Reference Models for Production Planning and Control Systems: A Bibliometric Analysis and Future Perspectives

The activity of modeling business processes is still not a common practice among organizations which contributes to increase the cost and time of systems deployment, improvement projects and educational software, due to the need to develop new models related to Business Processes. In this context, one of the Business Processes essential for organizations, especially those located in countries such as Brazil, where production activities are more pronounced than product development, is Production Planning and Control (PCP). In this scenario, in order to present a picture of scientific production, contribute to the literature review and identify gaps in the scientific literature within the framework of the Reference Models and PCP approach. This work aims to perform a bibliometric research in these areas of study. In this study, we used the bibliometric revision method composed of four phases: definition of database, definition of research keywords, selection of papers and analysis of papers. As a result, it was found that most scientific studies are focused on very specific situations in industrial planning or addressing particular business sectors

“Never is going to be as calm as now” – How do large Finnish organizations adapt their digital strategies to the fast-changing business environment?

There are more developments and disruptions in technology and business models than ever before. To react to and benefit from these changes, organizations have created digital strategies. However, solely implementing a long-term digital strategy can cause falling behind in technology and competition if the organization is not able to react to the fast changes in business environment. The purpose of this thesis is to study how large organizations adapt their digital strategies in order to simultaneously implement long-term digital strategy and react fast to the changes in business environment. The previous research of digital strategy’s adaptation to the fast changes in business environment and capabilities it requires from organizations is still scarce. This thesis is conducted as a multiple case study of 11 large Finnish organizations which have shown interest towards digitalization. One person participating to digital strategy or strategy work was interviewed from each organization meaning in total 11 semi-structured interviews. The data was analyzed with Gioia method to bring rigor to the data analysis and to look for the themes in data with a consistent way. Findings of the study present that organizations adapt to the changes in environment by adapting their digital strategies and by following changes in environment, addressing new opportunities, and transforming the organization in ways they did not use with traditional business. This thesis contributes to the previous research by extending the literature of digital strategy and looking dynamic capabilities theory from the perspective of digital strategy. This study suggests that digital strategy develops through three steps: first digitalization is mentioned in strategy, secondly organizations have a digital strategy or transformation program, and finally digitalization is embedded to business strategy. To follow changes effectively, organizations do it as a part of their strategy processes but also use external partners, internal idea collection processes, or specified teams to support following changes. Addressing new opportunities differ from traditional product development and is aimed to be faster and more agile. Opportunities are addressed through three steps which include planning the pilot, implementing it, and finally ending or scaling it to a product. To implement the pilots, organizations engage customers and combine capabilities relating to business, IT and software development, and new knowledge. To support adaptation to the changes in environment, organizations have made changes to their structures, built new digital competences, used centralized funding, and tried to transform their organizational cultures. Furthermore, the findings suggest that organizations feel that the changes in business environment are becoming faster and organizations have the need for dynamic capabilities

Reinforcing QFD with group support systems: computer-supported collaboration for quality in design

Over the last decade quality function deployment or QFD, thanks to the efforts of Akao and others, has gained widespread popularity in its applicability to business and industry. Many organizations have adopted it as a tool of continuous improvement in their quest for quality through total quality management (TQM). QFD in simple terms, has been looked on as a mechanism of translating the customers’ expectations of a particular product or service into product planning, parts development, process planning, and production planning. Explores the robustness of QFD for translating the available knowledge within a product design group into appropriate design choices, ones that consider the customer’s view of quality throughout the product’s entire life cycle. Conventional QFD analysis allows equity of participation through “consensus”, but often trades outcomes influenced by expertise for those attained with “fairness”. This process may lead to less than optimal results. Discusses the role of group support systems (GSS) to improve the qualitative discussion of the whats and the hows in the QFD process. Also introduces influence allocation processes, methods that allow differential weighting of participants and an incremental usage of knowledge within groups. Discusses their potential impact for QFD analysis

Maximising the Competitive Value of Product Design Innovation: Re-Framing and Re-Aligning the Business-Design Relationship

This paper focuses on the contribution of the independent product design industry to business and strategy development processes of contemporary organizations. It embarks from the observation that whilst some policy-makers and enlightened businesses recognize the role and value of design beyond the traditional and narrow confines of technical or ‘commodity’ input, many fail to understand its potential as a transformative tool. Applying evidence from three empirical studies, and taking the perspective of design creative, the paper addresses three questions: why is it that product designers have encountered resistance in their efforts to promote themselves as well-placed and knowledgeable providers of strategic development intelligence and advice; what proven contributions can product designers offer with respect to their client’s business development planning; and, what can and should be done to ensure that barriers are dismantled and the potentially valuable role of design in strategic business development is realized

The use of quality function deployment in systems development: A case study

It is now generally recognized that organizations need great flexibility to remain competitive. This paper looks at one company\u27s attempt to mandate flexibility by the use of a technique known as Quality Function Deployment (QFD). QFD is a customer-driven planning and communication process for designing, developing or improving products or services, and is a particular implementation of the Total Quality Management philosophy. The QFD approach is multi-functional-various stakeholders in the design process come together from the project\u27s inception to concurrently plan, design and produce a product or service. In this particular case the company has not only applied the principles of QFD to manufacturing processes; the QFD approach has also been applied to other areas of the business including information systems development. This paper discusses how the application of a QFD approach to information systems development has changed the relationship between the IS department and users, and the process of systems development itself

