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

The role of the project management office (PMO) in product lifecycle management : a case study in the defence industry

Research on Project Management Offices (PMOs) has concentrated on their structure and role as an integrator to facilitate, coordinate and support project activity across organisations and portfolios. This ‘lateral’ focus across organisations has to some extent disregarded the ‘longitudinal’ scope of the PMO and its potential to aid in the effective implementation of product lifecycle management. Here we examine critically the PMO's role as a longitudinal integrator of activity across the product lifecycle. More specifically we examine the PMO's potential to bridge the interface gaps that exist between product lifecycle phases. It uses the findings of an empirical study carried out in a multi-national defence company to research the interface between the bid submission stage and subsequent stages. It finds that interface gaps bring issues of inconsistent strategic intent across phases, dissimilar process and method used in separate phases, and poor knowledge management within the gaps between phases. It finds that the PMO can provide continuity across phases by maintaining coherence of purpose, process, and method, and integrity of knowledge to enhance the performance of both the pre- and post-gap phases of the lifecycle. It further suggests that exploration of the lifecycle-based role of the PMO may present opportunities to enhance the strategic value of the PMO within organisations and also improve the integration between project management practice and product lifecycle management. The study contributes to both the product lifecycle management literature and the literature on the role and function of the PMO

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

Open innovation in high value manufacturing

The aim of this paper is to examine the concept of open innovation and understand if it occurs and how it occurs within the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) context. There is a key theoretical relevance since open innovation has not been explored from a network based perspective. Similarly, there is a strong practical relevance for this research since policy makers in the EU (especially in the UK) are focusing on strengthening HVM in their economies but the role innovation, and especially open innovation, is not fully understood. The methodology adopts an exploratory case approach within four manufacturing firms that we consider to be operating within a HVM context. Interviews with ten technical managers across the four cases were collected. NVivo analysis and data structuring based on Gioia et al. (2012) form the basis of the data analysis. The findings suggest that many different ‘modes’ and types of innovation take place within the HVM context. Open innovation is witnessed more commonly from an ‘outside in’ perspective i.e. firms draw knowledge or technology from external sources into their internal innovation process. Our findings also suggest that open innovation occurs mainly in closed networks, with other firms within their supply chain. However, our findings also highlight that the maturity of technology and sector ‘norms’ may also have an influence on degree of openness

Automated counting for Plasmodium falciparum cytoadherence experiments.

The automated counting programs are an accurate and practical way of quantifying static parasite binding assays to purified proteins. They are less accurate when applied to cell based systems, but can still provide a reasonable level of accuracy to give a semi-quantitative readout

Lean implementation in a service factory : views from the front-line

The deployment of Lean methods in service work is increasingly viewed as a legitimate response to the growing requirement for more efficient front-line service delivery. However, research investigating Lean implementations is reporting mixed results with process efficiency gains frequently marginalised by losses in employee satisfaction and customer focus. It has been suggested that these sub-optimal outcomes are the result of partial adoptions of Lean where the emphasis is placed on process efficiency with employee and customer outcomes neglected. Using an Action Research approach this paper investigates the outcomes of a Lean implementation within a UK call centre. The Action Research methodology used ensured that a holistic rather than a partial implementation of Lean was achieved and this research finds that Lean when implemented properly can lead to improved process efficiency, a better customer experience and increased employee satisfaction. It suggests that to achieve these optimum outcomes Lean implementations must as a priority be focused on creating customer satisfaction and be customised to fit with particular contingencies in the organisational context such as the nature of the interface between the front-line worker and the customer

The pregnant man: race, difference and subjectivity in Alan Paton’s Kalahari writing

In South African imaginative writing and scholarly research, there is currently an extensive and wide-ranging interest in the ‘Bushman’, either as a tragic figure of colonial history, as a contested site of misrepresentation, or even as an exemplary model of environmental consciousness. Writing and research about ‘Bushmen’ has not only become pervasive in the academy, but also a site of controversy and theoretical contestation. It is in this context that this paper investigates the meaning and significance of ‘Bushmen’ for Alan Paton, one of South Africa’s most well-known writers. Paton’s writing is not usually associated with ‘Bushman’ studies, yet this article shows that the ‘Bushman’ became a highly charged and ambivalent figure in his imagination. Paton’s problematic ideas are contextualised more carefully by looking at the broader context of South African letters. The article initially analyses Paton’s representation of ‘Bushmen’ in his Lost City of the Kalahari travel narrative (1956, published in 2005. Pietermaritzburg: KZN Press), and also discusses unpublished archival photographs. A study of the figure of the ‘Bushman’ throughout the entire corpus of his writing, ranging from early journalism to late autobiography, allows us to trace the shift of his views, enabling us to reflect not only on Paton’s thinking about racial otherness, but also gauge the extent to which his encounter with the Kalahari Bushmen destabilised his sense of self, finally also preventing the publication of the travelogueDepartment of HE and Training approved lis

