Abstract

Flexibility is a philosophy that has been studied extensively in the literature. This paper identified the lack of research that investigate the relation between flexibility dimensions and operational performance metrics. The relation has been studied in limited depth and breadth by very few researchers. Therefore, this research investigates the relationship between each of the fifteen flexibility dimensions and three performance metrics (quality, cost, productivity). This paper is based entirely on previous literature. All relevant articles were extracted and used in the study. The results of the study indicate that in order to improve specific performance metrics (i.e. cost, productivity, or quality), some flexibility dimensions should be implemented. Moreover, the study showed that not all fifteen flexibility dimensions are needed to improve a particular metric.