본 연구의 목적은 제조기업의 생산전략이 원가, 납기, 유연성, 품질 요인과 같은 경제적 생산역량을 최우선적으로 강조하였던 전통적 생산전략에서 환경보호, 안전보건, 보안과 같은 사회적 책임 생산역량을 최우선으로 강조하는 가치혁신 생산전략으로 이동되고 있는지를 확인해 보는 것이다. 그리고 가치혁신 생산전략과 적합한 상황요인과 생산활동의 특성을 이해하고자 했다. 본 연구에서는 표본기업을 대상으로 사회적 책임 생산역량 비율(사회적 책임 생산역량 대 경제적 생산역량 비율)을 계산하였다. 그리고 상대적으로 사회적 책임 생산역량 비율이 높은 상위 1/3 기업집단을 가치혁신 생산전략 집단으로, 이 비율이 상대적으로 낮은 하위 1/3 집단을 전통적 생산전략집단으로 측정하였다. 본 연구가 국내 제조업을 대상으로 실증분석을 실시한 결과, 가치혁신 생산전략이 전통적 생산전략보다 성과가 좋은 것으로 나타났다. 특히 시장이 경쟁적인 상황에서 가치혁신 생산전략의 성과가 전통적 생산전략보다 통계적으로 유의하게 높다는 점을 알 수 있었다. 그리고 가치혁신 생산전략이 고객지향 생산활동과 병행될 때, 또한 가치혁신 생산전략이 외부기업과의 제휴활동과 병행될 때 상호작용 효과가 발생되어 성과가 증가하는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 연구결과는 다음과 같은 시사점을 제공하고 있다. 첫째, 제조업의 생산전략 패러다임이 전통적 생산전략 패러다임에서 가치혁신 생산전략 패러다임으로 이동되고 있음을 시사하고 있다. 둘째, 본 연구 결과는 가치혁신 생산전략에 적합한 상황요인과 생산활동 특성을 제시함으로써, 가치혁신 생산전략의 이론적 틀을 세워나가는데 기여하고 있다고 평가할 수 있다.
In the academic field of operations and production management, a new paradigm, called the value innovative operations strategy (VIOS), is attracting considerable attention. As advocated, the value innovative operations strategy puts its top priority on social responsibility operations capabilities, including the protection of environment, health and safety, and security. The purpose of this study is to confirm whether the value innovative operations strategy is migrated from the traditional operations strategy (TOS) in which economic operations capabilities such as cost, delivery date, flexibilities and quality were at the top operational concerns. Further, this paper is designed to understand contextual factors which are deemed to be appropriate for the value innovative operations strategy and their organizational characteristics for the operational activities.
In this study, the areas of research questions are categorized and posited as follows: (1) the differences of organizational performance between the firms highlighting social responsibility operations capabilities and other firms putting an emphasis on the economic operations capabilities, (2) the organizational contexts, including competition intensity and organizational capabilities, which seem to be appropriate for the firms in pursuit of the value innovative operations strategy, and, finally, (3) the operational activities that fit the value innovative operations strategy, exemplified by the customer-centric orientation and strategic alliances with agility.
For the purpose of empirical validation on the proposed hypotheses, an empirical survey was conducted, targeting the Korean manufacturing firms solely. The participants were the member firms in the panel organized by a trustworthy on-line marketing research company. The total number of the sample companies was 220, and knowledgeable key informants at each company were accessed. The types of industry included the automobile, semiconductor, chemical, pharmaceutical, shipbuilding, etc. With respect to the measure verification issue, a very robust and standardized process was implemented in order to ensure reliability and validity of all the variables. Further, the relevant statical techniques were used, including t analysis and the hierarchical regression analysis.
Overall, the analysis shows that the most hypotheses were supported. The result of this study confirms that the firms implementing the value innovative operations strategy are more successful than the firms using the traditional operations strategy. More specifically, when the firms are confronted with more competitive environment, the performance of the firms using the value innovative operations strategy is statistically higher than that of the firms applying the traditional operations strategy. And, more critically, only when the firms implement the value innovative operations strategy in parallel with the customer-oriented operations strategy, and when the operations strategy is accompanied by the strategic alliance with external parties, they show a better performance which is resulting from the interplay among those organizational factors.
The implications of the current study are as follows: first of all, a paradigm of operations strategy in the manufacturing industry is shifting from the TOS to the VIOS. This study confirms that from the traditional paradigm of stressing economic operations capabilities, the new paradigm of the value innovative operations strategy is emerging, which is aiming at providing new values to customers, by putting an emphasis on the firms’ social responsibility operations capabilities and by reducing the managerial focus on the economic operations capabilities. Secondly, this study sheds a light on the theory building on the value innovative operations strategy. This study, in particular, suggests critical contingent factors that are compatible with the value innovative operations strategy and their organizational characteristics for the successful operational activities.