A mapping of competitive priorities, manufacturing practices, and operational performance in groups of Danish manufacturing companies

A sample of 63 Danish companies is divided into four strategic groups. Each group represents a distinct manufacturing strategy. These strategic groups are then used to investigate relationships with the implementation of bundles of manufacturing practices such as JIT and TQM, and with operational performance. The results suggest that using strategic groups as a representation of companies' manufacturing strategy can improve the understanding of companies' implementation of bundles of manufacturing practices and of their operational performance. The results indicate that the degree of environmental fit differs amongst the groups and that companies do not necessarily have to conduct an extensive implementation of all bundles of manufacturing practices in order to perform well on important performance dimensions according to their manufacturing strategy. Finally, the study adds to the scarce literature on small country studies.