This paper presents a comparison of the manufacturing, planning and control practices among firms in machine tool industry in China, Hungary, USSR and North America (US). The analyses are based on data collected in factories in those countries using a common questionnaire covering sales forecasting, production planning and scheduling, shop floor control. purchasing and materials management. First, we use the multi-set data envelopment analysis (DEA)model to cvaIuate the relative efficiency in the four countries using three input variables and two output variables. The results indicate the efficiency of US machine tool industry is the highest, followed by Hungary, USSR, then China. Secondly, we present the significant differences in manufacturing practices among Chinese, Hungarian, USSR and US firms. The key differences are in labor productivity and market influences. These findings are quite important for the economic reforms being carried out in Hungary, USSR and China, and are helpful for doing cooperative business or joint ventures in the future.