Information processing-related infrastructural antecedents of manufacturing flexibility – a real options perspective.

The relationship between manufacturing flexibility and environmental uncertainty has been widely studied; however, research involving manufacturing flexibility and associated infrastructural antecedents is sparse. In this paper, using the real options perspective, we develop a research model to explicate management support’s influence on an organisation’s manufacturing flexibility. We use a second-order, multi-dimensional construct and survey data collected from US manufacturers to test our hypotheses. The study provides evidence to suggest that management support through teamwork, information systems effectiveness, and integrated supply chain effectiveness enhances an organisation’s manufacturing flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]