A dual perspective towards building resilience in manufacturing organizations

Modern manufacturing organizations exist in the most complex and competitive environment the world has ever known. This environment consists of demanding customers, enabling, but resource intensive Industry 4.0 technology, dynamic regulations, geopolitical perturbations, and innovative, ever-expanding global competition. Successful manufacturing organizations must excel in this environment while facing emergent disruptions generated as biproducts of complex man-made and natural systems. The research presented in this thesis provides a novel two-sided approach to the creation of resilience in the modern manufacturing organization. First, the systems engineering method is demonstrated as the qualitative framework for building literature-derived organizational resilience factors into organizational structures under a life cycle perspective. A quantitative analysis of industry expert survey data through graph theory and matrix approach is presented second to prioritize resilience factors for strategic practical implementation

Determinants of sourcing flexibility and its impact on performance

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Sourcing flexibility is an increasingly important building block of supply chain flexibility. Our study which is grounded in information processing theory argues that two mechanisms can support firms in building up sourcing flexibility. Based on a survey of 336 manufacturing firms from Europe and the U.S. and using partial least squares (PLS) modeling as well as hierarchical regression analysis, we show that supplier evaluation and selection, and the integration of information systems at the buyer-supplier interface are positively related to sourcing flexibility. Sourcing flexibility, in turn, is curvilinearly related to delivery performance. Finally, delivery performance positively influences the product's financial performance. The strong associations between sourcing flexibility, delivery performance, and product financial performance underscore that sourcing flexibility merits the attention of supply chain managers during supplier selection and purchasing decisions

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Issues in Social Marketing

Social marketing has been contributing historically for a better application of public policy, health and safety, environment, education and human rights. Specifically, four major areas that social marketing efforts have focused over the years are health promotion,injurprevention,environmental protection, and community mobilization. Social marketing, at an industrial organization, emphasizes exchange of ideas between the target audience (i.e. the employees) and the marketer (i.e. the employer). This exchange requires that the employees be persuaded to give up the unsafe behaviors that they are accustomed to, to gain an enhanced level of safety with a greater likelihood of preventing injuries in the workplace. In an organizational context, the internal users are treated as customers and marketing inside the organization is an essential part of delivering value to the organization, and ultimately to the end customer. Therefore, effective management strategies are sought to develop the concept of internal marketing with a view to satisfy the employees and in turn, motivate them to do good work and produce a better product or service. The success of any business enterprise largely depends on its manpower with regard to their professional skill level, positive attitude, job satisfaction, and involvement in quality improvement activities. The important aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the concern for safety and sound health of the workforce, so that employees feel secured and motivated. The concern becomes manifold when the workforce is exposed to menial tasks and occupational risk situations. To make a safe and conducive environment, an organization must build a solid foundation with a clear vision of the future and specific means by which it will achieve the safety mission of the organization. Safety, health and environment systems needs a continual and systematically managed efforts in order to achieve sustainable growth. Presently, many industries are focusing attention on occupational health and safety (OHS) that may help to achieve competitive advantage. This research is concerned with the study of OHS issues in the context of injury prevention social marketing. A detailed study on workplace environment and safety climate makes the implementation of various social marketing principles easier. This may also be useful for the purpose of policy formulation on improving OHS in Indian industries. Three industrial sectors such as construction (Type 1), refractory (Type 2) and steel (Type 3) are considered in this study. These industries are generally viewed as hazardous due to usage of heavy equipment, unsafe and primitive tools, injurious materials and dust produced during operation. The study covers such organizations where size in manpower and investment varies, both organized and unorganized workforce exists, both public and private enterprises exist, and the level of sophistication of tools, methods, and work environment in terms of safety is poor. A study on risk perceptions and understanding of OHS has been conducted in three industrial sectors. Thirty four items are included in the questionnaire through review of related literature and discussion with a focus group. The items are framed to suit the local work practices and culture covering various aspects of OHS. Two hundred eighty eight (or 288) useful responses were tested to examine the validity and reliability of the scale to ensure a quantitative and statistically provenidentification of the responses. The test for quantitative variables was conducted by factor analysis on responses using the principal component method followed by varimax rotation to ensure that the variables are important and suitable for the model using SPSS 16.0. Finally, identified factors were again analyzed using discriminant analysis to highlight statistical difference among practices existing in three sectors. The pattern of influence of input parameters on outputs such as injury level and material damage is difficult to establish, possibly due to existence of some nonlinear relationship among them. Therefore, an artificial neural network (ANN) is adopted to carry out sensitivity analysis and important deficient items have been identified. A comparative evaluation on deficient items among three major types of Indian industries has been made. Quality function deployment (QFD) has been used to develop the system design requirements considering the deficient safety items as voice of customers. The interrelation among the system design requirements is represented in a digraph using Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) approach. A predictive methodology for forecasting various types of injuries has been proposed using fuzzy inference system. As fuzzy inference system can be used with little mathematical knowledge and needs only expert knowledge, it can be easily implemented in the field to predict injury types. Further, fuzzy inference system can deal effectively in imprecise and uncertain situations. In order to transfer best practices among various organizations, a benchmarking study has been carried out using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The study finally provides some useful guidelines for the managers for improving safety performance in selected Indian industrial settings

