Case Study Analysis: Additive Manufacturing's Impact on Business

This case study evaluates the impact of additive manufacturing on business competitiveness, focusing on an exploratory study using multiple case studies across 16 organizations. The research examines how additive manufacturing influences business performance, strategies, and contingent factors. The methodology includes literature reviews, qualitative data collection via semi-structured interviews, and documentary analysis. The study highlights the potential of additive manufacturing to boost productivity, particularly in the rapid manufacturing of metal products. The analysis identifies the strengths of rich data from interviews and documents, but also acknowledges the limitations of an exploratory approach and a small sample size. The study concludes that additive manufacturing can significantly increase productivity, and suggests further research using historical qualitative methods. The study is validated internally and externally, with real-world applicability. The main limitation is the lack of quantitative measures to test propositions, which is something a subsequent study can address.

Running head: CASE STUDY EVALUATION
Case Study Evaluation
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Analysis of the Case Study
In this aspect, a case study will be analysed. The current case study is a multiple case
study regarding additive manufacturing impacts on the competitiveness of the business. The
primary analysis of this study reveals that the current nature of this study is exploratory. As
the current study is exploratory in nature, this study does not provide any type of statistically
generalizable and definitive findings. The current nature of this research does not provide any
type of definitive findings, but still, this research has provided an empirical insight related to
how the additive manufacturing technology is capable of affecting specifically the
manufacturing industry (Niaki & Nonino, 2017). Also, this study has demonstrated how
additive manufacturing in the Rapid Manufacturing of metal products has increased overall
productivity.
In this research, the authors have first elaborated on the additive manufacturing
process. In this context, the authors have identified that additive manufacturing is an
emerging technology, and it has the potential of becoming the next industrial revolution.
Here, the authors have performed this study for analysing the effect of additive
manufacturing on business competitiveness. The main aim of this study is to identify the
influences of additive manufacturing in business performance, business strategies, and
determining the contingent factors driving performance. Another purpose of this study is to
clarify the relationship between the identified influences, product characteristics, and
organization (Niaki & Nonino, 2017). Considering the research methodology, the authors
have performed an exploratory type of study where they have used multiple case study
research methodology. For the multiple case study research methodology, more than one case
study has been studied for developing a generalization regarding a phenomenon. Here, the
authors have sampled 16 heterogeneous organizations by using the theoretical replication

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approach. For identification of the impact of additive manufacturing, literature that has been
conducted previously is reviewed. This research has performed a literature study on additive
manufacturing and on the theories that are gathered from the literature review of technology
management (Niaki & Nonino, 2017). Also, for conducting this research, the authors have
collected qualitative information by using the semi-structured interview and documentary
analysis. Through this, the authors have measured the effectiveness of the additive
manufacturing.
For the research method used for this research, there are some specific weaknesses
and strengths. In this aspect, the current research follows an exploratory study paradigm,
which is the main weakness of this research. As the exploratory study has been selected here,
it will provide the qualitative data. Interpretation of this kind of data can be biased and
judgemental. Also, the exploratory study always includes a smaller sample, which is not
enough for accurately interpreting the results for a generalized population. The main strength
of this research is that the data has been collected by semi-structured interviews and by a
documentary analysis, which has provided rich information to the researchers, as per the
research criteria (Niaki & Nonino, 2017). Here, the analysis of the collected data has led to
the conclusion that the employment of additive manufacturing within the rapid manufacturing
of metal products can boost the overall productivity.
Recommendation for a Subsequent Study
In this context, another study can be performed on how additive manufacturing can
increase the productivity of industrial organizations. For performing this study, the historical
model of qualitative research methodology should be utilized. The historical model of
qualitative research method demonstrates the past events for the understanding of the current
pattern and for predicting future choices (Brennen, 2017). This model can be used for

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answering questions, depending on the hypothetical idea. From there, it utilizes resources for
testing an idea for any type of potential deviations. The suggested research methodology is
relevant, and it can contribute to the existing research as it will be discovering how additive
manufacturing can increase the productivity of the organization, which will make the
organizations more competitive in the market.
Evaluation of the Study
From the internal perspective, this study is totally validated as a proper flow of the
study has been maintained by the authors. Also, this study has followed the proper structure
and study, which has made this study internally validated.
The study is also validated from the external perspective as the findings of this study
are applicable to real-world scenarios. Again, the study has used a qualitative approach, and
data has been collected by using a semi-structured interview in a real-time environment
(Niaki & Nonino, 2017). For these reasons, the current study is also validated from the
external perspective.
Limitation of the Study
For performing this research, authors have used empirical research by means of
qualitative data. Due to this fact, researchers must be testing the propositions by using
quantitative measures, which is the main limitation of this research.

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References
Brennen, B. S. (2017). Qualitative research methods for media studies. Taylor & Francis.
Niaki, M. K., & Nonino, F. (2017). Impact of additive manufacturing on business
competitiveness: A multiple case study. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management.