Fitness For Transfer
Aims
- develop practical tools for firms transferring manufacturing internationally
- gain a better understanding of the factors that influence the process of manufacturing transfer
- develop the concept of fitness for transfer
Background
The ability to swiftly and effectively transfer manufacturing across national borders has become a critical competence for firms competing in the global arena. The process of transferring manufacturing internationally requires an understanding of the factors that influence the transfer. Firms planning technology transfers need to be able to assess a manufacturing processí appropriateness for the host site, the ease with which it can be transferred, their own ability to transmit, and the hostís ability to receive.
The elements of fitness for transfer
International manufacturing transfers can be facilitated through the application of a structured fitness assessment, and the use of checklists in transfer planning.
Research approach
Fitness for transfer provides a new approach to understanding the decisions taken in the implementation of a manufacturing transfer. The work is built on a review of global operations management and technology transfer and draws heavily on knowledge and learning principles. The project is built around a series of collaborative assignments with industry. A pilot study of a transfer by a major telecoms manufacturer to India has been made, and models and constructs have been developed and tested in further projects in China, Mexico and South Korea.
Drawing on this theoretical and practical work, the new concepts developed in this thesis hold a number of implications for theory and practice:
- They extend existing theories of knowledge management to include a new epistemology for manufacturing transfer, which distinguishes between ëtrulyí tacit knowledge and tacit specifiable knowledge.
- They challenge current assumptions and add resolution to existing explanations by demonstrating that manufacturing processes do not necessarily become more transferable as they mature.
- They form the basis for a systematic approach to the design of the international manufacturing transfer process and the assessment of strategic transfer decisions.
- They capture and codify experience from real transfers
Publications
The following reports from this research have been produced to date:
- Grant, E.B. and Gregory, M.J., ìTacit Knowledge, the Life Cycle and International Manufacturing Transferî, Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, Vol. 9, No. 2, 1997, pp. 149-161.
- Grant, E.B., ìAdapting Manufacturing Processes for International Transferî, Int. J. Operations and Production Management, Vol. 17, No.10, 1997.
- Grant, E.B., ìFitness for Transfer: improving the international transfer of manufacturing capabilityî, proceedings of the PICMETí97 conference, 1997.
- Grant, E.B., Gregory, M.J., Minshall, T.H.W., Probert, D.R., and Steele, A.P., ìDevelopment of a Manufacturing Transfer Processî, proceedings of the International Conference on Production Research (ICPR), Osaka, Japan, 1997.
Outcomes
- Fitness for Transfer - a workbook describing the process developed during this research project - was published in 1999
Researcher
Elliott Grant
