An empirical examination of sourcing's role in developing manufacturing flexibilities

Past research on manufacturing flexibility has emphasized technology and it s contributions to flexibility. This study examines the role of sourcing pr actices in achieving manufacturing flexibilities. Manufacturing flexibility is conceptualized as a multi-dimensional construct and a taxonomy of exist ing research is developed. An exploratory empirical examination of the sour cing practices-flexibility linkage using canonical correlation and regressi on analysis suggests significant relationships between sourcing practice an d manufacturing flexibilities. The results support the need for treating ma nufacturing flexibility as a multi-dimensional construct. The results also suggest that a firm could deploy specific sourcing practices to target spec ific manufacturing flexibilities in pursuit of agility-based competitive ad vantages.