Firm strategy and the continuity and change in ecosystems

The notion of 'industry', defined as all firms that produce close substitutes (Porter, 1980), has served us well. What it did is to focus our attention on competition and more specifically on the importance of value appropriation as well as capability development (Barney, 1991; Teece, Pisano, & Shuen, 1997) for firms as these compete in an industry. Recent developments made us recognize the importance of complementarity, that is that the value of a combination of products and services exceeds the value of products and services when taken separately (Brandenburger & Nalebuff, 1996, 2021). This has various consequences for our conceptualization of the relevant environment for firms. Taking complementarity into account, firm performance is not only a function of how the firm competes but also of how the firm cooperates. The term of co-opetition expresses this new reality (Bengtsson & Kock, 2000; Brandenburger & Nalebuff, 1996). There are also more actors that have become relevant bar the ones that have been captured by Porter’s (1980) 'five forces'. Consequently, the notion of 'ecosystem' has gained traction as an alternative to 'industry', with various definitions being proposed (Adner, 2006; Gawer, 2014; Jacobides, Cennamo, & Gawer, 2018). To us an ecosystem is a set of activities that generates complex functionality in the form of a product-service bundle for a system-of-use (Sminia, Ates, Paton, & Smith, 2019). Complex functionality as a coherent solution (Hannah & Eisenhardt, 2018) is what represents value for end-users. Generating complex functionality normally involves many different actors including buyers, suppliers, competitors, possible entrants, subsitutors, but also complementors, orchestrators, platform leaders, financiers, insurers, regulators, and government agencies. Every ecosystem is arranged in its own idiosyncratic way as it accommodates the three dynamics of capability, governance, and appropriation (Paton, Ates, Sminia, & Smith, 2021; Sminia et al., 2019). The arrangement that characterizes an ecosystem therefore contains a capability configuration, a governance structure, and an appropriation regime. The capability configuration tells which firms are contributing what capability to create the complex functionality. The governance structure governs the relationships between the actors in the ecosystem as well as provides the rules, regulations, and standards that must be complied with. The appropriation regime determines how firms capture the value that the complex functionality represents. The three dynamics have a bearing on each other. Consequently, individual firm performance is a consequence of the firm's position in, the capability configuration, the governance structure, and the appropriation regime. Capability, governance, and appropriation are 'dynamics' because these are not stable entities. The ecosystem arrangement is inherently fluid because firms are constantly trying to improve their position and in doing so perpetuate or change the arrangement. Furthermore, ecosystem activity is stratified in that there is a basic process by which firms and other actors perform within the existing arrangement while there simultaneously is a underlying process going on by which the existing arrangement is maintained or changed (Lawrence, Leca, & Suddaby, 2009; Sminia & de Rond, 2012). Firm activity therefore has dual consequences. On the surface, every move serves a purpose for utilizing a firm's position in the existing arrangement. Simultaneously this activity has the additional effect of either conforming to and maintaining the existing arrangement, or of deviating from, undermining, and possibly changing the existing arrangement, all to improve the firm's position in the arrangement. Ecosystem activity can include overt initiatives that are aimed at transforming an ecosystem, potentially changing it beyond recognition when change becomes so fundamental that it transforms the complex functionality and how this is valued by the system-of-use. All of this means that questions regarding how an ecosystem emerges, develops, and changes must be posed and answered in terms of how this volatility plays out, recognizing the stratified nature of ecosystem activity. In turn, this allows us to appreciate firm strategy not only as a firm utilizing its position in an existing ecosystem arrangement, but maybe and more importantly to also see strategy as actively engaging with and changing the ecosystem arrangement to its advantage. For this reason, we posit that ecosystems do not emerge from nothing but that ecosystems morph and transform on occasion giving the impression something completely new has developed because of the inherent volatility present in an ecosystem, especially if a string of initiatives succeeds that in effect alter the complex functionality that is being generated. This paper develops this dynamic understanding of the notion of an ecosystem and puts forward four propositions about how firms can deal with ecosystem volatility. It does so by first explaining about ecosystem dynamics in more detail. The layered nature of ecosystem strategy will be explicated second, which allows us to develop our four propositions. Our elaboration of ecosystems and what it means for firm strategy will be illustrated using a firm that we refer to by the name of SpaceCo. SpaceCo is the fictitious name of a company we currently work with in a knowledge exchange project. The paper will finish by discussing implications and suggesting further research

Strategic Thinking for Manufacturing Ecosystems

If people say your manufacturing firm is operating in an ecosystem, what does that mean? Actually, it means quite a lot. It has far-reaching consequences for how you need to think about strategy

Bridging differing perspectives on ecosystems research to understand co-opetition

Management practitioners and scholars alike use a range of terms such as industry, sector, and market to describe and characterise an organisation's environment. More recently, the word ecosystem, a term borrowed from the field of biology, has entered the lexicon. Grand challenges of today are increasingly tackled by new forms of multi-organisational arrangements, representing the ecosystems. Consequently, the opportunities for countries and organisations to cooperate are even larger today—from tackling Covid-19 to climate change. For example, ecosystems explain the rapid progress in monitoring the spread of Coronavirus (e.g., the track and trace apps for Covid-19). Apple and Google’s decision to cooperate in creating contact-tracing technology for Covid19 enabled a rapid response to the pandemic. By sharing user location data across platforms, the two companies cooperated with governments, health organisations (e.g., NHS in the UK) and users to create effective notification apps. Therefore, a better understanding of ecosystems will help today’s businesses, managers, and countries find a better way to work and succeed together (Beaudry et al., 2021; Brandenburger and Nalebuff, 2021). We identified four main approaches to study ecosystems – entrepreneurial ecosystems (Marshall, 1920), business ecosystems (Moore, 1993), innovation ecosystems (Adner, 2006), and platform ecosystems (Kretschmer et al., 2020). Although the ecosystem literature is exponentially growing but also increasingly fragmented. Despite conceptual similarities, different strands with interesting contributions made by scholars from innovation, strategy, and entrepreneurship disciplines develop in silos. Accordingly, the main objective of this research is to bring conceptual clarity to ecosystem notion taking a multidisciplinary perspective