2. Background literature and summary of research questions
In this section we briefly review the literature that investigates the outcomes of a change in operational strategy: the
implementation of a lean manufacturing initiative.1 Since the literature on a lean manufacturing initiative is sparse we
broaden our review to include literature that investigates advanced manufacturing practices either from the perspective
of one advanced manufacturing technique or a bundle of any of the techniques.2 Much of the literature3 is based either
implicitly or explicitly on the contingency framework, which suggests that particular strategies will fit with particular
contextual variables. In Fig. 1, we use the recent typology from Gerdin and Greve (2004) to classify many of the
studies we discuss next.4 We do this because one of the aims of this study is to contrast an ex ante notion of how a
manufacturing initiative “fits” with structure, accounting practices and control components and the way we see that
the “fit” coheres in the field.
Gerdin and Greve (2004) first distinguish two types of fit as Cartesian or Configuration. A Configuration fit is
described as one in which many variables fit together and produce few system states. Change is dramatic, infrequent,
and produces tremendous change in performance. Conversely, Cartesian fit is characterized as few variables fitting
together that produce incremental changes in performance. Within the Cartesian fit, the next delineation is either
congruence or contingency, depending on the treatment of performance. If theory and tests suggest that only the best
performing firms survive then the study is one of congruence; however, if the “fit” can result in varying degrees of
performance then it is one of contingency. The next delineation is either moderation or mediation, and within moderation
Gerdin and Greve (2004) allow for classification depending on whether it is a test of strength or form. It should be
noted that for tractability Gerdin and Greve (2004) classify all bivariate correlation studies as either a moderation or
mediation model; however, for our purposes we classify those separately in Fig. 1.5
In this next section we briefly discuss lean manufacturing, organizational structure, accounting practices, and control
components. More importantly we provide the background literature necessary to construct an ex ante model of the
relations among the variables. We do this since our aim is to investigate the design of the control structure that results
from the implementation of a lean manufacturing strategic initiative. We take as our starting point the ex ante model
we develop in Section 2.2, which is based on the literature discussed in the next section.