The area of manufacturing strategy and innovation has developed considerably during the last three or four decades. Competition in industry is getting ever harder. New players are entering markets, new and disruptive technologies are introduced more frequently than ever before, and established players are losing ground. The increasing globalization, out-/insourcing and pace of change force companies to continuously develop and adopt new practices to stay ahead of or, at least, keep up with competition. For academia, this creates the challenge to continuously identify and validate new management practices in order to develop the body of knowledge in ways that are useful and usable for companies.

The International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS) is a global network of universities and business schools. Started in 1990, the network has succeeded in collecting data from more than 500 manufacturing companies world-wide in each of the four rounds the survey has been conducted. During this period, the IMSS network has contributed significantly to the scientific community in general, and to the area of manufacturing strategy and innovation in particular.

This IMSS Global Report presents some of the key insights obtained from the last round of the survey, to an audience consisting of industrial managers, trade unions, research councils, funding bodies and politicians. The report is based on data collected in 2005 from more than 750 companies in 24 countries worldwide. The first chapter introduces the survey and presents the main findings. Four thematic chapters dig into, what appear to be, hot topics, namely complexity, sustainability, quality and culture, and the impact of manufacturing innovation and change on performance.

The report is available for download for CINet members from the CINet Publications webpage.