INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND THE VERTICAL ORGANIZATION OF INDUSTRY

A model has been developed to study the interdependence between the choice of information technology and industry structure. Advances in information technology might provide incentives for a firm to specialize or focus on its core competence. However, the degree of specialization depends on the extent of industry-level specialization, which is, in turn, the result of the behavior of individual firms and their adoption of information technology favoring specialization. Emerging electronic markets and industries have been chosen as an application domain, as they would not exist without information technology.

Transitioning to a Lean Enterprise: A Guide for Leaders, Volume III, Roadmap Explorations

Volume III of this guide may be used as an in-depth reference source for acquiring deep knowledge about many of the aspects of transitioning to lean. Lean change agents and lean implementation leaders should find this volume especially valuable in preparing their organizations for the lean transformation and in developing and implementing an enterprise level lean implementation plan. The richness and depth of the discussions in this volume should be helpful in charting a course, avoiding pitfalls, and making in-course corrections during implementation. We assume that the reader of Volume III is familiar with the history and general principles of the lean paradigm that are presented in Volume I, Executive Overview. A review of Volume II, Transition to Lean Roadmap may be helpful prior to launching into Volume III. For those readers most heavily involved in the lean transformation, all three volumes should be understood and referenced frequently

The effect of supply chain noise on the financial performance of Kanban and Drum-Buffer-Rope: An agent-based perspective

Managing efficiently the flow of products throughout the supply chain is essential for succeeding in today's marketplace. We consider the Kanban (from Lean Management) and Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR, from the Theory of Constraints) scheduling mechanisms and evaluate their performance in a four-echelon supply chain operating within a large noise scenario. Through an agent-based system, which is presented as a powerful model-driven decision support system for managers, we show the less sensitivity against variability and the higher financial performance of the DBR mechanism, which occurs as this mechanism improves the supply chain robustness due to its bottleneck orientation. Nonetheless, we prove the existence of regions in the decision space where Kanban offers similar performance. This is especially relevant taking into account that Kanban can be implemented at a lower cost, as TOC requires a higher degree of information transparency and a solid contract between partners to align incentives. In this sense, we offer decision makers an approach to reach an agreement when the partners decide to move from Kanban to DBR in a bid to increase the overall net profit in supply chains operating in a challenging noise scenario

Design and Planning of Manufacturing Networks for Mass Customisation and Personalisation: Challenges and Outlook

AbstractManufacturers and service providers are called to design, plan and operate globalized manufacturing networks, addressing to challenges such as ever-decreasing lifecycles and increased product complexity. These factors, caused primarily by mass customisation and demand volatility, generate a number of issues related to the design and planning of manufacturing systems and networks, which are not holistically tackled in industrial and academic practices. The mapping of production performance requirements to process and production planning requires automated closed-loop control systems, which current systems fail to deliver. Technology-based business approaches are an enabler for increased enterprise performance. Towards that end, the issues discussed in this paper focus on challenges in the design and planning of manufacturing networks in a mass customization and personalization landscape. The development of methods and tools for supporting the dynamic configuration and optimal routing of manufacturing networks and facilities under cost, time, complexity and environmental constraints to support product-service personalization are promoted

Of Incentive, Bias, and Behaviour: An Empirical Economic Investigation into Project Delivery Constructs Influencing the Adoption of Building Information Modelling

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a collaborative construction platform allowing for digital databases, real-time change management, and a high degree of information reuse catalysing increased quality of work, enhanced productivity, and lower costs. Yet, overall adoption rates within industry remain vexingly low. Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) is currently the only contractual incentive vehicle available for BIM, and indeed the full potential of both are only realised when employed together; even so, uptake rates of IPD exist even lower. In response, this research evaluates hitherto ill-explored factors influencing the adoption of BIM by empirically testing hypotheses related to the impacts of three compounding theories upon the BIM decision calculus. Specifically, the incentive theory, the theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), and the status quo bias model. The research approaches BIM adoption holistically at the organizational, individual, transactional, and behavioural levels through a mixed design combining five quantitative, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based studies and one interview-based pre-test/post-test case study with sample populations including a Fortune 100 contractor, internationally renowned trade groups, and arguably the most progressive municipal construction client in the world. Data was collected using purposive sampling and analysed quantitatively through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and qualitatively with Directed Content Analysis (DCA). Primary conclusions are that BIM decisions are hierarchical; BIM adoption involves a general higher-level decision-making requiring stakeholders’ consensus; BIM utilization involves a specific lower-level decision-making with managerial discretion; economic incentives and competitive pressure influence higher-level decisions; non-economic factors influence lower-level decisions but are moderated by organizations’ type and size; organizations’ size and the degree of managerial discretion are inversely related; strength of the effects vary across and within the three theory-based factors that influence BIM adoption; and the effects of leadership and organizational culture remain unaccounted for and require investigation

Formal analysis techniques for gossiping protocols

We give a survey of formal verification techniques that can be used to corroborate existing experimental results for gossiping protocols in a rigorous manner. We present properties of interest for gossiping protocols and discuss how various formal evaluation techniques can be employed to predict them

Lean Aircraft Initiative Implementation Workshop: Implementing Cross-Functional Teams in an IPPD Environment

There is an emerging consensus in the Aerospace sector around the importance of Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD). Now nearly every new program is now established around a set of Integrated Product Teams (IPTs). In order to learn more about the experience to date, 14 teams from across the Lean Aerospace Consortium were brought together. Each team featured a mix of 3-5 organizational representatives. The broad goals of the session included: providing a constructive learning experience for the participants and generating insights that might be of value to the larger consortium.Lean Aerospace Initiativ

Implementing Cross-Functional Teams in an IPPD Environment

Lean Aircraft Initiative Implementation Workshop repor