Operations management in high value manufacturing

This paper explores the issue of high value manufacturing from an operations management perspective and discusses the critical role that the operations management community must play in moving manufacturing organisations to 'higher value ground'. An exploratory study was carried out in two phases. In Phase 1 existing literature was examined following a systematic review process. This was followed by a stakeholder analysis that included manufacturing companies, government agencies and consultancies and case studies of three organisations that had recently repositioned their businesses. Phase 2 comprised of a focus group based industry consultation exercise. The aim of the second phase was to validate and refine the findings from the initial phase and to generate the key ideas that would inform a future research agenda. This paper provides the foundation for further research by identifying those operational issues that are affecting industry as it seeks to move to higher value ground

An exploratory study of organisational transformation in manufacturing SMEs

In a competitive environment organisations are driven to continuously change and adapt to emerging conditions in order to sustain competitive advantage. The reported decline of the manufacturing sector in the UK is believed to be the result, in part, of the failure of manufacturing organisations to adapt by transforming their businesses, particularly small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The field of change management is long established and contains a plethora of theories, frameworks, models, and discussions on organisational change and transformation, yet it seems that there is a disconnect between this body of knowledge and its implementation by practitioners. Since the majority of the work in this area is based on empirical analyses of large organisations, it could be argued that the assumption that it can be 'scaled down' to fit the SME context is invalid, as SMEs are well recognised as having distinctive characteristics that warrant specific investigation. Thus, the thesis is focused on providing insights into the transformation behaviour of manufacturing SMEs in order to further understanding of why these organisations struggle to transform. Using the content, process, context framework as its foundation, the transformations of four manufacturing SMEs in Scotland are analysed and discussed using an exploratory case study methodology. The findings suggest that the content of transformation in manufacturing SMEs reflects existing theory, however in addition content elements of ownership or leadership, new management team, and extension of product/service portfolio were in evidence. The process through which manufacturing SMEs transform aligns with the theory of punctuated equilibrium; however the punctuations themselves are not transformational. Leadership, appropriate knowledge and skills, access to resources, and external collaboration are contextual enablers to transformation, whereas culture is a barrier if not aligned to the new behaviours required. The discussions also led to a number of emerging propositions concerning the pace of transformation, patterns of constituent changes, and differences between family and non-family owned/managed organisations, which are presented as areas for future empirical investigation

A study of the influence of network structural embeddedness on organization innovativeness

This paper explores the impact of network structural embeddedness of an organization on its innovativeness. Based on a survey of 104 organizations in the medium and high technology sectors in Saudi Arabia, we explored the relationships between different network characteristics (i.e. network density, centrality) and organization’s type and degree of innovativeness. Using a logistic regression analysis, the study finds that there is a positive and significant relationship between organization’s network density and centrality with both product innovation and process innovation. Additionally, the study investigated the influence of network characteristics on the degree of novelty of innovation (i.e. radical innovation). The findings reveal that having a central network position in terms of betweenness and degree centrality have a positive and significant relationship with novel innovation. However, the study results show insignificant relationship between network density and novel innovation

Manufacturing in Scotland

Set against the backdrop of current thinking that UK manufacturing needs to move into higher value, this report, commissioned on behalf of the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS) Board, set out to: Give an account of the current status of manufacturing SME’s in Scotland including current activities, aspirations, strategies and challenges facing them; Assess the progress Scotland has made towards high value manufacturing; Make recommendations as to the type of support needed to enable Scottish manufacturing SMEs invest in their long-term future. The resulting report is based on findings of a survey that delivered responses from 435 Scottish manufacturing companies and in-depth interviews with directors of 45 companies. This research was carried out during the period April to September 2008. Our research suggests that there have been significant shifts within manufacturing SMEs in Scotland. The most notable shifts include: A shift in the basis of competition. Our research suggests that the primary basis of competition for Scottish manufacturing SMEs is not price. Increasingly Scottish SMEs are adding value through quality and customer service. A shift in the nature and scope of operations. Whilst the primary business function of manufacturing companies remains production, there is evidence of increasing levels of design and service activity taking place. Companies reported they expected this trend to continue as the shift in the basis of competition away from price towards innovation and customer service gains pace. These changes suggest a move towards high value manufacturing. However there are major challenges facing Scottish SMEs if they are to compete on new value propositions. Of particular concern are: Lack of strategic vision and understanding of the capabilities and competencies needed to compete on the new value propositions. Whilst companies largely recognise the need to improve manufacturing efficiency, many have not embraced the need to develop and improve processes that deliver value to the customer (eg. Customer service processes, new product development processes etc). If customer service, innovation and quality are key differentiators and the way they add value, then companies need to ensure they have sustainable processes to deliver this value. Changes in operational activity have tended to be the result of evolution and opportunity rather than coherent operational strategy. Many companies need help in generating and enacting strategic change There is a lack of appreciation of the potential value of innovation in delivering value (and indeed the understanding of innovation in its many guises). Almost all companies interviewed reported some problems finding and retaining staff. Whilst in some cases labour shortages were due to specific skills and knowledge, there was also a general problem recruiting people with basic employability who had a desire to work in manufacturing. The poor image of manufacturing was a worry to the vast majority of interviewees. Many companies recognised the potential to exploit opportunities overseas. Some alluded to the fact that it might not be enough to market and export overseas, but that a manufacturing presence may be needed to fully exploit the opportunity. In terms of the support needed, companies stated that they would be looking increasingly for help and support in the areas of manufacturing efficiency and sales and marketing. Supply chain was also an area where companies reported they would be looking for help and support. Companies also suggested that they would like to see improvements in terms of “community”, with a number of interviewees looking for help in accessing not just help and support, but also introductions to other organisations. The research team believe that whilst not always recognised by the companies, support is also needed in the areas of strategy (and linked to this leadership) and in developing and improving processes that add value. Finally, the research suggests worryingly low levels of manufacturing entrepreneurship in Scotland, with only 3% of companies surveyed established within the past 5 years. This is worthy of further investigation. 4 Key findings and recommendations are expanded upon in Table 1. However the key recommendations can be summarised as: Manufacturing SMEs continue to require support in manufacturing efficiency, sales and marketing and supply chain. As companies move away from price as the main basis for competition and towards alternative value propositions, they also need support in developing and enacting strategy. Of particular urgency, companies need help in developing and improving the processes and capabilities that deliver value (beyond traditional manufacturing) Establishing processes that support innovation and product development will be central to the sustainability of many Scottish SMEs Further work needs to be done to investigate the apparent low levels of manufacturing start-ups Further work is needed to understand the areas where Scottish SMEs can actually compete on high volume /low complexity – often due to “localisation” factors Consideration should be given to supporting companies who wish to establish manufacturing overseas to exploit global opportunitiesA skills strategy must be created in line with the needs of manufacturing industry The poor image of manufacturing in Scotland needs to be addresse

