A plant's technology emphasis and approach - A contextual view

While research has identified potential benefits of specific technology development practices, the literature has largely failed to identify the contextual issues that influence these practices. This paper explores the contextual differences of plants to better understand what types of companies place more emphasis on process technology and have a more disciplined approach to product development. We propose a theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between the context in which a plant operates and the process technology and the product development practices used within the plant. We test this framework using data from 163 plants to determine what types of companies are most likely to emphasize process technology and product development at the plant level. Our results indicate that environmental, organizational and strategic contextual factors are important to the technology practices of a plant.