The Taxonomy of International Manufacturing Strategies

Abstract

There are varieties of strategies for manufacturing, and this diversification is increasing to match the ever-increasing demand complexities in international markets. Many manufacturing companies employ multiple manufacturing strategies simultaneously. Although developing new manufacturing strategies to deal with new circumstances in the global market is unavoidable, the volume and variety of manufacturing strategies have become confusing and unmanageable for operations managers. This study aims to manage current strategies, suggest some novel strategies, and guide in developing newly required strategies in the future by proposing the taxonomy of international manufacturing strategies. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify and analyze any publications regarding manufacturing strategies at the top five academic journals. Among 349 identified publications, ninety-one papers or books had been found to have new discussions relevant to the topic of this paper. As a result of the analysis, two major themes for categorizing manufacturing strategies emerged that shaped a new taxonomy for international manufacturing strategies with 12 sets of strategies.