Manufacturing Sectoral Growth in the USA and Japan: Relevance to SMEs, Organizational Innovations, and Recent Economic Growth

Although economic growth is inherently linked with the structure and nature of SMEs (e.g. their number, industry concentration, size, degree of outsourcing, etc), as this has been shown in the existing literature, OIs, more generally, are the context in which SMEs operate and hence OIs ought to be more closely examined in order to further understand the complex process of economic growth and the particular impact of SMEs on the latter. In this paper, a detailed comparison of the growth of manufacturing sectors in the USA and Japan is used as an indirect way to demonstrate the following proposition. Although SMEs have played a positive role in the postwar economic Japanese miracle, they are not a sufficient force for a sustainable economic growth, as the recent protracted recession in Japan shows. It is only when technological innovations and in particular OIs take place in the economy that this type of growth is possible, as this is also demonstrated in the recent American prolonged economic growth.organizational innovations, disembodied technology, firms, economic growth, historical review

Stochastic make-to-stock inventory deployment problem: an endosymbiotic psychoclonal algorithm based approach

Integrated steel manufacturers (ISMs) have no specific product, they just produce finished product from the ore. This enhances the uncertainty prevailing in the ISM regarding the nature of the finished product and significant demand by customers. At present low cost mini-mills are giving firm competition to ISMs in terms of cost, and this has compelled the ISM industry to target customers who want exotic products and faster reliable deliveries. To meet this objective, ISMs are exploring the option of satisfying part of their demand by converting strategically placed products, this helps in increasing the variability of product produced by the ISM in a short lead time. In this paper the authors have proposed a new hybrid evolutionary algorithm named endosymbiotic-psychoclonal (ESPC) to decide what and how much to stock as a semi-product in inventory. In the proposed theory, the ability of previously proposed psychoclonal algorithms to exploit the search space has been increased by making antibodies and antigen more co-operative interacting species. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm has been tested on randomly generated datasets and the results compared with other evolutionary algorithms such as genetic algorithms (GA) and simulated annealing (SA). The comparison of ESPC with GA and SA proves the superiority of the proposed algorithm both in terms of quality of the solution obtained and convergence time required to reach the optimal/near optimal value of the solution

Accounting for deficit in ABC-XYZ analysis

This work proposes an ABC-XYZ-type analysis modified with observed merchandise deficit. The deficit is determined by right censoring. This manuscript proposes to account for right censoring in the ABC-XYZ analysis. The modified ABC-XYZ analysis updates many important quantities including projected income, the coefficient of variation, and the Kaplan-Meier estimator. An illustrative example shows that the classical ABC-XYZ algorithm underestimates a merchandise value when deficit was observed; magnitude of the coefficient of variation is also underestimated. The new method corrects this bias and recalculates overall profit and the coefficient of variation

The Economics of Electronics Industry: Competitive Dynamics and Industrial Organization

This entry highlights fundamental changes in the electronics industry that have transformed its competitive dynamics and industrial organization: a high and growing knowledge intensity; the rapid pace of change in technologies and markets; and extensive globalization. That explosive mixture of forces has created two inter-related puzzles. The first puzzle is that a high degree of globalization may well go hand in hand with high and increasing concentration. This runs counter to the dominant view, based on the assumption of neo-classical trade theory, that globalization will increase competition and hence will act as a powerful equalizer both among nations and among firms. Multinational corporations, after all, may not be such effective "spoilers of concentration", as claimed by Richard Caves (1982). The second related puzzle is that this industry fails to act like a stable global oligopoly, even when concentration is extremely high: a market positions are highly volatile, new entry is possible, and not even market leaders can count on a guaranteed survival.

An Empirical Analysis of Forecast Sharing in the Semiconductor Equipment Supply Chain

We study the demand forecast-sharing process between a buyer of customized production equipment and a set of equipment suppliers. Based on a large data collection we undertook in the semiconductor equipment supply chain, we empirically investigate the relationship between the buyer\u27s forecasting behavior and the supplier\u27s delivery performance. The buyer\u27s forecasting behavior is characterized by the frequency and magnitude of forecast revisions it requests (forecast volatility) as well as by the fraction of orders that were forecasted but never actually purchased (forecast inflation). The supplier\u27s delivery performance is measured by its ability to meet delivery dates requested by the customers. Based on a duration analysis, we are able to show that suppliers penalize buyers for unreliable forecasts by providing lower service levels. Vice versa, we also show that buyers penalize suppliers that have a history of poor service by providing them with overly inflated forecasts

Manufacturing Sectoral Growth in the USA and Japan: Relevance to SMEs, Organizational Innovations, and Recent Economic Growth

Although economic growth is inherently linked with the structure and nature of SMEs (e.g. their number, industry concentration, size, degree of outsourcing, etc), as this has been shown in the existing literature, OIs 1, more generally, are the context in which SMEs operate and hence OIs ought to be more closely examined in order to further understand the complex process of economic growth and the particular impact of SMEs on the latter. In this paper, a detailed comparison of the growth of manufacturing sectors in the USA and Japan is used as an indirect way to demonstrate the following proposition. Although SMEs have played a positive role in the postwar economic Japanese miracle, they are not a sufficient force for a sustainable economic growth, as the recent protracted recession in Japan shows. It is only when technological innovations and in particular OIs take place in the economy that this type of growth is possible, as this is also demonstrated in the recent American prolonged economic growth

Employee Perception on Lean Practices in the Internal Supply Chain Performance

In today's highly competitive world where most businesses focus on cost and quality, organizations with efficient and effective supply chains are able to stand out with inherent competitive advantages. To achieve this many organizations adopt lean practices which fundamentally stress on the elimination of non-value added tasks (such as unwanted transportation, extra processing, excess motion, repairs on defects, over production, excess inventory and incidents of waiting or delays). Nevertheless, the introduction of lean practices in any organization is often accompanied by changes in the working environment. These changes influence the people working there. This dissertation looks into the perceptions of the workers, in a case study site (a Japanese Multi-National Corporation situated in Penang, Malaysia producing semi-conductor devices), on the lean practices implemented in the internal supply chains. The study compared the perceptions using a self administered questionnaire. Perceptions of those highly exposed to lean practices were compared against the perceptions of those with low exposure. A Significant difference, in the perceptions of those who had high exposures to lean practices as compared to those with low exposures pertaining to the internal supply chain performances, was found. The perceptions obtained proved useful as empirical studies showed negative implications such as the deterioration in employee emotions, attitudes, behaviors, commitments and turnovers. Moreover, the perceptions of the employees and the employers also did not match. Observations and interviews carried out are displayed in the paper to support and explain the findings. The body of knowledge from the empirical data collected in this study and its interpretation should prove useful for both academics exploring similar fields or leverages and practitioners keen on implementing lean practices or planning to learn from others. Actual cases of how lean practices affect the internal supply chains are quoted. These cases complement the many academic articles discussed throughout the dissertation. Useful recommendations have been put forth which could be used for improving the internal supply chain performances of other organizations. The recommendations encompass areas such as resource allocations, mind-set changes, training, personnel and lean practice implementation strategie

Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on Taipei,China’s Industrial Structure and Firm Activity

Given the dominance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Taipei,China (97.6% of business establishments, and 77.1% of employment), it is of vital importance to develop ways to aid SMEs in surviving the current global economic crisis. Indeed, the government can utilize this crisis to reform and strengthen SMEs so they can continue to be the backbone of Taipei,China’s economy. This paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of SMEs in Taipei,China. Policy recommendations are presented to address the weaknesses of SMEs, including short-run and long-run approaches.sme; global economic crisis; industrial organization