German, French and British manufacturing strategies compared: A growth towards each other

Manufacturing has gained over the last years in attention as a tool to create competitive advantage. For fou years now a survey has been carried out by a research team at Insead to build a database on the manufacturing strategies as they are defined and implemented by large European companies. In this paper some of the 1987 data are presented, and a comparison of manufacturing strategies of large companies in the three most important European countries is made. Though the most important conclusion is that there are only slight differences between the three countries, one can see some difference in emphasis. The French companies seem to invest heavily to catch up with respect to quality, the German manufacturers invest heavily in technology, and the British seem to pay more attention to the improvement of the labour/management relations. The data on the manufacturing strategies of these groups of companies is also analysed in function of an increased need for flexibility, as it was perceived in previous surveys.