An empirical examination of sourcing's role in developing manufacturing flexibilities
研究了采购实践如何影响制造柔性，发现企业可通过特定采购策略针对性地提升不同维度的柔性，以获取敏捷竞争优势。
Past research on manufacturing flexibility has emphasized technology and its contributions to flexibility. This study examines the role of sourcing practices in achieving manufacturing flexibilities. Manufacturing flexibility is conceptualized as a multi-dimensional construct and a taxonomy of existing research is developed. An exploratory empirical examination of the sourcing practices-flexibility linkage using canonical correlation and regression analysis suggests significant relationships between sourcing practice and manufacturing flexibilities. The results support the need for treating manufacturing flexibility as a multi-dimensional construct. The results also suggest that a firm could deploy specific sourcing practices to target specific manufacturing flexibilities in pursuit of agilitybased competitive advantages.