The globalisation of manufacturing activities has led to the emergence of internationally dispersed manufacturing plants. Coordination of such networks is a complex task and entails several management challenges. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding regarding the coordination issues and how they could be managed in IMN environment. Using a multiple case study approach, data from three multi-plant manufacturing businesses were collected and analysed. The results include discussions on coordination aspects such as autonomy and mechanisms to conduct coordination. Furthermore, a model for assigning autonomy level to the plant in an IMN is suggested as well as mechanisms to conduct the coordination work.

The growth of research interest in networked production has brought up numerous important concepts aimed at production networks. Still the actual research object seems to be ambiguous, making the exact application of findings insufficient. It appears that there are two main notions of the term Production Network. The first meaning is derived by a single versus a multiorganizational perspective while the second meaning comes from a regional versus global view. Obviously indistinctness exists in this field of research and clarification of terms and concept is required. The objective of this paper is to give an overview of the existing theories in accordance with the industrial practice providing a model to bridge the academic theories to industrial practice.

No abstract