Towards the Development of a Simulator for Investigating the Impact of People Management Practices on Retail Performance

Often models for understanding the impact of management practices on retail performance are developed under the assumption of stability, equilibrium and linearity, whereas retail operations are considered in reality to be dynamic, non-linear and complex. Alternatively, discrete event and agent-based modelling are approaches that allow the development of simulation models of heterogeneous non-equilibrium systems for testing out different scenarios. When developing simulation models one has to abstract and simplify from the real world, which means that one has to try and capture the 'essence' of the system required for developing a representation of the mechanisms that drive the progression in the real system. Simulation models can be developed at different levels of abstraction. To know the appropriate level of abstraction for a specific application is often more of an art than a science. We have developed a retail branch simulation model to investigate which level of model accuracy is required for such a model to obtain meaningful results for practitioners.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables, Journal of Simulation 201

Service Quality and Customer Loyalty in a Post-Crisis Context. Prediction-Oriented Modeling to Enhance the Particular Importance of a Social and Sustainable Approach

Research into the influence of service quality on customer loyalty has typically focused on confirming isolated direct causal influences regarding particular dimensions of quality, usually undertaken in the context of positive, firm-customer relations. The present study extends analysis of these factors through a new lens. First, the study was undertaken in a market context following a crisis that has had far-reaching consequences for customers’ relational behaviors. We explore the case of the Spanish banking industry, a sector that accurately reflects these new relational conditions, including a rising demand for more socially responsible banking. Second, we propose a holistic model that combines the effects of four key factors associated with service quality (outcome, personnel, servicescape and social qualities). We also apply an innovative predictive methodological technique using partial least squares (PLS) and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) that enables us not only to determine the direct causal effects among variables, but also to consider different scenarios in which to predict customer loyalty. The results highlight the role of outcome and social qualities. The novelty of the social qualities factor helps to underscore the importance of social, ethical and sustainable practices to customer loyalty, although personnel and servicescape qualities must also be present to improve the predictive capability of service quality on loyalty

Structure and Behaviour of Virtual Organisation Breeding Environments

This paper provides an outline of a formal approach that we are developing for modelling Virtual Organisations (VOs) and their Breeding Environments (VBEs). We propose different levels of representation for the functional structures and processes that VBEs and VOs involve, which are independent of the specificities of the infrastructures (organisational and technical) that support the functioning of VBEs. This allows us to reason about properties of tasks performed within VBEs and services provided through VOs without committing to the way in which they are implemented

Inventory drivers in a pharmaceutical supply chain

In recent years, inventory reduction has been a key objective of pharmaceutical companies, especially within cost optimization initiatives. Pharmaceutical supply chains are characterized by volatile and unpredictable demands –especially in emergent markets-, high service levels, and complex, perishable finished-good portfolios, which makes keeping reasonable amounts of stock a true challenge. However, a one-way strategy towards zero-inventory is in reality inapplicable, due to the strategic nature and importance of the products being commercialised. Therefore, pharmaceutical supply chains are in need of new inventory strategies in order to remain competitive. Finished-goods inventory management in the pharmaceutical industry is closely related to the manufacturing systems and supply chain configurations that companies adopt. The factors considered in inventory management policies, however, do not always cover the full supply chain spectrum in which companies operate. This paper works under the pre-assumption that, in fact, there is a complex relationship between the inventory configurations that companies adopt and the factors behind them. The intention of this paper is to understand the factors driving high finished-goods inventory levels in pharmaceutical supply chains and assist supply chain managers in determining which of them can be influenced in order to reduce inventories to an optimal degree. Reasons for reducing inventory levels are found in high inventory holding and scrap related costs; in addition to lost sales for not being able to serve the customers with the adequate shelf life requirements. The thesis conducts a single case study research in a multi-national pharmaceutical company, which is used to examine typical inventory configurations and the factors affecting these configurations. This paper presents a framework that can assist supply chain managers in determining the most important inventory drivers in pharmaceutical supply chains. The findings in this study suggest that while external and downstream supply chain factors are recognized as being critical to pursue inventory optimization initiatives, pharmaceutical companies are oriented towards optimizing production processes and meeting regulatory requirements while still complying with high service levels, being internal factors the ones prevailing when making inventory management decisions. Furthermore, this paper investigates, through predictive modelling techniques, how various intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence the inventory configurations of the case study company. The study shows that inventory configurations are relatively unstable over time, especially in configurations that present high safety stock levels; and that production features and product characteristics are important explanatory factors behind high inventory levels. Regulatory requirements also play an important role in explaining the high strategic inventory levels that pharmaceutical companies hold

Improving supply chain management in construction: what can be learned from the aerospace industry?

