Creating the competitive edge: a new relationship between operations management and industrial policy
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Spring, M
Hughes, A
Mason, K
McCaffrey, P
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Policy interventions by governments to alter the structure of economic activity have either been dismissed or ignored by operations management (OM) scholars. However, in recent years, such ‘industrial policy’ measures have gained increasing support in developed economies, particularly in relation to manufacturing. This paper argues that contemporary manufacturing in high-cost economies is rooted in technological innovation. As such, it can be enhanced by industrial policy interventions that prevent systems failures in the process of turning technological innovation into commercially viable products. In particular, we argue that this can be achieved by establishing non-firm, intermediate research organizations and by other measures to change the institutional architecture of an economy. We disagree with claims in earlier OM literature that industrial policy is all but irrelevant to manufacturing firms and to OM. Instead, we argue that OM must broaden its conceptual scope so as to encompass active engagement with non-firm network participants such as government-supported intermediate research organizations, and that, as well as learning to be effective users of industrial policy, OM practitioners and academics should engage actively in the development of industrial policy. In this way, high-value, high-productivity manufacturing can be viable in high-cost economic environments.
Date Issued
2017-03-01
Date Acceptance
2016-12-12
Citation
Journal of Operations Management, 2017, 49-51, pp.6-19
ISSN
0272-6963
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
6
End Page
19
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Operations Management
Volume
49-51
Replaces
10044/1/44092
Copyright Statement
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This manuscript is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Subjects
Social Sciences
Science & Technology
Technology
Management
Operations Research & Management Science
Business & Economics
POLITICAL-ECONOMY
MARKET FAILURE
CAPABILITIES
INTEGRATION
SYSTEMS
PARADIGMS
NETWORKS
STRATEGY
IMPACT
Business & Management
01 Mathematical Sciences
09 Engineering
15 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2017-02-01