Manufacturing practices: Differences that matter

This paper presents a comparison of manufacturing practices between Hungary, Western Europe and North America. The supposition is that differences in operational practice may matter in the success of joint ventures or other strategic alliances. The comparison is based on a survey of firms in the small machine tool and non-fashion textile industries. The survey covered practices ranging from forecasting and planning procedures to shop floor decision making. Multivariate analyses were performed to find those areas of practice for which there were differences between the regions and industries. The differences were grouped into three broad categories: ‘metabolism’ (the frequency, horizon, and increment for planning, forecasting and reacting to change), external orientation (the closeness to the market and degree of export sales), and managerial practices in several areas. The differences between the industries were judged less important than those between regions.