European manufacturers: The dangers of complacency

This paper is concerned with singular Stefan problems in which the heat flux is proportional to the gradient of the inverse absolute temperature. Both the standard interphase equilibrium conditions and phase relaxations are considered. These problems turn out to be the natural limiting cases of a thermodynamically consistent model for diffusive phase transitions proposed by Penrose and Fife. By supplying the systems of equations with suitable initial and boundary conditions, a rigorous asymptotic analysis is performed, and the unique solutions to the different Stefan problems are derived as asymptotic limits of the solutions to the Penrose-Fife phase-field problem

Delayering the global production network into congruent subnetworks

The literature in operations management has not kept up with the growing complexity of and opportunities offered by global production networks. Managers need new tools to cope with this complexity. We propose one that is based on a model that delayers the global plant network into a set of subnetworks on the basis of complexity and proprietary information in the products they produce and production processes they use to produce them. This allows examining whether each subnetwork is congruent—i.e., has an appropriate manufacturing mission and the competencies that it would need to carry it out. We apply this tool to analyze the global production networks of five companies and illustrate its usefulness in performing periodic audit of the global production network and identifying potential strategic anomalies that deserve attention

Exploring the importance of cultural collectivism on the efficacy of lean practices: Taking an organisational and national perspective.

The purpose of this study is to assess the influence of cultural collectivism on the efficacy of lean practices. Furthermore, this study assesses whether or not potential cultural disadvantages related to the level of individualism at the national level can be compensated for at the organisational culture level. Hofstede’s cultural dimension of individualism is used to test whether practicing a collectivistic culture at the organisational level can fully compensate for the potential disadvantages of being geographically situated in an individualistic culture when practicing lean. Results suggest that cultural collectivism at the national and organisational level have a significant impact on the efficacy of lean practices. Furthermore, the negative impact of being situated in an individualistic country cannot be fully compensated for through practicing a collectivistic organisational culture when practicing lean. This study represents a comprehensive attempt to simultaneously assess the collectivism cultural components of lean practices at the national as well as at the organisational level.N/

Shaping global operations

Managing the global production network is becoming more complex. The critical issue is no longer where to produce a product but where to perform individual production tasks. Latin American companies are at both ends of this process. They face this issue for producing their own products and services for the large Latin America region and as host sites for outsourced operations by other companies—particularly those with “near-sourcing” strategies for serving the US market. In this paper I present a framework which helps charting the evolution of a firm’s global operations network. The research is based on clinical analysis of four companies and examples from a few more (a particularly relevant one is the case of Zara). While the focus in this paper is not on any specific region of the world, the framework presented here can serve as a useful guide for Latin American companies. As Latin America moves beyond being a source for supplying commodities to the outside world, the issues of how to design, and fit into, a global production network will deserve more attention from senior managers in this region.A gestão das redes de produção global é algo que está a tornar-se mais complexo. A questão fundamental já não é onde produzir um determinado produto, mas sim onde levar a cabo as tarefas de produção individuais. As empresas latinoamericanas encontram-se em ambas as extremidades deste processo. Deparam-se com esta questão na produção dos seus produtos e serviços para a vasta região que é a América Latina e na qualidade de locais de produção para operações de subempreitada atribuídas por outras empresas (principalmente as que recorrem a estratégias de “near-sourcing” para servir o mercado dos EUA. Neste artigo, apresentamos uma base que ajuda a esquematizar a evolução da rede de operações globais de uma empresa. O estudo baseia-se numa análise detalhada de quatro empresas e em exemplos de mais algumas (um caso particularmente relevante é o da Zara). Enquanto que o ponto de focalização deste artigo não está numa região do mundo específica, a base aqui apresentada poderá ser um guia útil para as empresas latino-americanas. Numa altura em que a América Latina vai mais para além de ser apenas uma fonte de fornecimento de comodidades para o mundo exterior, a questão de como conceber e encontrar o seu lugar numa rede de produção merecerá uma maior atenção por parte dos gestores de topo desta região.La gestión de las redes de producción global se está convirtiendo en algo muy complejo. El problema fundamental ya no es dónde producir un producto, sino dónde llevar a cabo las distintas tareas individuales de producción. Las empresas de América Latina se encuentran en ambos extremos de este proceso. Se enfrentan al problema por producir sus propios productos y servicios para toda la región de América Latina y por ser sede de operaciones subcontratadas a otras empresas (concretamente, aquellas con estrategias de proximidad para dar servicio al mercado norteamericano). En este artículo se presenta un marco de trabajo que ayuda a esquematizar la evolución de las redes de operaciones globales de una empresa. El estudio se basa en un análisis detallado de cuatro empresas y en ejemplos de otras tantas (caso especialmente relevante es el de Zara). El artículo no se centra en ninguna región concreta del mundo, ya que el marco de trabajo presentado es extrapolable a todas las empresas de América Latina. A medida que esta región va más allá de ser una fuente de suministro de materias primas para el resto del mundo, los problemas de diseño, ajuste y redes de producción global merecen una atención más pormenorizada por parte de los directivos de la región