Abstract In this paper, through the lens of contingency theory, we examine how manufacturing strategic alignment and process integration affect manufacturing plant performance under two distinct environmental contexts presented by long-term macroeconomic instability. A large-scale dataset was specifically assembled for the purpose of this research investigation by combining plant-level survey data on practices and performance with secondary macroeconomic data for 14 countries from multiple sources. The results from multi-level regression analyses indicate that while manufacturing strategy alignment and process integration are beneficial for plant performance, they have distinct effects when the contingency factor, macroeconomic instability, is taken in consideration. Notably, when plants face high macroeconomic instability, process integration has a stronger effect on performance whereas in low instability environment manufacturing strategy alignment provides higher performance benefits. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings and offer directions for future research.

中文翻译：

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抵御经济衰退：检查制造战略调整和流程整合的有效性

摘要 在本文中，通过权变理论的视角，我们研究了在长期宏观经济不稳定所呈现的两种不同环境背景下，制造战略调整和流程整合如何影响制造工厂的绩效。通过将有关实践和绩效的工厂级调查数据与来自多个来源的 14 个国家的二级宏观经济数据相结合，专门为此研究调查收集了一个大规模数据集。多级回归分析的结果表明，虽然制造策略调整和流程整合有利于工厂绩效，但当考虑到宏观经济不稳定因素时，它们会产生明显的影响。值得注意的是，当工厂面临宏观经济高度不稳定时，流程集成对性能有更强的影响，而在低不稳定环境中，制造策略调整可提供更高的性能优势。我们讨论了这些发现的理论和管理意义，并为未来的研究提供了方向。