Effect of change – a longitudinal study into the changing manufacturing structures

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze changes in the supply chain and production process, and the effects these changes have had on competitive performance. Design/methodology/approach – The study is longitudinal and was conducted in 1993, 2004 and 2010 with a standard questionnaire. The data have been analyzed by using the Mann-Whitney U-test. Findings – The study indicates that changing a role within the supply chain may help a company to adapt to surrounding changes, but there is no single best way to react to such changes. Companies must be able to position themselves in the new situation. Research limitations/implications – Even though the study itself and the data are unique, there are still some limitations. Although the results are limited to the sample, they nevertheless give a good insight into the changes that occurred within the sample. Originality/value – This study is the only longitudinal study in this field to compare three periods of time. This gives a unique perspective to study the changes that have occurred during the last 15 years.