Towards An Integrated Management Of Sites In A Global Manufacturing Network

The integrated management of sites in a global manufacturing network provides a challenge for many manufacturing companies today. The local advantages and capabilities of each manufacturing site offer additional opportunities to a company to create competitive advantages. However, to exploit the local advantages on a global scale, the manufacturing sites have to be coordinated and managed in line with the strategic targets of the network. In the past, site role models were developed through research to support the management of globally dispersed manufacturing sites. Nonetheless many companies still struggle with the definition and assignment of site roles. The main reasons for this are 1) a lack of network perspective on site roles, 2) a missing link to network strategy, and 3) the prevalence of generic roles which neglect the individual network context - altogether prerequisites for an integrated network management. This thesis strives to address the existing shortcomings. Based on a thorough review of literature on international operations management, it develops an approach that combines network and site perspectives, the so-called site role portfolio approach. This approach is empirically validated in three in-depth case studies of global manufacturing networks of different sizes and industries. Focusing on the individual capabilities of manufacturing sites with respect to strategic network targets, the developed approach provides the basis for a comprehensive analysis of the sites and the network. This analysis includes the mapping of the network's as is state and current site roles, the identification of gaps concerning the fulfilment of the network's strategic targets, the definition of company-specific site roles, and the assignment of these roles to the manufacturing sites including the specification of development paths for each site. In addition, this thesis captures the systematic procedure of analysis in a basic.