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In recent years, many hospitals have moved to a professional management model from one of physician dominance. One result has been that physicians in some hospitals are alienated from the strategic processes of the hospital. Extant literature suggests that both physician involvement in strategic processes and investment in capability-building programs are associated with improved performance. The literature also suggests that there is an interaction between physician involvement and capability-building investments that is positively associated with performance. We explore these notions empirically using data from a sample of hospitals to evaluate the extent to which physician involvement in strategic decision making and investments in operational capabilities are associated with hospital performance. Results indicate that such proactive involvement of physicians in strategic decision making significantly affects hospital performance. In addition, investments in capability building related to employee development also affect hospital performance.

The operating definition of manufacturing strategy in published
research has often been too restrictive to accommodate the entire gamut
of approaches used in practice. In particular, the manufacturing
strategies of world class manufacturers do not fit the prevalent
planning orientation suggested by many researchers. Claims a
multifaceted view of manufacturing strategy is needed to depict
accurately the strategic efforts of all manufacturers. Describes six
distinct views of the manufacturing strategy: planning, proactiveness,
pattern of actions, portfolio of manufacturing capabilities, programmes
of improvement, and performance measurement.

PurposeThis paper seeks to investigate whether linkages, proposed by previous researchers, among business strategies and structural and infrastructural investment decisions of manufacturing are empirically supported.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 101 US manufacturing firms is classified into three groups based on their predominant business strategies. The classification is validated using analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests on the taxons and on the environment in which the firms operate. ANOVA tests on manufacturing investment decisions are then used to address the central question of the paper – whether the three business strategy groups differ in their emphasis on structural and infrastructural areas of manufacturing.FindingsThe three business strategy‐based groups of firms, labeled broad‐based competitors, differentiators, and price leaders, differ in their emphasis on several of the structural and infrastructural areas of manufacturing, thus supporting the contention of linkages among business strategy and manufacturing investment decisions.Originality/valueThe popular notion of linkages among business strategies and investments in structural and infrastructural areas of manufacturing is empirically tested.

Organizational performance is often dependent on the timing of critical processes and the simultaneous use of both technology and routines. Existing publications emphasize the importance of time sensitivity but also reflect divergent, untested perspectives. Prior works do not clearly explain or examine how different mechanisms are associated with achieving time-sensitive versus general (or non-time-sensitive) performance. We build on concepts from organizational mindfulness and organizational routines to address these gaps. Specifically, this paper examines how the mindful use of information technologies and adherence to specified routines are associated with both time-sensitive and general organizational performance. We employ split-group structural equation modeling based on high and low levels of information technology adoption to account for potential technology contingencies in performance. We use time-sequenced data from 262 U.S. hospitals to analyze two categories of clinical care quality: time-sensitive care and general care. The results indicate that mindful use of technologies is associated with both time-sensitive and general performance in contexts with high technology adoption but not in those with low adoption. In contrast, adherence to specified routines is associated with time-sensitive performance in contexts with low technology adoption but not in those with high adoption. The results also clarify that high levels of technology adoption and mindful use may at times assume the place of specified routines in their association with time-sensitive performance. Finally, we find evidence that continuous improvement may bridge adherence to specified routines and mindful use of technologies.

The manufacturing strategy literature suggests a number of areas in which decisions are of strategic importance. This study uses a survey of manufacturing executives from 213 business units in the United States to explore empirically the concept of strategic decision categories and improvement programmes that are related to each category. The concerns expressed by the 213 manufacturing executives are categorised and are shown to correspond fairly well with the strategic decision categories from the literature. The survey responses to questions about plans for programmes and activities to improve manufacturing over the next 2 years are also categorised. The relationships between planned programme categories and the strategic concerns that underlie them are explored and summarised.

ABSTRACTIdentifying manufacturers' competitive priorities has long been considered a key element in manufacturing strategy research. However, relatively little effort has been devoted to measurement of these constructs in published research. In this study we develop scales for commonly accepted competitive priorities, cost importance, quality importance, delivery‐time importance, and flexibility importance. We assess how well the scales capture the constructs that they represent using data collected from 114 manufacturing plants in the United States. The findings suggest that the instrument developed can provide reliable data and that the constructs measured are valid. In addition, comparisons between pairs of informants representing the same business indicate that the perceptual measures of competitive priorities are as reliable as point estimates of routine, seemingly objective information.