Aligning manufacturing flexibility with environmental uncertainty: evidence from high-technology component manufacturers in Taiwan

While flexibility improvement is among the top concerns of manufacturing managers, managers are advised to choose the dimensions of flexibility they want in their plants. This study investigates the strategic choice of aligning flexibility development with the external environment that manufacturing managers face. Considering the nature of the high-technology industry in Taiwan, we measure environmental uncertainty based on the dimensions of customer demand, supply, competitors and product technology. Empirical data were collected from manufacturing firms in Taiwan. We then applied path analysis to examine the effect of aligning three types of flexibility: product mix, new product and volume with specific dimensions of environmental uncertainty. The results indicate that the matching of manufacturing flexibility with environmental uncertainty is necessary to ensure profit and sales performance. When faced with certain environmental stimuli, management should choose to emphasize and develop particular manufacturing flexibility.