Further Evidence on the Extent and Origins of Jit's Profitability Effects

Abstract

Empirical research provides scant evidence that just-in-time (JIT) adopters outperform their non-adopting industry peers. Using a sample of 201 JIT adopters and matched non-adopters, we examine the relation between financial performance and JIT. Our sample-wide results indicate that JIT adopters improve financial performance relative to non-adopters, and that profit margin, rather than asset turnover, is the primary source of such improvement. However, results of additional analyses suggest that JIT adopters below a firm-size threshold do not improve financial performance, a finding that reconciles our study to Balakrishnan et al. (1996), which examined a JIT adopter sample that included a greater proportion of small firms.

Keywords: Just-in-time; Inventory management; Production technology

JEL Classification: M11, M40, M46