An analysis of the US border manufacturing industry revealed that, while a plentiful supply of inexpensive labor is available, there are high levels of absenteeism and turnover. This in turn has affected this industry’s ability to implement lean and agile manufacturing production environments....

As the Clinton administration recently released its plan for developing world‐wide information superhighways and making electronic communications a national priority, a growing number of firms have shown increased interest in electronic commerce (EC) as an effective business‐to‐business...

Five hundred financial executives from North American companies were surveyed by means of a mailed questionnaire to gain a view from outside the operations functions of the basis on which aggregate inventory decisions are taken. The response indicated that more functions than might have been...

The contrast between Japanese purchasing practices and US traditional purchasing practices provides a good insight into the relative importance of JIT for US firms. Since the initial implementation of JIT purchasing in late 1980 by Kawasaki Motors (Lincoln plant), at least 50 companies in the US...

The manufacturing strategy literature suggests a number of areas in which decisions are of strategic importance. This study uses a survey of manufacturing executives from 213 business units in the United States to explore empirically the concept of strategic decision categories and improvement...

The problems encountered when attempting to incorporate modern systems for inventory and materials management into a rapidly developing country are discussed. Specifically, the case of present‐day China is used as the focus of the study. After reviewing some historical background for the...