, major benefits in production system performance are achieved in terms of mix flexibility, working‐capital productivity and productivity of both direct and clerical labour. Success in JIT adoption seem not to be related to certain exogenous factors, such as company size and type and the nationality of ownership. As the strategic profile of a firm also seems irrelevant to the aims of JIT adoption JIT confirms itself as an instrument suitable for different application contexts and diverse strategic objectives.

Many post‐Fordist experiences seem nowadays to converge on an emerging manufacturing paradigm that the authors have named strategically flexible production (SFP). The process of diffusion and assimilation of SFP is influenced by extra‐firm factors and country‐specific conditions. Explores the role of regional infrastructures and services to support the adoption and running of manufacturing systems that are oriented to the SFP. Uses the case of Lombardy, one of the most industrialized regions in Europe, as the empirical field of investigation. Discusses ten cases studies in three industries ‐ electronic, textile and mechanical ‐ in order to identify the needs for extra‐firm infrastructures at the company level. In‐depth evidence provides insights on the demand for extra‐firm infrastructures and services induced by SFP and allows one to infer implications and guidelines for policy making. Concludes that SFP induces a selective demand for extra‐firm services and infrastructures.

As customers ask for increasing levels of performance, functionality and customisation, firms rely on suppliers not only as a source of components, but also as a source of innovation. Several researchers have investigated the adoption of co‐design, its potential benefits and its costs. Recently, scholars have increasingly underlined the need for bringing this rich stream of studies within a contingency framework, taking into account context variables and internal characteristics of the firm. This paper contributes to this contingency theory of co‐design adoption. We investigate the role of three factors that might influence the intensity of supplier involvement in product development: structural characteristics (industry, size and degree of vertical integration), strategic priorities (strategic fit) and internal consistency with purchasing and new product development practices. An empirical analysis of 67 Italian manufacturers demonstrates that co‐design adoption is actually related to most of these factors.

Seeks to review the results of a paper originally published in 2003 and to evaluate what can be considered still valid and what needs to be revisited.

The approach is a general review and observations about the earlier work.

The focus of the earlier paper was on integration and collaboration tools, while internet B2B tools can be used also for the opposite purpose. E‐sourcing and e‐procurement tools are aimed at increasing purchasing efficiency, rather than integrating inter‐firm business processes. In general, statistics and predictions such as those discussed focus on the value of exchanges, not on the purpose of internet applications.

The paper provides relevance at the present stage of B2B internet applications.

According to the reviewed literature, in order to build effective and efficient global supply (GS) strategies, multinational companies (MNCs) need to define and implement adequate headquarters' control and follow‐up systems for GS management performance in order to guarantee world supply consistence and alignment. The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on how key variables affect GS headquarters‐subsidiary control systems and their complementary behaviours across culturally similar business units.

Multiple case study methodology, with a sample including seven Italian MNCs, has expanded their operations to the Mercosur area (Latin America's Southern Common Market) and designed to guarantee theoretical replication in the analysis of the empirical evidence.

It was found that, although cultural similarities strongly influence MNCs' GS headquarters‐subsidiary control systems, other factors, such as purchasing and globalization sourcing strategy centralization and globalization process evolution, lead companies to implement complementary formal control systems that are consistent with the sharply personalized profile set by cultural proximity.

In order to expand and deepen these conclusions, further research will be necessary to validate these findings in a wider sample, including companies from various countries of origin and destination. In any case, a longitudinal study could help to shed some light on the evolution of headquarters‐subsidiary relationships within global sourcing strategies.

The paper enables better understanding of the impact of and interactions between key driving factors in GS headquarters‐subsidiary control systems in cases of strong cultural similarities through a multi‐case sample study.

The interest of both researchers and practitioners around the use of Internet‐based tools to support business processes has been quite high in the last few years. However, despite the initial enthusiastic expectations, it is still not completely clear whether these expectations have been translated into business reality. This paper explores the actual adoption of Internet technologies in supply chain processes by a large sample of European manufacturing firms participating in the IMSS survey. Four e‐business strategies are identified and their relationship with contingent factors and supply chain integration mechanisms is investigated. Results show a close link between the use of Internet tools and the level of integration with customers and suppliers, thus suggesting the need to define e‐business strategies in coherence with the use of traditional integration mechanisms.

While the attention of most OM scholars has shifted to supply chain management, there is still a need to understand how supply chain strategies are linked with internal manufacturing strategies. The literature shows some studies in this field, but a deep investigation of the linkages between these two areas is still missing. The purpose of this study is to investigate on an empirical basis the relationship between two supply chain integration dimensions – the integration of information flows and the integration of physical flows – and two manufacturing improvement programmes – lean production and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

Evidence is drawn from a sample of 297 European companies from the third edition of the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey. Data are analysed using exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical regression.

Results show that the adoption of the lean production model has a strong influence on the integration of both information and physical flows along the supply chain, while no significant influence emerged from the adoption of ERP.

Findings open up new research questions about the missing link between ERP and information integration along the supply chain. Further developments concern the investigation of the impact of consistent adoption of internal and external practices on performance.

The paper provides managers with clear evidence of the need for consistency between internal and external integration.

This paper contributes to research by providing empirical evidence of the link between manufacturing and supply chain integration practices.

The adoption and effectiveness of advanced management practices by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is becoming an emerging issue since the literature has recognised that a pure entrepreneurial attitude is no longer enough for the competitive success of these firms. This paper explores this issue by comparing the practice‐performance links for two types of SMEs ‐‐ i.e. subcontractors and small manufacturers ‐‐ through the investigation of the management practices pertaining to the following three functional areas: general management, production management and product innovation management (only for manufacturers). Despite the fact that subcontracting is generally considered less appealing and profitable than manufacturing, empirical evidence shows that subcontractors are more effective in implementing advanced practices of production management whilst most small manufacturers ‐‐ although quite advanced in developing practices of general management ‐‐ experience difficulties in exploiting the potential of good product innovation practice.