Factory Strategy: Research on the Role of Plants in Operations Management

Papers on operations management in major journals have studied (1) relationships between the level of alignment in business and manufacturing strategies, practice realization, and performance; (2) the role of plants in global production networks; and (3) the reconciling of business and manufacturing strategies by operational executives. However, while these studies have positioned the role of plants as a strategic weapon in firms, their perspective is that the role of plants is imparted by headquarters or business units. Actually, the phenomenon which Japanese domestic plants have continued to work on various issues in an advanced manner from a global view went beyond this scope. There is a need for exploratory research from the perspective of plants as to the relationship between the role of plants and the strategic behavior of factory managers in continuing to grow while trying to survive in challenging environments and organizational capabilities built in plants.


Introduction
asserted that "manufacturing" strategically supports corporate competitiveness and is strategically important; thus, top management should make strategic decisions on their own without delegating them to plants. Since the 1980s, the operations management research has focused on the role of the production function (i.e., plants) on corporate competitiveness. In particular, a growing number of studies have made international comparisons of factors in high performance (QCDFs), and conceptualized lean production systems and operational practices with increasing global adoption (Holweg, 2007;Schroeder & Flynn, 2001;Shah & Ward, 2003Womack, Jones, & Roos, 1990). These studies on lean management clarified what practices brought about "good flow of materials and information" in a series of activities, such as development, production, procurement, and sales and to what extent these practices are executed (Fukuzawa, 2019a).
In recent years, the reshoring of domestic plants and consolidation of domestic production facilities has progressed while developing the globalization of production activities (Ketokivi, Turkulainen, Seppala, Rouvinen, & Ali-Yrkko, 2017;Wada, 2018). The external environment of Japanese firms have also changed vastly, such as financial crises and currency fluctuations, fierce competition with firms in newly developing countries, rapidly growing complexity and digitalization of products; therefore, it is now an ongoing task to review and reorganize the global role of each business.
The typical role of plants is the "production activity" in the meaning of "the transfer of design information to media" (Fujimoto, 1999). Plants are also considered to be places where production technologies and procurement activities required to achieve their function take place efficiently and further have the role of creating employment in the surrounding area and contributing to tax revenues for the local governments (Nakazawa, Fujimoto, & Shintaku, 2016). This paper reviews how the role of plants has been understood and analyzed in papers published in major Western journals of operations management. Since the 1980s, theoretical and empirical studies on the content and the process of formulating manufacturing strategies as well as production activities (organizational activities and practices) in the role of plants have been advanced.

Manufacturing Strategy as the Core Topic in Operations Management Research
(1) Trends in the manufacturing strategy research Pilkington and Meredith (2009)  who manage the factories, were not included within those categories.
(2) Investigations of "good" alignment among business strategy, manufacturing strategy, and manufacturing practice Following prioritization between QCDFs based on business strategy, Wheelwright (1984) and Hayes and Wheelwright (1984) note (1) capacity, sourcing and vertical integration, facilities, and information and process technology, related to structural aspects; and (2) resource allocation and capital budgeting systems, human resource system, work planning and control systems, quality system, measurement and reward systems, product and process development systems, and organizations related to infrastructural aspects as decision-making factors related to production activities. "Manufacturing strategy," as a decision-making set of these factors, affects the building of capabilities for production activities and enables the realization of competitive advantage for which firms strive.
Among these studies, Barnes (2002) stated that decision-making processes move from business strategy to manufacturing strategy in a top-down fashion, and when that happens, organizational culture, political factors inside the company, or personality factors (manager's personality, knowledge, and experience, etc.) impact manufacturing strategy. However, that study did not clarify the relationship between manufacturing strategy and performance. Kiridena et al. (2009) understood the process of forming manufacturing strategies in four phases, such as initiation, consolidation, commitment, and realization, asserting that priorities in business strategy impact the process of strategy formation, and focusing on organization type, size, and maturity, as organizational contexts. As three patterns for strategy formation, the study noted top-led (those done in top-down fashion for urgent issues), senior-led

The "Role of the Plant"
Thus, the "role of the plant" is not a major theme in manufacturing strategy research, but how is it dealt with in operations management research? Hayes and Wheelwright (1984) stated that manufacturing is a strategically important function, and the role of manufacturing escalates in four stages. There is a need for further research into the influence of factory managers' behavior on other departments (marketing, R&D, etc.), headquarters, or business units as to behavior. Through such research, the strategic behavior of factory managers can be clarified, both vertically and horizontally, and the capabilities built as a result of that behavior as well as the process of building those capabilities can be explained. 8 It is also hoped that this will lead to the clarification of dynamic capabilities, from shop floor to an overall company (Fujimoto, 1999(Fujimoto, , 2012Fukuzawa, 2015a;Sato, 2017