How are practices made to vary? Managing practice adaptation in a multinational corporation

Research has shown that management practices are adapted and ‘made to fit’ the specific context into which they are adopted. Less attention has been paid to how organizations anticipate and purposefully influence the adaptation process. How do organizations manage the tension between allowing local adaptation of a management practice and retaining control over the practice? By studying the adaptation of a specialized quality management practice – ACE (Achieving Competitive Excellence) – in a multinational corporation in the aerospace industry, we examine how the organization manages the adaptation process at the corporate and subsidiary levels. We identified three strategies through which an organization balances the tension between standardization and variation – preserving the ‘core’ practice while allowing local adaptation at the subsidiary level: creating and certifying progressive achievement levels; setting discretionary and mandatory adaptation parameters; and differentially adapting to context-specific and systemic misfits. While previous studies have shown how and why practices vary as they diffuse, we show how practices may diffuse because they are engineered to vary for allowing a better fit with diverse contextual specificities

The Impact of Information Technology on Mass Customization

Increasingly, companies are adopting mass customization as a business strategy to meet increasing customer demand for product variety to help compete in the global marketplace. This paper examines the effects and impacts of Information Technology (LT) on mass customization and how various IT tools are used as customizing mediums to enable mass customization and provide unique value to customers in the most efficient way possible. Examples are drawn from companies who leveraged IT technologies in their mass customization efforts. Recognizing the critical value of technology professionals, this paper further discusses IT professionals\u27 roles and how they are an integral part of the mass customization decision process. Additionally, some of the challenges that companies face when attempting to adopt Information Technology as an instrument to enable mass customization are examined. In this process, some possible solutions to these challenges are explored. Finally, some of the benefits and outcome of mass customization are discussed

Product Data Management of Configurable After-Sales Products

The purpose of this Bachelor’s thesis was to support the management of configurable products of ABB Drives Service. The objectives of the thesis were scoped to cover the product data management processes of two configurable product groups. The key target was to understand how to manage the product data of configurable products in a standardized and defined way. The thesis was conducted using action research methods. Qualitative research methods were utilized to gather data. This was done by conducting semi-structured and theme based interviews with functional specialists and process owners. Also the case company’s existing process maps, technical and functional documentations were utilized. The analysis of the current state was divided into two parts. Firstly, product data management of configurable products were analysed in ABB Drives generally. This helped to give an overview of the processes that initiate change in Drives Service. Also tools and information systems utilized to manage the product data of configurable products were analysed. Secondly, the current state was analysed focusing on how changes can be implemented in Drives Service. Also a more detailed analysis was conducted of how tools and information systems are utilized in Drives Service. As a result of the study key improvement areas for managing product data of configurable products of Drives Service were identified. Based on the current state analysis and workshops with the steering group of this study, process maps were defined to manage product data creation for configurable products. Future research questions were also identified for a successful implementation and further development of the process.Työn tavoitteena oli tukea konfiguroitavien tuotteiden tuotehallinnan kehittämistä ABB Drives Servicessä. Työn tavoitteet rajattiin koskemaan tuotetiedonhallinnan osa-aluetta kahden konfiguroitavan tuoteryhmän osalta. Keskeisenä tavoitteena oli ymmärtää miten konfiguroitavien tuotteiden tuotetiedonhallintaa voidaan hallita standardoiduilla ja määritetyillä menetelmillä. Tutkimus toteutettiin toimintatutkimuksena. Kvalitatiivisia tutkimusmenetelmiä hyödynnettiin tiedon keruussa. Puolistrukturoituja sekä teemapohjaisia haastatteluja toteutettiin eri toimintojen asiantuntijoiden ja prosessien omistajien kanssa. Lisäksi kohdeyrityksen olemassa olevia prosessikaavioita ja teknisiä sekä funktionaalisia dokumentaatiota hyödynnettiin. Nykytila-analyysi toteutettiin kahdessa osassa. Ensimmäisen osan tarkoituksena oli analysoida konfiguroitavien tuotteiden tuotetiedonhallintaa ABB Drivesissa yleisesti. Tämän avulla saatiin ymmärrys prosesseista, jotka vaikuttavat Drives Serviceen, sekä käytetyistä työkaluista ja tietojärjestelmistä. Näitä tietoja hyödynnettiin toisessa osioissa analysoimalla muutosten implementointia tuotetiedon osalta. Toisessa osiossa tarkasteltiin lisäksi syvällisemmin olemassa olevia työkaluja ja tietojärjestelmiä Drives Servicen näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksen tuloksena tunnistettiin keskeisimpiä kehitystä vaativia osa-alueita Drives Servicen konfiguroitavien tuotteiden tuotetiedonhallinnassa. Nykytila-analyysin ja opinnäytetyön ohjausryhmän kanssa pidettyjen työpajojen pohjalta määritettiin prosessikaaviot kahden konfiguroitavan tuoteryhmän tuotetiedonhallintaa varten. Lisäksi työn aikana tunnistettiin jatko-tutkimusaiheita, joiden tarkoituksena on varmistaa onnistunut implementointi ja prosessien jatko-kehittäminen tulevaisuudessa