In order to provide for controllable delivery, reliable lead times and efficient customer response, lean manufacturing and platform assembly practices play an important role in supply chains in the aerospace industry. The adoption of lean manufacturing practices ensures an efficient delivery of products to the market. Benefits from the development of platform strategies are a more reliable materials supply and an improved logistics control. The aerospace industry is characterized by a small number of major global players and many small ones. A major part of the design and production has been contracted out to suppliers. In this paper the basic similarities and differences between the construction and aerospace industry and supply chains are analysed. A comparative study of aerospace and construction supply chains is presented to indicate and discuss the applicability of supply chain management concepts to construction, and the improvement potential of these concepts regarding supply chain management in construction. It is concluded that in particular the practice of platform assembly is a fruitful concept to be applied in the construction industry

Design of generic modular reconfigurable platforms (GMRPS) for a product-oriented micro manufacturing system

With the proposition of the concept of product-service systems, many manufacturers are focusing on selling services or functionality rather than products. Industrial production is shifting production models from mass production to mass customization and highly personalized needs. As a result, there is a tendency for manufacturing system suppliers to develop product-oriented systems to responsively cope with the dynamic fast moving competitive market. The key features of such a manufacturing system are the reconfigurability and adaptability, which can enable the system respond to the changeable needs of customers quickly and adaptively. Therefore, one of the challenges for the micro manufacturing system provider has been the design of a reconfigurable machine platform which will provide the functionalities and flexibility required by the product-oriented systems. In this paper, a new micro manufacturing platform, i.e. a generic modular reconfigurable platform (GMRP) is proposed in order to provide an effective means for fabrication of high quality micro products at low cost in a responsive manner. The GMRP-based system aims to be a product-oriented reconfigurable, highly responsive manufacturing system particularly for high value nano/micro manufacturing purposes. To reuse components and decrease material consumption, GMRP is characterized by hybrid micro manufacturing processes, modularity of key components, and reconfigurability of machine platforms and key components. Furthermore, a practical methodology for the design of reconfigurable machine platforms is discussed against the requirements from product-driven micro manufacturing and its extension for adaptive production

The determinants of the quality of Sales-Marketing Interface in a Multinational Customer Brand Focused Company: The Latin American Branches

Customer evolution and changes in consumers, determine the fact that the quality of the interface between marketing and sales may represent a true competitive advantage for the firm. Building on multidimensional theoretical and empirical models developed in Europe and on social network analysis, the organizational interface between the marketing and sales departments of a multinational high-growth company with operations in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay is studied. Both, attitudinal and social network measures of information exchange are used to make operational the nature and quality of the interface and its impact on performance. Results show the existence of a positive relationship of formalization, joint planning, teamwork, trust and information transfer on interface quality, as well as a positive relationship between interface quality and business performance. We conclude that efficient design and organizational management of the exchange network are essential for the successful performance of consumer goods companies that seek to develop distinctive capabilities to adapt to markets that experience vertiginous change

Value creation through HR shared services: towards a conceptual framework

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to derive a measure for the performance of human resource shared service providers (HR SSPs) and then to develop a theoretical framework that conceptualises their performance.\ud \ud Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper starts from the HR shared services argument and integrates this with the knowledge-based view of the firm and the concept of intellectual capital.\ud \ud Findings – We recommend measuring HR SSP performance as HR value, referring to the ratio between use value and exchange value, that together reflect both transactional and transformational HR value. We argue that transactional HR value directly flows from the organisational capital in HR SSPs, whereas human and social capitals enable them to leverage their organisational capital for HR value creation. We argue that the human capital of HR SSPs has a direct effect on transformational HR value creation, while their social and organisational capitals positively moderate this relationship.\ud \ud Originality/value – The suggested measure paves the way for operationalising and measuring the performance of HR shared services providers. This paper offers testable propositions for the relationships between intellectual capital and the performance of HR shared service providers. These contributions could assist future research to move beyond the descriptive nature that characterises the existing literature