European manufacturer's competitive priorities: An empirical assessment

This article conveys the competitive priorities of manufacturing companies, with different strategic thrusts. Supported by the 2009 International Manufacturing Strategy Survey, the reported empirical research uses multivariate testing methods. The results show four competitive priorities, namely price, quality, delivery and service, which are important for European manufacturers to win orders. Besides, business enterprises' different strategic thrusts influence their selection of competitive priorities, namely the ordering of quantity, flexibility, innovation, environmental protection and social responsibility. Dependent on European manufacturers' strategic thrusts, crafted is a chart that depicts their competitive priorities. The chart shows the important differences among said manufacturers' competitive priorities, according to their strategic thrusts. The article concludes with recommendations for manufacturing enterprises that intend to extend their business to Europe, depending on: parent-subsidiary relations and relationships, the competitive priorities of European competitors, and their own competitive priorities, transferred through their evolving strategic thrusts.