DETERMINING ORGANIZATIONAL-STRUCTURE CHOICES IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT

The implementation of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) has been viewed as a powerful competitive weapon, Manufacturing plants that ha ve adopted these technologies have the potential, inter alia, to gain earlier entrance to markets, to respond more quickly to changing custo mer needs, and to improve the quality of their products. In this study , using an advanced manufacturing technology intensity index, we first examine the variations in company performance as a function of the si multaneous effect of the dimensions of manufacturing technology intens ity and structure, Secondly, using the moderator hypothesis, we propos e that the more organizational structure complemented AMT's competenci es, the higher the performance impact of AMT. Data from this study ind icate that decentralization, described as complementary to AMT strengt hs, interacts positively with AMT, whereas formalization and mechanist ic structure interact negatively with AMT. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science L td.