Resilience in family and nonfamily firms: an examination of the relationships between manufacturing strategy, competitive strategy and firm performance

Economic recessions that affect firms regardless of location, increased competition and changes in customer expectations, all contribute to disruptions that require firms to be resilient. Building resilience is a long-term strategic initiative that changes the way a firm operates by aligning linkages between functional strategies and competitive strategy. This article compares the relationship between manufacturing strategy and competitive strategy, and the relationship between manufacturing strategy and performance for family and nonfamily firms in the developing economy of Ghana. Using data from 122 manufacturing firms, the results indicate that delivery strategy is associated with the competitive strategy of cost leadership for family firms while flexibility is associated with cost leadership for nonfamily firms. Flexibility is related to the competitive strategy of differentiation for family firms but not for nonfamily firms. While delivery is associated with both sales growth and profitability for family firms, for nonfamily firms only flexibility is related to profitability. Our study suggests that family firms and nonfamily firms in Ghana use different manufacturing strategy components to build resilience. Implications of this pattern of results are discussed.