| The study examines relationships among firms' innovative capacity, marketing and manufacturing capabilities, and the sales growth of products. First, the study collects an extensive body of secondary data concerning the U.S. minimill industry. Then the study uses mailed questionnaires and telephone interviews to collect information from plant managers in the industry. The analyses focus on the development of the minimill industry, including the characteristics of minimill steelmaking technology, minimills' strategies and managerial practices, and the financial performance of this segment of U.S. steel industry. The hypotheses include: (1) firms that differ in their marketing capabilities, manufacturing capabilities, and innovative capacity result in different levels of core competence; and (2) the level of core competence is positively related to a firm's performance. The results generally supported the research model, although the components of marketing had to be combined with the other variables. Management factors that correlated positively with performance include: process improvements, strategy/direction, participative management, plant culture, organization structure, intra-plant communications, human resource policies, total quality management, international competition, customer responsiveness, and product development and improvement. |
