Manufacturing Strategies of Network-Based Small Firms: Observations on the Textile Industry in Taiwan
Manufacturing Strategies of Network-Based Small Firms: Observations on the Textile Industry in Taiwan
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发表时间：
1999-04
影响因子：
6.2
通讯作者：
Wen-Hsien Chen
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Wen-Hsien Chen
众所周知，小型创业企业在国家经济发展中发挥着重要作用。它们通常是大公司可能无法或不愿意提供的新想法、材料、流程和服务的来源（Robbins 1994）。梅金森等人。 （1994）指出，人们对小企业的评价比大企业高得多，部分原因是小企业的特点是个人自由、敢于冒险、主动、节俭、节俭和努力工作。然而，许多小企业因融资不足和管理不善而失败。后者的不足之处在于缺乏业务知识、计划不充分和经验不足（Megginson 等，1994）。由于缺乏与其规模相关的资源，小公司可能会发展业务网络。业务网络可以定义为企业之间的联系。它为各种类型的投入提供外部资源，以补充或替代特定公司的不足（Malecki 和 Tootle 1996）。 Nohria 和 Eccles (1992, p.2) 指出，“被认为是新竞争特征的组织模式是企业内部和企业之间横向和横向相互联系的网络。”为了“增强竞争力，大小企业都采用了各种方法来重新定位其在成本、质量和灵活性方面的竞争重点，以满足客户的需求。更加关注有助于改善制造功能的战略决策就是其中一种方法，反映了对制造战略在定义竞争优势中的关键作用的认识（例如，参见 Montagno et al. 1995）。有关制造战略的各种研究试图为有效发展制造优势作为实现竞争目标的手段提供指导。然而，从这项研究中得出的大部分见解都是针对单个企业内部的管理，而不是整个网络的组成部分，对制造战略的实证研究往往集中在大型企业上，这在一定程度上是由于小企业的管理程序不太可能制度化或记录在案，因此从单个企业和整个网络的角度来研究制造战略是有用的。这项研究的目的是探讨台湾网络化小企业的制造战略和竞争重点，并与纺织行业大型综合企业的制造业务进行比较。此类研究可以提供有助于了解小企业如何在竞争环境中蓬勃发展的信息。通过深入的实地调查，我们研究了网络的制造策略，讨论了其竞争优势，并提出了一些关于基于网络的生产系统的管理的建议。 研究背景和框架背景 小企业在过去的四十年中在台湾蓬勃发展，并在制造业中发挥了重要作用（Liu、Liu 和 Wu 1995），例如，Wu（1994）指出，小企业的成功很大程度上与其生产系统的网络化有关。合作网络连接各种专业且相互补充的流程，从而创建一个高度灵活性和能力的生产系统……
It is well recognized that small entrepreneurial firms play an important role in a nation's economic development. They are often sources of new ideas, materials, processes, and services that larger firms may be unable or reluctant to provide (Robbins 1994). Megginson et al. (1994) noted that people have a much higher opinion of small firms than of large firms, in part because a small firm is characterized by individual freedom, risk-taking, initiative, thrift, frugality, and hard work. However, many small business ventures have failed because of inadequate financing and inadequate management. The latter inadequacy is characterized by a lack of business knowledge, inadequate planning, and inexperience (Megginson et al. 1994). Because of the lack of resources associated with their size, small firms may develop business networks. A business network can be defined as linkages among firms. It provides external sources for various types of input that complement or substitute for a given firm's inadequacies (Malecki and Tootle 1996). Nohria and Eccles (1992, p.2) pointed out that "the model of organization that is considered characteristic of the New Competition is a network of lateral and horizontal interlinkages within and among firms." In order to "enhance competitiveness, both large and small firms have deployed various approaches to re-position their competitive priorities regarding cost, quality, and flexibility, so as to satisfy customer needs. Paying more attention to strategic decisions that serve to improve manufacturing functions represents one of these approaches and reflects a recognition of the crucial role of manufacturing strategy in defining competitive advantage (see Montagno et al. 1995, for example). Various studies on manufacturing strategies have tried to provide guidelines for the effective development of manufacturing strengths as a means to achieve competitive goals. However, much of the insight derived from this research is oriented toward the management within an individual firm rather than toward the constituents of the entire network. A review of the literature also reveals that empirical studies on manufacturing strategies tends to focus on large firms. This is partly due to the fact that the management procedures in small firms are unlikely to be institutionalized or documented. As strategic management places an ever-increasing emphasis on the synthesis of efforts within the supply chain, it is useful to investigate manufacturing strategies from the viewpoint of both an individual establishment and an entire network. The objective of this research is to the explore manufacturing strategies and the competitive priorities of networked small firms in Taiwan. In particular, this research examines the manufacturing operations of networked small firms in contrast to those of large integrated companies in the textile industry. A study of this kind may provide information useful to understanding how small firms can thrive in a competitive environment. Insights into the operations of small firms may also help the government formulate policies which facilitate the development of the nation's economy. Furthermore, this investigation of manufacturing strategies in Taiwan may provide a range of insights into the Chinese approach to management. Through an in-depth field survey, we examine the manufacturing strategies of the network, discuss its competitive priorities, and suggest several propositions concerning the management of network-based production systems. Research Background and Framework Background Small firms have flourished over the past four decades in Taiwan and have played a major role in the manufacturing industry (Liu, Liu, and Wu 1995). Several studies have found that a great deal of the success of small firms can be linked to the effective networking of their production systems. For example, Wu (1994) noted that a cooperative network links various specialized and mutually supplemented processes, thereby creating a production system of high flexibility and capability. …