Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)

School

Management

Advisor

Lisa Kangas

Abstract

Manufacturing leaders seek strategies to improve cross-cultural business relationships because of the increasing demand for outsourcing, which requires strong partnerships among manufacturing supply chain members. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore successful strategies that manufacturing business leaders use to improve cross-cultural business relationships within their manufacturing supply chain. The targeted population included business leaders, fluent in English, within 1 company located at 2 different manufacturing sites in the Midwest region of the United States and the Northeast region of Mexico. The capability-based view theory was used to support knowledge sharing, trust, and strategic management. Methodological triangulation of the data from interviews, direct observations during site visits, and production documentation led to 4 themes. The 4 themes that emerged from thematic analysis were: information sharing, which was key to form a strong partnerships between the 2 manufacturing sites; the development of common business tools, which facilitates the development of common technical language that both sites understood and could translate into common expectations; training of business tools and processes, which expands knowledge sharing and best practices among the 2 sites; and understanding differences of people rather than culture. The implication for positive social change includes the potential to provide strategies to business leaders within various manufacturing industries on how to overcome the challenges of trust, information sharing, and resource management and provide successful cross-cultural business relationships and profitability.

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