Our study aims to explore the past and present knowledge related to the management of manufacturing capabilities and to assess the extent to which our knowledge of this field has developed. It places specific emphasis on the philosophical foundations of the field, while also providing a set of directions for future research. A systematic review is applied, covering 104 articles. The authors unfold a strong dominance of the positivist paradigm, and call for a more balanced and informed approach in philosophical and, more specifically, methodological selection by scholars. In terms of the research content, a strong bias exists towards measuring the impact that certain manufacturing capabilities, and various configurations of these, may have on key performance indicators, such as cost. Our review warns on the dangers of following a dominant paradigmatic stance and on the limitations of researching a limited area of the complex and dynamic manufacturing capabilities arena
