COMPETITIVE STRATEGY AND THE ADOPTION AND USAGE OF PROCESS INNOVATION

This paper explores the relationship between the timing and usage of process innovation and a firm's competitive business strategy. A study of 104 foundries that adopted Automatic Flaskless Matchplate Molding (AFMM) showed that the decision to adopt was significantly related to strategies of product specialization, value‐added, and customer focus, but not to low‐cost leadership. Finns with divergent competitive strategies adopted the innovation, but used it differently to reach their varying goals.