Collaborative Supply Chain Decision Support And Multi-Attribute Supply Chain Scenarios

Todays Global economy is putting a premium on the ability of companies and their professional employees to rapidly evaluate a broad range of decisions in collaboration with both existing and prospective supply chain partners. This includes the development, evaluation and refinement of product designs, the evaluation of alternatives sourcing options, the evaluation of requests for bids, etc. A key difficulty in supporting the collaborative development, evaluation and refinement of alternative courses of action across different organizations lies in the complexity of the solutions involved (e.g. complex production schedules spanning multiple organizations, complex product designs or configurations involving large numbers of parts and components that are procured from a number of suppliers, etc.). Given a growing and ongoing need to revitalize the accounting curriculum and explore eclectic methods to teach accounting information systems, real challenges and opportunities exist to import this material into the accounting systems classroom.The Business Process Integration Lab at Saint Josephs University has developed a prototype environment for collaborative development, evaluation and refinement of supply chain management scenarios (e.g. requests for bids, product designs, sourcing options). The environment relies on the use of Enterprise Resource Planning software, using SAP R/3 to streamline and integrate the supply chain. Through the use of application scenarios, students are able to develop a total understanding of the power of the ERP technology tool as a decision maker and problem-solver, while enhancing their knowledge of the system in modules such as Production Planning and Customer Order Management. It is possible to support powerful workflow management functionality in the context of both interactive and highly automated decision making processes. This functionality has been operational for some three years and is coordinated by senior level graduate and undergraduate students who develop and test the scenarios and assist other students as they navigate through the R/3 system

Performance Measurement in Internet Gaming Industry – Implementing An Effective Balanced Scorecard at An Online Casino

Performance Measurement Systems (PMS) are widely known and used in business practice. In business administration, esp. Controlling, PMS is a steady component in research and education. Over time, a lot of different versions have been developed in order to take the specific requirements of companies and sectors into account. They range from conventional PMS to highly complex, hierarchy-related Controlling Systems. The common goal of all these versions is to improve the planning and management of organizations and processes. According to the literature, the PMS is a standard management tool in many industries all over the world and could be transferred to almost any kind of product or service. In this article, we will investigate how PMS can help to improve the competitiveness of online casinos. So far, there are no articles or case studies published on this specific field of interest. The topic itself is very new and innovative even though the first online casinos have existed for more than ten years. Based on the case study of an online casino, we will show how an effective PMS could be implemented by using the classical Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in order to resolve management planning issues. The authors will demonstrate how this concept can be a “blueprint” for other e-business sectors while also considering the specific challenges, e.g. rapid (technological) development and fierce competition. Keywords: performance measurement, balanced scorecard, e-business, online casinos, Internet Gaming DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-18-13 Publication date:June 30th 201

Knowledge Management Activities and Strategic Planning Capability Development

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.While the strategic management literature extols the virtues of engaging in strategic planning for superior performance, how a dynamic strategic planning capability can be developed remains underexplored; a knowledge void addressed by the paper through applying knowledge-based theory. A mail survey was sent to high technology firms randomly sampled from the Kompass Directory of UK businesses. Firms were sampled at the SBU level, given the focus on strategic planning capability. An organization’s strategic planning capability derives from extensive information distribution and organizational memory. While learning values is non-significant, symbolic information use degrades the development of a strategic planning capability. By investigating the contributory activities that lead to strategic planning capability development, the findings establish how strategic planning materializes in organizations. Further, the differential effects found for knowledge management activities on strategic planning capability development extends empirical studies that suggest knowledge is always a central tenet of strategic planning. A set of key knowledge activities are identified that managers must address for strategic planning capability development: strategic planning routines and values of search, analysis, and assessment should be appropriately informed by investments in knowledge dissemination and memory on a continual basis. Meanwhile, information misuse compromises strategic planning capabilities and managers must protect against out-of-context or manipulated information from infiltrating into organizational memory. Despite the advent of the Knowledge-Based Theory and its core premise that capabilities derive from knowledge management activities, little research has been conducted into demonstrating the knowledge-based antecedents of a strategic planning capability

Making Evaluation Work

Outlines how evaluation has been integrated into grantmaking practices, since the foundation embarked upon a new approach to the field of youth development in 2000

Manufacturing in the 1990s - productivity, flexibility and innovation

The article outlines the evolution of large multinationals as a result of the appearance of new market demands. Companies having to meet specific market demands, are shown to possess certain characteristics, related to the market demands concerned. The analysis shows that innovativeness will, in all probability, be the new market demand in the 1990s, in addition to the already existing ones of efficiency, quality and flexibility. Descriptions of ideal types illustrate the evolution of companies as they move from the Efficient Firm to the Quality Firm on to the Flexible Firm to, finally, the Innovative Firm. The phase model also includes the symptoms of crisis, when moving from one phase to another. Skipping phases appears to be difficult, if not impossible. The same holds true for moving to the next phase, while the organization has not finished with the preceding phase