Designing and managing ERP systems for virtual enterprise strategy:a conceptual framework for innovative strategic thinking

The business environment today is transforming towards a collaborative context compounded by multi-organizational cooperation and related information system infrastructures. This chapter aims to examine Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems development and emerging practices in the management of multi-organizational enterprises and identify the circumstances under which the so-called ‘ERPIII' systems fit into the Virtual Enterprise paradigm; and vice versa. An empirical inductive study was conducted using case studies from successful companies in the UK and China. Data were collected through 48 semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the Grounded-Theory based Methodology (GTM) to derive a set of 29 tentative propositions which were then validated via a questionnaire survey to further propose a novel conceptual framework referred to as the ‘Dynamic Enterprise Reference Grid for ERP (DERG-ERP)'; which can be used for innovative decision-making about how ERP information systems and multi-organizational enterprises – particularly the Virtual Enterprise may be co-developed

Business process improvements and innovations in support service processes and the effective measurement of their impact on the performance of manufacturing firms in South Africa

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Engineering, 2017Manufacturing companies have challenges implementing business process improvements and innovations (BPI) on support service processes effectively and find it difficult to measure the impact of such interventions on the overall performance of the organisation. Measurement of the impact of BPIs on overall performance of manufacturing companies is problematic due to the inadequacy of BPI metrics for support services. Furthermore, there are no universally accepted frameworks available for the measurement of the impact of improvements on support service processes on the performance of manufacturing companies. While there are frameworks available for performance measurement in general, they are not specific to measurement of the impact of BPIs in manufacturing support service processes. An initial exploratory study, based on an online survey of 50 companies that would typically conduct BPI or where known to the researcher to have conducted BPIs recently, was conducted to explore the nature of BPIs in manufacturing support service processes in South Africa. A second longer online survey was then conducted with 1000 respondents in manufacturing companies selected through expert sampling to further explore the nature and impact of BPIs in manufacturing support service processes considering selection of support service processes, the types and number of support service processes as well as BPI traditions and methodologies in use within manufacturing companies. In addition, four companies were selected for in-depth case studies in which ten projects were analysed by applying within case and cross case analysis The results of the surveys, the case studies and a revisit to the case companies were used to refine successive iterations of a theoretical framework initially developed from the literature. The framework provides a set of guidelines and actions for manufacturing companies to effectively conduct BPIs on manufacturing support service processes a basis from which the impact of improvements in manufacturing support service processes on manufacturing companies can be measured by providing the measurement areas to consider and a set of high level measures to use as high level indicators. Finally, the framework was checked for completeness using recommended criteria derived from the literature and was found to be complete and suitable as it met all the criteria for good measurement systems defined in the literature sources used in this study.MT 201

Multi Agent Systems in Logistics: A Literature and State-of-the-art Review

Based on a literature survey, we aim to answer our main question: “How should we plan and execute logistics in supply chains that aim to meet today’s requirements, and how can we support such planning and execution using IT?†Today’s requirements in supply chains include inter-organizational collaboration and more responsive and tailored supply to meet specific demand. Enterprise systems fall short in meeting these requirements The focus of planning and execution systems should move towards an inter-enterprise and event-driven mode. Inter-organizational systems may support planning going from supporting information exchange and henceforth enable synchronized planning within the organizations towards the capability to do network planning based on available information throughout the network. We provide a framework for planning systems, constituting a rich landscape of possible configurations, where the centralized and fully decentralized approaches are two extremes. We define and discuss agent based systems and in particular multi agent systems (MAS). We emphasize the issue of the role of MAS coordination architectures, and then explain that transportation is, next to production, an important domain in which MAS can and actually are applied. However, implementation is not widespread and some implementation issues are explored. In this manner, we conclude that planning problems in transportation have characteristics that comply with the specific capabilities of agent systems. In particular, these systems are capable to deal with inter-organizational and event-driven planning settings, hence meeting today’s requirements in supply chain planning and execution.supply chain;MAS;multi agent systems

International Examples of Large-Scale Systems - Theory and Practice II:A Case Study of Managing IT Outsourcing Partnerships in Asia

This case study describes an Asian Information Technology (IT) outsourcing partnership in the discrete manufacturing industry. Interviews with business and IT executives of both the Outsourcing Company and the IT Services Supplier provided the necessary insights. Nowadays many organizations in discrete manufacturing move their plants to Asian countries or other lower wages countries. Most IT services suppliers in Asia are relatively inexperienced with the management of IT outsourcing relationships. However, not only are the IT services suppliers inexperienced, the outsourcing companies do not have a track record in managing IT outsourcing relationships. Cultural issues also play an important role, especially power distance and collectivism. Contrary to the level of experience, cultural factor do not change over a few years. This article aims to provide a better understanding of managing IT outsourcing partnerships in developing Asian countries on the basis of an IT outsourcing partnership model

