Factors affecting the success of world class manufacturing implementation in less developed countries: The case of Egypt

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify a comprehensive set of potential determinants influencing the successful implementation of world class manufacturing (WCM) in a less-developed country environment on the basis of a research conducted among manufacturing firms in Egypt. Design/methodology/ approach - Data for this paper are collected using a self-administrated questionnaire that is distributed to 200 Egyptian manufacturing firms. Of the 200 questionnaires posted, a total of 96 questionnaires are returned and used for the analysis. The respondents express their opinions concerning the importance of subsequent factors for implementation success and about the factors' presence in their manufacturing firms. Moreover, the impact of the factors on the implementation success is examined. Findings - The challenge for the Egyptian manufacturers today is to advance their manufacturing activities. To address this challenge the Egyptian manufacturing firms need to understand what are the factors that play critical role in utilising the WCM techniques and their implications on business strategic objective to compete successfully in the global arena. This paper discusses the above issues and proposes seven critical factors classified into two categories and validated empirically through a sample of 96 companies being surveyed in Egypt. The results clearly demonstrate that WCM strategic and tactical success factors have catalytic influence on WCM success. Research limitations/implications - There is a need to empirically test and refine the proposed factors, and to explore relationships among the various variables by collecting data from organisations that have already implemented WCM. Practical implications - The research outcomes are useful for professionals who lead WCM implementation and those who make decisions for the first time on WCM implementation. The results can be used by practitioners while managing the project and handling people's attitudes. Originality/value - This paper proves the influence of particular factors on the success of WCM implementation in certain circumstances, thus giving insight into the genuine mechanisms determining WCM implementation outcome.