Int. J. Production Economics 60—61 (1999) 261—269 Performance and partnership in global manufacturing-modelling frameworks and techniques Edmond K. Lo*, Chamli Pushpakumara School of Engineering, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S1 1WB, UK Abstract Manufacturing globalization warrants researches in the two important related areas. First, the evaluation and comparison of performance based on the structure and future requirements of an industry. Second, the evaluation of essential synergistic effects resulted from sharing of resources in different forms of partnerships. This paper presents two related analytical models to quantify manufacturing performance and partnership synergy in a global context. It will analyse the related literature, outline model frameworks and evaluation methodologies, and illustrate the applicabil- ity.  1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Global manufacturing; Capability; Performance; Partnership; Synergy 1. Introduction Many companies perceive global manufacturing as integral to their strategy for improved business performance and growth. Encompassed within this strategy is clearly the opportunity to access new markets, but of equal importance are the oppor- tunities to explore and pursue joint venture and co-production activities. In the domain of corpo- rate strategy, the study of corporate diversification has been a central theme and the relationship be- tween performance and diversification has received the most research attention, and some studies have touched on the issues of alliance synergy in diversi- fication processes [1]. Two interrelated areas of * Corresponding author. Tel.: 00 44 114 225 3419; fax: 00 44 114 225 3433; e-mail: e.k.lo@shu.ac.uk. work are of particular importance in the study of Global Manufacturing. First, the evaluation and comparison of manufacturing competitiveness based on the structure and future requirements of an industry. Second, the identification and evalu- ation of the synergy of partnership between co- manufacturers and vendor/suppliers co-operating in a global supply chain. With the growing interest in manufacturing as a competitive weapon, literature is abound on the subject of manufacturing strategy and manufactur- ing competitiveness, addressing both process and content issues [2]. At the early stages most of them were of conceptual nature. But now there is evid- ence of an increase in the number of empirical studies as well. Most studies associated with the evaluation of global manufacturing performance were focused on macroeconomic level using a coun- try as the unit of study. The results are somewhat 0925-5273/99/$ - see front matter  1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 9 2 5 - 5 2 7 3 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 1 5 0 - 9