Social media and sensemaking patterns in new product development: demystifying the customer sentiment

Artificial intelligence by principle is developed to assist but also support decision making processes. In our study, we explore how information retrieved from social media can assist decision-making processes for new product development (NPD). We focus on consumers’ emotions that are expressed through social media and analyse the variations of their sentiments in all the stages of NPD. We collect data from Twitter that reveal consumers’ appreciation of aspects of the design of a newly launched model of an innovative automotive company. We adopt the sensemaking approach coupled with the use of fuzzy logic for text mining. This combinatory methodological approach enables us to retrieve consensus from the data and to explore the variations of sentiments of the customers about the product and define the polarity of these emotions for each of the NPD stages. The analysis identifies sensemaking patterns in Twitter data and explains the NPD process and the associated steps where the social interactions from customers can have an iterative role. We conclude the paper by outlining an agenda for future research in the NPD process and the role of the customer opinion through sensemaking mechanisms

Supply chain integration systems by small engineering to order companies: the challenge of implementation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for overcoming the key barriers to the implementation of supply chain integration systems by small engineering to order (ETO) companies. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data from three in-depth case studies are collected. The three case studies are small UK ETO companies, i.e. manufacturing companies that customise generic product types to meet specific customer requirements and only make these to order. Findings – The paper identifies three key barriers: management awareness of the benefits and implementation challenges of these systems, perceived risk to the business and to information security and intensity of skills needed for their successful implementation. The paper proposes an iterative model that aims at overcoming these barriers. Research limitations/implications – The authors apply the knowledge on technology adoption in the context of small ETO companies to explain the apparent lack of implementation of supply chain integration systems by small ETO organisations; and propose a model to overcome these barriers. The main limitation is the lack of full validation of our model. Although this model has been presented and discussed the with case study companies, it has not been fully implemented yet. A full implementation and subsequent review would provide unequivocal validation. Practical implications – The paper presents a model for overcoming the key barriers of implementation of supply chain integration systems by small ETO companies. Managers and consultants that aim at implementing such systems can use this model prior to implementation to reduce the potential impact of these barriers on the implementation. Originality/value – There are two contributions of this paper. The first is the explanation of the barriers that inhibit the implementations of supply chain integration systems by small ETO companies. The second is the development of the model for overcoming these

New product development as a complex system of decisions

Whilst manufacturing excellence helps to maintain the current survival of companies, the development of new products is a critical process for ensuring future survival. The efficiency and effectiveness of the new product development (NPD) process depends on the integrated decision making ability of the system, but current NPD frameworks focus on managing the co-ordination activities and transfer of information. These existing frameworks achieve cost and lead-time reductions, but at the expense of innovation. Thus, this paper introduces a framework that seeks to address this trade-off issue by using a complex systems approach to explore and better understand the characteristics of emergence and self-organisation and their impact on NPD cost, lead-time, reliability and innovation

Supply chain integration configurations: Process structure and product newness

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the configurations of supply chain integration. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use qualitative data from manufacturers shortlisted for the UK’s Manufacturing Excellence awards over three years. Detailed processes and policies of 68 manufacturers are analysed. Findings – Process structure and product newness require different supply chain configurations, which change as products mature. Supply chain integration is dynamic, and the extent of collaboration between suppliers and customers will be different at different moments in time. The authors define and discuss four key supply chain configurations: customised; ramp-up; recurring; coordinated. Research limitations/implications – Future studies on supply chain integration should be controlled for the variation in the configurations. A limitation is the use of data which were derived for an award. The paper explains how the authors have mitigated the associated risks. Practical implications – The configuration of integration will change as the manufacturing plant becomes more familiar with a product. Additionally, different suppliers may provide better support at different stages of a product’s lifecycle. To yield better performance, supply chain integration would need to take different forms. Efforts to integrate with suppliers should not be avoided as, when certain conditions are met, integration can lead to improved performance. Originality/value – The authors have identified manufacturers’ main process structures and products’ newness as two strategic characteristics that differentiate integration approaches with customers and suppliers, and defined four integration configurations. To the authors’ knowledge this is the first study to argue that these also define the configuration of supply chain integration

Understanding the link between IS capabilities and cost performance in services: The mediating role of supplier integration

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the link between information systems (IS) capabilities, supplier integration, and cost performance in the service context. Specifically, it empirically investigates how supplier integration meditates the relationship between three dimensions of IS capabilities and cost performance in service firms. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 156 UK service firms was conducted and the data analyzed to determine the role of supplier integration in mediating the effects of IS capabilities on firms’ cost performance. The research model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM), and the neural network model was used to rank the relative influence of significant predictors obtained from SEM. Findings – The results confirmed that supplier integration fully mediates the effects of IT for supply chain activities and flexible IT infrastructure on cost performance, and partially mediates the effect of operations manager’s IT knowledge on cost performance. The results showed that operations manager’s IT knowledge is the strongest predictor of supplier integration. Originality – This study takes a step towards quelling concerns about the business value of IS, contributing to the development and validation of the measurement of IS capabilities in the service supply chain context. Additionally, it adds to the emerging body of literature linking supplier integration to operational performance of service firms

Drivers and Barriers of Lean Implementation in the Greek Manufacturing Sector

Lean manufacturing has evolved from a set of tools and techniques to become a management philosophy. It can be used to reduce waste and improve the efficiency of companies. Many companies worldwide have implemented lean management and achieved great improvements. The present paper focuses on the lean manufacturing implementation within the Greek manufacturing sector. The purpose is to determine the extent to which the main principles of lean manufacturing are understood and adopted in Greek manufacturing sector companies. Also this paper aims to assess the importance of the driving factors and barriers towards implementing lean manufacturing in the Greek environment. A structured questionnaire was developed and circulated to a large number of Greek manufacturing companies. Based on the literature review and questionnaire findings, the degree of implementing lean manufacturing in Greece is assessed and discussed against literature review findings

An outsourcing model for lead users: An empirical investigation

Product development costs have been increasing constantly over the past few decades. Outsourcing some or all of the new product development (NPD) activities to external parties is increasingly becoming a popular option in the quest to reduce costs. Lead users (LUs), a special group of users that experience needs earlier than the public, have been identified as an important source of innovative ideas. In this article, we explore and compare the cost impact of outsourcing activities to LUs relative to in-house NPD. Using survey data from 376 European manufacturers, we show that LUs’ impact on cost reduction is higher than that achieved through higher performing in-house NPD teams. The unique attributes of LUs make them a favourable outsourcing partner of NPD activity that can help reduce costs whilst increasing an organisation's innovative ability. The reduction in costs is a combination of the information sharing benefits achieved through in-house NPD and the outsourcing of NPD activities to LUs

Strategies for agility: an evolutionary and configurational approach

Configurational theory can significantly enhance understanding of organisational strategy and diversity. Despite this, there have been limited efforts to examine the value and utility of configurational research as a method for realising manufacturing strategies. This paper introduces a strategic management framework based on configurational theory and an evolutionary classification method (cladistics). Focusing on agile manufacturing concepts, the framework provides a system for collecting and organising information on manufacturing routines and capabilities. This facilitates the processes of strategic analysis, strategic choice and strategic information