This project is a comprehensive examination of the phenomena of "World Class Manufacturing" from theoretical and empirical points of view. The theoretical component will synthesize the support for World Class Manufacturing from the literature bases of operations management, strategic management, organization behavior, organization theory, human resources management, and international business. The empirical component will develop a database of information about World Class Manufacturers in the United States, Europe, and Japan, as well as traditional firms, for comparison. This database will be used to test propositions concerning world class manufacturing and its relationship to performance. The data will be gathered using a set of questionnaires which were developed using reliable and valid measures of the traits which characterize the management practices of World Class Manufacturing, as well as a series of objective measures of plant performance. The data in the database will be the basis for a series of papers relating various management practices to performance, for World Class Manufacturers and traditional plants. The data will be supplemented by qualitative information gathered during a series of plant visits, which will include structured interviews as well as plant tours. Thus, this project combines theory with quantitative and qualitative research in order to comprehensively examine World Class Manufacturing. It will provide the foundation for an examination of manufacturing management, as well as answering a number of questions about the relationship of various management practices to plant performance. It is the first major examination of World Class Manufacturing, and its findings should be of value to both academics and practitioners. Because of its interest to industry, the project also is supported by 3M, Honeywell, and Donaldson Company under the Joint NSF/Private Sector Research Opportunities Program.
