Abstract

Strategic consensus can be defined as agreement on strategy content and process across all levels of an organisation. Although strategic consensus is considered a major factor for the success of any manufacturing strategy, the topic has been widely neglected in the operations management literature. Moreover, the limited existing literature typically focusses on large firms in developed economies. In response, this study explores strategic consensus in 38 small companies in Brazil. Multiple company visits were combined with surveys and interviews. Responses from all operational managers (55 responses) and 117 operational-level employees (operators) were obtained. Using cluster analysis this study tests 10 research propositions regarding drivers of strategic consensus that where obtained through a systematic literature review. Results suggest that a high degree of formalisation in planning activities supports strategic consensus, that professional and decentralised decision making may be a better alternative for small firms and that the formalisation of communication channels may not be mandatory for strategic consensus, if there is, for example, a close relationship and collaboration between managers and employees.

摘要

战略共识可以定义为在组织的各个层面就战略内容和流程达成一致。尽管战略共识被认为是任何制造战略成功的主要因素，但该主题在运营管理文献中被广泛忽视。此外，有限的现有文献通常侧重于发达经济体的大公司。作为回应，本研究探讨了巴西 38 家小公司的战略共识。多次公司访问与调查和访谈相结合。获得了所有运营经理（55 名）和 117 名运营级员工（运营商）的回复。本研究使用聚类分析测试了 10 个关于战略共识驱动因素的研究命题，这些命题是通过系统文献综述获得的。