Dynamics of performance measurement and organizational culture

This research paper aims to model the dynamic relationship between performance measurement, management styles and organisational culture, in order to develop a better understanding of the causal linkages between these three areas

Human capital, social capital and innovation outcome: A systematic review and research agenda

Many previous studies investigate the effect, process and the performance of innovation. However, the relationship between human capital (HC), social capital (SC), and innovation outcome is still limited. Therefore, this paper aims to present a systematic literature review on identifying the relationship between HC, SC, and innovation outcome over the past three decades (1985-2016). This review also identifies the gaps and future agenda. From 43 relevant papers, we find positive and negative effect of HC and SC to innovation. As well as, we identify the knowledge management orientation, entrepreneurial orientation and culture orientation as the driver of innovation outcome. Finally, we construct the conceptual framework that would be a starting point of strategy development in innovation management to attain the competitive advantage

Building dynamic capabilities through operations strategy: an empirical example

This paper suggests that the implementation of an effective operations strategy process is one of the necessary antecedents to the development of dynamic capabilities within an organisation and that once established, dynamic capabilities and operations strategy process settle into a symbiotic relationship. Key terms and a model of operations strategy process are proposed from literature as a framework for analysing data from a longitudinal case study with a UK based manufacturer of construction materials

Creating and sustaining competitive advantage in collaborative systems:the what and the how

Initially this paper asks two questions: In order to create and sustain competitive advantage through collaborative systems WHAT should be managed? and HOW should it be managed? It introduces the competitive business structure and reviews some of the global trends in manufacturing and business, which leads to focus on manage processes, value propositions and extended business processes. It then goes on to develop a model of the collaborative architecture for extended enterprises and demonstrates the validity of this architecture through a case study. It concludes that, in order to create and sustain competitive advantage, collaborative systems should facilitate the management of: the collaborative architecture of the extended enterprise; the extended business processes and the value proposition for each extended enterprise through a meta level management process. It also identifies areas for further research, such as better understanding of: the exact nature and interaction of multiple strategies within an enterprise; how to manage people/teams working along extended business processes; and the nature and prerequisites of the manage processes

Griceren adibide galdua. Esanahi naturalari buruzko probaren gabeziak

We found a curious fact about the second of the three examples at the very beginning of Grice’s “Meaning” (1957). He introduces it as an example of natural meaning, but he never uses it again, neither in that paper nor in “Meaning Revisited” (1982), devoted to the same topic. Furthermore, the example doesn’t meet the first and foremost criterion that Grice sets for natural meaning: factivity. The insertion of that example in “Meaning” is an error, we contend; an error that was never corrected in the multiple editions of the paper; a mistake that, besides its historic importance, might have conceptual relevance too.; Gricek “Esanahia” (2007 [1957]) artikuluaren hasieran ematen dituen hiru adibideetatik bigarrenarekin gertaera bitxia topatu dugu. Esanahi naturalaren adibide nagusietako baten gisa aurkezten du, baina ez du inoiz ezertarako erabiltzen; ez artikulu horretan, ezta gai berari eskaini zion “Meaning Revisited”en (1982) ere. Gainera, adibideak ez du betetzen esanahi naturalarentzat Gricek ezartzen dituen irizpideetan lehena eta garrantzitsuena:faktibotasuna. Adibide hori “Esanahia”n sartzea, beraz, Griceren hutsegitea da; guk dakigula, artikuluak izandako berrargitalpen ugarietan sekula konpondu ez den hutsegitea.Nahastea agian, baina garrantzi historikoaz aparte, garrantzi kontzeptuala ere izan dezakeena

Making the most of game theory in the supplier selection process for complex items

There has been a growing interest in the application of game-theory to enhance the impact of supplier selection processes, but existing applications have been focused on commodity products. Therefore, scholars have recently called for further research into the use of game-theory to develop supplier selection processes for more complex products. The aim of this paper is to contribute by discussing the design and implementation of a novel supplier selection process based on game-theory through an empirical study of a construction project for an automotive company. The novelty of this research stems from the application of game-theory to design and implement a two-phase supplier selection process, combining a modified Japanese-auction with a structured bargaining process, and evaluating its impact in the context of complex items. Findings suggest that two-phase processes can enhance the effectiveness of the supplier selection by increasing competition and generating better predictions of the outcomes from the negotiation