Participation and dialogue in strategic manufacturing development

Increased competition and the dynamics of technological and market developments have made operations in industrial enterprises very complex, with many stakeholders in and around the enterprise. At the same time, it has become important to address strategic issues of manufacturing. To plan and manage an appropriate degree of participation in strategy development has become a key issue, especially to ensure ideas and ownership from those who will be involved in the implementation of a manufacturing strategy. We have developed and implemented a five-phased process for developing a manufacturing vision adopting a participatory approach. It revolves around a series of one-day workshops, typically with 15-20 participants. The paper will focus on the importance of participation and dialogue in the process of developing a manufacturing vision. We will present a model for monitoring and managing dialogues during a workshop, part of which is a dialogue-monitoring instrument. Empirical studies will draw out process elements of participation and dialogue and demonstrate the applicability of the model. Finally, implications are spelled out for planning and managing workshops in different phases of the process of manufacturing vision development.