Exploring the content of company-specific plant role models in international manufacturing networks

Purpose This study explores the phenomenon of company-specific plant role models. Following the establishment of distinct lead factories, recent studies imply that multinational companies are now using more detailed plant roles to manage manufacturing networks. While multiple plant role typologies can be found in literature, this is, to our knowledge, the first article to systematically analyze the content of such company-specific plant roles. Design/methodology/approach We rely on a multiple-case study design of 29 plant role models primarily belonging to multinational companies headquartered in German-speaking countries. Coding is performed to analyze the models for similarities and differences. Findings The content of company-specific plant role models seems highly dependent on a company’s context; hence, there is no one best way to build them. Companies appear to be pursuing different priorities with the application of plant roles, for example, the reorganization of manufacturing networks, the systematic allocation of products or the definition of decision-making autonomy. Compared to the primarily two-dimensional models from theory, companies rely on more dimensions to make their plant roles practical. Similar to models from literature, competence bandwidth, inter-plant knowledge/information flow and location advantage are the most relevant dimensions to differentiate plants from a headquarters’ perspective. Practical implications Plant role models are a powerful management tool that enables delayering the complexity and allows for proactive management of manufacturing networks. Managers fit the content of their plant role models to their company-specific context and the intended application for manufacturing networks. Managers aiming to build company-specific plant roles can use the conceptual framework based on the empirical findings as a benchmark. Originality/value This study complements prior research on plant roles by acknowledging that companies might develop their own version of plant role models rather than copying the ones from the literature. By doing so, we explore how plant roles look like in a real-world setting.