A Contingency Approach for Supply Chain Preparedness to Pursue Circular Economy Business Models

A growing stream in circular economy (CE) research is about circular economy business models (CEBM). It suggests how firms could learn to adopt unique material and product designs, newer business models, value chain networks and potential enablers that satisfies CE ideologies about economic, environment, and society. However, the understanding about how firms could integrate CEBM practices at internal, supply chain, and external levels is limited. Given the rising complexities in supply chains, the goal of this dissertation is to: (a) understand the landscape of CE concepts within the supply chain management context, and consequently (b) comprehend how firms’ preparedness about their internal, end-to-end supply chains and external environment, help them in pursuing business models that are guided by CE principles. In this dissertation, the first study provides an inclusive understanding of CE in a supply chain management context using bibliometric-network analysis. One key insight suggests CEBM is a promising theme within CE but remains unexplored in supply chain context. Using contingency theory lens, the second study identifies factors related to a focal firm’s CEBM practice as the response, its contingencies as context, its supply chain preparedness as output, and its CEBM performance as a consequent outcome. Using multi-industry multi-tier supply chain case-study method, the study explores how supply chain preparedness is related to CEBM practices and CEBM performance, and the factors upon which this relationship is contingent. A set of propositions and a contingency research framework is proposed. The research implications shall benefit scholars of transdisciplinary interests and serve as a guiding tool for practitioners and consultants presently acting upon CEBM implementation in their supply chain systems

Determining supply chain practices and strategies of light vehicle manufacturers in South Africa

This study determined whether local manufacturers of light vehicles in South Africa employ supply chain best practices and strategies. The research design employed was a combination of exploratory and descriptive research design using qualitative and quantitative approaches based on a survey of light vehicle manufacturers in South Africa. A face-to–face, semi-structured interview questionnaire was used, based on purposive sampling. Descriptive statistics using SPSS software were used for the data analysis and interpretation. The findings of the study revealed that across the supply chain, best practices were implemented to a large extent by all manufacturers. Light vehicle manufacturers in South Africa, however face supply chain challenges, which include technological, infrastructural, cost, market/service and production/skills challenges. The most important supply chain performance indicator that contributes to optimisation of performance is quality, followed by final product delivery reliability, and then cost and supplier reliability. All the manufacturers followed a lean strategy for their inbound supply chain and some had a lean supply chain strategy for their outbound supply chain. A number of them also had an agile supply chain strategy in the outbound supply chain which suggests a leagile supply chain strategy. It was also found that in some instances there was a mismatch between strategies and practices in the area of product characteristics, manufacturing characteristics and the decision drivers of supply chain. One of the conclusions of the study was that local manufacturers of light vehicles do not always make decisions and implement practices in line with their chosen supply chain strategies. The study concluded by developing a framework for determining supply chain best practices in line with a chosen strategy that could guide supply chain managers (in locally manufactured light vehicles) in the automotive in South Africa in their decision making.Business ManagementD. Com. (Business Management

Modelling the relationship between green supply chain management practices, dynamic capabilities and supply chain performance in the South African manufacturing sector

The quest for sustainability as a result of both resource scarcity and customer environmental conscious attitude has prompted manufacturing companies to start investing in green innovation and technology. The adoption and implementation of green supply chain management (GSCM) is still in its early stage in South Africa. The aim of the study is to contribute to the body of knowledge by providing a research model for the relationships between green supply chain management (GSCM) practices, supply chain dynamic capabilities (SCDCs) and supply chain performance (SCP) in the South African manufacturing sector. Quantitative data were collected from 402 respondents of the South African manufacturing sector in Gauteng, Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo through online survey questionnaires using a cross-sectional design. The collected data were tested using a partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) through Smart-PLS 3 and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for data screening (descriptive statistics). The results of the study suggest that GSCM practices, which include eco-design (ED), green distribution (GD) and green training (GT), exert a positive and significant impact on SCDCs, which in turn positively influence SCP through supply chain agility (SCA), supply chain reliability (SCRELL), supply chain costs (SCCs), supply chain responsiveness (SCR), customer satisfaction (CS) and supply chain balance (SCB) in the South African manufacturing sector. This study contributes to the body of knowledge, innovation, and organisational capability literature of the manufacturing sector by providing a comprehensive model for the relationships between GSCM practices, SCDCs and SCP.Graduate School of Business LeadershipD.B.L.(Supply Chain Management