OBSTACLES TO COMPUTER-INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING SUCCESS - A STUDY OF PRACTITIONER PERCEPTIONS

This study investigated practitioner perceptions of obstacles to compu ter integrated manufacturing success. One hundred and one survey parti cipants rated the importance of obstacles believed to influence CIM su ccess. A comparison of obstacle importance, as measured in this study, with the importance of various obstacles as measured in other studies , suggests that the importance of obstacles may be temporal in nature. The survey responses were used to develop an empirically-based taxono my of CIM obstacles. The importance ratings were factor analysed and t he result was four obstacle groups: commitment of resources, strategic concerns, organizational receptivity, and human resistance to change. The relationships between CIM obstacles and perceived CIM success wer e also explored using regression analysis. Although the regression mod el was only marginally significant, the pattern of results suggests th at the perceived importance of commitment of resources is positively r elated to perceived CIM success, while the perceived importance of org anizational receptivity is inversely related to perceived CIM success. Some possible explanations for these findings are presented.