Encouraging help speeds up product development projects

__Abstract__ Ensuring new product development projects stay on track is challenging at the best of times. Part of the problem can lie with how project team members behave and communicate. However, a novel approach that triggers help for problems is successfully overcoming such behavioural difficulties and encouraging greater team cooperation

How BMW Is Defusing the Demographic Time Bomb

The article focuses on how the German car manufacturer, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG or BMW, is managing the effects of population aging on the industry. The redesign of BMW's factories to accommodate older workers and increase productivity is mentioned. Research on a pilot production line, which is based on a mix of employees who have an average age of 47 in the year 2017, is discussed. The roles of Peter Jürschick, Helmut Mauermann, Günther Stadler, and Kurt Dickert in the development of the pilot project are mentioned. The costs associated with an aging population are noted

Temporary deembedding buyer-supplier relationships

Research on buyer-supplier relationships has debated the advantages and disadvantages of embedded relationships. We join this debate by developing theory on the performance implications of relaxing embedded buyer-supplier relationships for a limited period of time—a previously neglected phenomenon we refer to as temporary de-embedding. To capture this phenomenon’s dynamic and complex nature, we use a combined-method approach. First, we conducted a longitudinal case study of the relationship between Nissan and a strategic first-tier supplier. This case study suggests that temporary de-embedding reinvigorates search and leads to higher performance for both the buyer and supplier. Second, we built a computational simulation model using the search perspective from complexity theory to complement the theory grounded in our case study. Our simulations confirm the case findings while shedding additional light on how frequency, duration, and intensity of de-embedding affect supply chain performance

Sparking Manufacturing Innovation: How Temporary Interplant Assignments Increase Employee Idea Values

Shop-floor employees play a key role in manufacturing innovation. In some companies, up to 75% of all productivity gains are the result of bottom-up employee ideas. In this paper, we examine how employee interplant assignments—short problem-solving jobs at other manufacturing plants within the same firm—influence employee-driven manufacturing innovation. Using unique idea-level data from a large European car parts manufacturer, we show that interplant assignments significantly increase the value of employees’ improvement ideas due to the short-term transfer of production knowledge and long-term employee learning. Both effects are amplified by assignments to plants that have high functional overlap (i.e., plants producing similar products using similar processes and machinery). One implication is that, for the purpose of employee-driven manufacturing innovation, assignments between peripheral plants with high functional overlap can be more effective than assignments to and from central plants. These findings are robust to several econometric tests. Our study provides novel and detailed empiric

Temporary De-Embedding Buyer-Supplier Relationships

Research on buyer-supplier relationships has debated the advantages and disadvantages of embedded relationships. We join this debate by developing theory on the performance implications of relaxing embedded buyer-supplier relationships for a limited period of time — a previously neglected phenomenon we refer to as temporary de-embedding. To capture this phenomenon’s dynamic and complex nature, we use a combined-method approach. First, we conducted a longitudinal case study of the relationship between Nissan and a strategic first-tier supplier. This case study suggests that temporary de-embedding reinvigorates search and leads to higher performance for both the buyer and supplier. Second, we built a computational simulation model using the search perspective from complexity theory to complement the theory grounded in our case study. Our simulations confirm the case findings while shedding additional light on how frequency, duration, and intensity of de-embedding affect supply chain performance

Das Prinzip der roten Karte

Mit einer simplen Idee hat der Dachfensterhersteller Roto die Arbeit seiner Entwicklungsabteilung verbessert. Dem Hilferuf eines einzelnen Ingenieurs folgt die prompte Problemlösung durch die Gruppe. Die positiven Folgen: Weniger Verzögerungen, höhere Motivation und bessere Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Abteilungen, Zulieferern und Kunden