Relationship between operations strategy and size in engineering consulting firms

The relationship between strategy and firm size has been broadly considered and studied in strategic management literature. However, this topic has not been paid as much attention in the operations management field in manufacturing studies. The aim of this study is to analyse the relationship between operations strategy and firm size in a sample of engineering consulting firms. According to the results, there is a significant relationship between operations strategy and size in consulting engineering firms. In this context, small firms tend to follow customer-oriented operations strategies, medium sized firms tend to follow process-oriented operations strategies and larger firms tend to follow service-oriented operations strategies. Introduction The relationship between strategy and firm size has been broadly considered and studied in strategic management literature (see for example Andrews, 1971; Argyris, 1985; Dess and Davis, 1984; Herbert, 1984; Miller, 1981; Rich, 1992). However, this topic has not been paid as much attention in the operations management discipline (Swink and Way, 1995). Moreover, when considering service firms, studies directly relating to strategy and size are even scarcer (Bozarth and McDermott, 1998). Most of them just do not consider size as a moderating variable (see among others Ettlie, 1995; Mills et al., 1998; Morita and Flynn, 1997; Smith and Reece, 1999). The aim of this study is to analyse the relationship between operations strategy and firms’ size in a sample of engineering consulting firms. Operations strategy is measured through a set of items configuring nine dimensions. Size is measured through firm turnover. Our main goal is to verify whether service firms pursue different operations strategies according to different turnover levels. Multivariate regression analysis is the statistical tool used for this study. First we will review the concept of operations strategy and its possible relationship with firms’ size in the context of service operations management. Operations strategy and size Operations strategy has received intense treatment for more than three decades (Nieto Antolõ Ân et al., 1999). Such interest has not excluded incorrect assumptions about the environment. Moreover, many studies have neglected environmental T h e c u r r e n t is s u e a n d f u l l te x t a r c h iv e o f th is jo u r n a l i s a v a i la b le a t http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0956-4233.htm The author wishes to thank Professor Antonio Rodrõ Âguez Duarte (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) for his inestimable help with the statistical processing of this paper. Nevertheless, the author is the only person responsible for possible mistakes and omissions.