A note on 'trade-off and compatibility between performance: definitions and empirical evidence'

This paper improves on a novel methodology advanced in order to assess deterministically (i.e., precisely) compromises and compatibilities between manufacturing capabilities in individual firms. We extend the original proposal to include more recent theoretical developments arguing that both trade-offs and compatibilities (e.g., cumulative capabilities) can be observed in a relationship between two or more competitive criteria. This means that as opposed to widely-accepted views, trade-offs and compatibilities can be complementary, and not necessarily mutually exclusive, when explaining relationships between various competitive criteria. As such, our improved methodology and rationale can assess the existence of both trade-offs and compatibilities between multiple capabilities utilising a single framework. Opportunities for novel research that uses our methodology are also offered.