Focal points in manufacturing strategic planning in Spain - Comparison with American and other European manufacturers

The aim of this work is to analyse the manufacturing strategies of the large Spanish industrial companies during the 1990s, making a comparison with the experience of American and other European manufacturers. To this end, and taking 1994 as a reference, this paper describes the planning process and content of Be manufacturing strategies of a representative sample of the largest industrial companies in Spain, analysing, in particular the high priority manufacturing objectives and policies maintained during the period 1992-1993 and those foreseen for the period 1995-1999 The information analysed has been obtained from a mail survey. The comparison of the Spanish companies with American and other European manufacturers attempts to observe how the Spanish experience is similar to that of other countries, in order to obtain interesting conclusions for the managers who may be responsible for managing industrial companies located in Spain.