Empirika, Vol. 19 No. 1, Juni 2006 EXAMINING THE MODERATING EFFECT OF TECHNOLOGY ON THE MANUFACTURING STRATEGY AND OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIP Lina Anatan Faculty of Economics, Maranatha Christian University, Bandung e-mail: lina_anatan@yahoo.com Abstract Rapidly changing market and technology, increasing complexity and uncertainty are creating a new competitive environment. To be successful in this globally competitive and rapidly changing environment, organization must formulate strategic plan that are consistent with their investment in and use of technology. This research was conducted to investigate investigates the moderating role of technology (both hard and soft technology) on the strategy and performance relationship. Data are collected through mailed questionnaire. The total questionnaires are sent to 525 CEOs manufacturing firm in Indonesia. Eighty seven responses are returned yielding response rate 16.57%. The study finds different result for hard and soft technology. Hard technology moderates the relationship between manufacturing strategy and operational performance, as a quase moderator variable. On the other hand, soft technology has an impact in the manufacturing strategy-performance relationship as an independent predictor variable, but it doesn’t moderate the relationship between manufacturing strategy and operational performance. Key words: manufacturing strategy, technology adoption, firm performance INTRODUCTION Manufacturing strategy is generally defined as the development of specific competitive strength based on the operation function and the use of manufacturing capabilities to achieve manufacturing goals (Amoako, 2003). The words technology means a resource that is not only important to operations but also to corporate profitability and growth. Technology is now viewed as a strategic weapon to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and support the competitive strategies of the firms (Harisson and Samson, 1997). This research was conducted to investigate the moderating role of technology adoption (both hard and soft technology) on the strategy and