Service bundling opportunities for a 3PL in the value network

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2003.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Originally written by two authors for two different degrees: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program (Mr. Chew); and, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program (Mr. de Graeve). Mr. Chew graduated June 2003; Mr. de Graeve did not graduate until June 2004, and submitted the following thesis with title: Framework for the study of governance in the supply networksIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 96-99).The 3PL industry is currently experiencing rapid growth, high fragmentation and intense competition. In order to survive and stay relevant going forward 3PLs need to re-assess their current position in the value network and develop a clear strategy to position themselves as strategic business partners for the long term. This thesis first explores the supply chain challenges and needs of the major stakeholders in the value network. It then tries to create a roadmap identifying the major opportunities which 3PLs should optimize in order to become true value-added service providers and long term strategic business partners in the value network.by Chee Mun Chew & Denis de Graeve.S.M.M.O.T

Interplant coordination, supply chain integration, and operational performance of a plant in a manufacturing network: a mediation analysis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships at the level of plant in a manufacturing network, labelled as networked plant in the paper, between inter-plant coordination and operational performance, supply chain integration (SCI) and operational performance and inter-plant coordination and SCI. Design/methodology/approach This paper is developed based on the data obtained from the sixth version of International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS VI). Specifically, this paper uses a subset of the IMSS VI data set from the 606 plants that identified themselves as one of the plants in a manufacturing network. Findings This paper finds that external integration is significantly related to operational performance of networked plant, whereas internal integration is not. As an enabler for external integration, the influence of internal integration on operational performance of networked plant is mediated by external integration. This paper also provides evidence to the purported positive impact of internal integration on inter-plant coordination, as well as the positive impact of inter-plant coordination on external integration. It further suggests that inter-plant coordination can influence operational performance of networked plant through external integration and also mediate the relationship from internal integration to performance through external integration. Originality/value This paper contributes to the SCI literature and extends the understanding of the impact of SCI on the operational performance by selecting networked plant as a unit of analysis. Besides, this paper distinguishes inter-plant coordination from SCI and investigates the relationship between inter-plant coordination, SCI, and operational performance for the first time

Modernization of Manufacturing with Cybersecurity at the Forefront

With the proliferation of Industrial Control Systems (ICSs), manufacturing processes have improved over the last 30 years, however, the organizational focus to securely exchange and process information to/from integrated systems has been consistently lacking. These environments continue to be susceptible to security vulnerabilities, despite history [15] showing that cybersecurity exposures in manufacturing have largely gone unaddressed and continue to rise [52]. This study evaluates cybersecurity challenges in the industry and proposes recommendations for practical and fiscally responsible defense-in-depth cybersecurity protections for manufacturing environments. The business operating model, how ICSs became pervasive, as well as the major components that enable the operational technology (OT) were evaluated. With an understanding of the traditional network architecture for the industry [37], the rapidly evolving challenges facing the industry were examined. These challenges are impactful to the traditional and slow to change manufacturing operating model that has not focused on the necessary cyber protections for their OT environments. In addition, the industry is now facing game-changing technological concepts such as advanced manufacturing and Industry 4.0 that bring new complex challenges and cyber threats, unfamiliar to most in the industry. This is all underpinned by an organizational divide where the personnel most knowledgeable with the modern technology and cyber risks, in the majority of cases, are not responsible for the OT architecture and security. These headwinds impact an industry which spends the least on IT and cyber security than any other industry, globally [22]. The cyber risks and challenges in the industry are diverse, spanning technological and organizational competencies, stemming from purpose built components which operate in an ecosystem where cybersecurity is an afterthought. As a means to close the gap, practical and reasonable recommendations to address these problems are discussed; some specific and unique to the manufacturing industry while others are fundamental applications discussed with a manufacturing industry lens, which are commonly ignored due to perceived complexity, cost or simply lack of awareness. Lastly, a number of these recommendations were selected for further evaluation and implementation; challenges, approach, benefits and outcomes are shared showing measureable improvements to the cybersecurity posture of the organization.Master of ScienceComputer and Information Science, College of Engineering & Computer ScienceUniversity of Michigan-Dearbornhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147433/1/49698122_CIS699 - Mangano Thesis - Modernization of Manufacturing with Cybersecurity at the Forefront - Final 121018-v4.pdfDescription of 49698122_CIS699 - Mangano Thesis - Modernization of Manufacturing with Cybersecurity at the Forefront - Final 121018-v4.pdf : Thesi