Manufacturing strategies of Turkish firms: an empirical study on business environmental factors and competitive priorities

Abstract

There have been several studies that aim at exploring the relationships between business environment and strategy choices of firms in the literature. Cross country comparisons are provided when available to understand the differences between the manufacturing practices of the firms operating in different countries. This study analyzes the relationships between business environment, business strategy and manufacturing strategy by using the survey data gathered from Turkish manufacturing firms. The framework of these relationships used in this study is based on the relevant literature. A series of regression equations have been developed to test the effect of environment on the choice of business level competitive strategies and manufacturing strategies. In addition, the effect of competitive strategies on manufacturing strategy choices is tested. We have found significant relationships between (i) business environment and competitive strategy, (ii) business environment and manufacturing strategy, and (iii) competitive strategy and manufacturing strategy. An attempt to make a comparison of a previously collected data of the manufacturing firms in Ankara with the recently collected data is also included.