Jens Kaiser2024-02-202024-02-202024-02https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/119494Scholars generally recognize that managing international manufacturing networks (IMNs) is crucial for a firm’s competitive advantage. However, managers seem overwhelmed with this complex management task, causing many firms to fail to benefit from their IMNs fully. The concept of strategic plant roles – first introduced by Ferdows (1989) – helps to overcome this complexity by assigning targeted roles to globally dispersed plants. Yet, Ferdows’s model lacks the right level of detail to make it operational. Consequently, multinational corporations (MNCs) have ventured to design and deploy their own plant roles – fitting their specific contextual conditions. However, hardly any research exploring these “real-world” roles can be found in the literature. Filling this gap is the purpose of this thesis. Three studies build the empirical base of this thesis. Study 1 investigates the content of plant role models; it uses a database of 29 MNCs’ models. As a result, a conceptual framework is suggested for managers aiming to build their own plant roles. Study 2 explores dynamics related to plant role models. The multiple-case study of four IMNs using plant role models reveals important principles when creating and deploying plant roles. Results indicate that plant roles should only be applied for specific (sub-) networks. Plant leaders and adjacent functions such as R&D should get closely involved in the role-creation process. Last, study 3 explores the plant role introduction process at an internationally operating medical technology company in a single-case study. The study systematically integrates the individual level of plant leaders as key decision-makers who determine a plant’s conduct in IMNs. The findings indicate that network managers should use plant roles for regular plant roadmap building, role-specific performance management, and the global allocation of products and technologies. The three studies’ findings are synthesized in a step-by-step guide for designing and deploying plant roles in the general discussion of the thesis. When designing plant roles, network managers need to (1) embrace the plant role legacy, (2) get buy-in for plant role creation, (3) define the content of the model, and (4) clarify use cases. For its deployment, network managers need to (1) roll out the roles, (2) manage their IMNs by means of the roles, (3) monitor network effects, and (4) adapt the architecture of the model. To the author's knowledge, this is the first thesis systematically exploring the “companyspecific” part of plant roles. Given the unique access to industrial plant role models, this thesis thoroughly explores how companies build their own versions. Hence, shortcomings of plant role articles in IMN literature – such as oversimplification, missing network perspective, and missing investigation of related dynamics – could be addressed by this thesis.endoctoral thesis