Strategic positioning:an integrated decision process for manufacturers

Purpose – This paper describes research that has sought to create a formal and rational process that guides manufacturers through the strategic positioning decision. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is based on a series of case studies to develop and test the decision process. Findings – A decision process that leads the practitioner through an analytical process to decide which manufacturing activities they should carryout themselves. Practical implications – Strategic positioning is concerned with choosing those production related activities that an organisations should carry out internally, and those that should be external and under the ownership and control of suppliers, partners, distributors and customers. Originality/value – This concept extends traditional decision paradigms, such as those associated with “make versus buy” and “outsourcing”, by looking at the interactions between manufacturing operations and the wider supply chain networks associated with the organisation

The non-adoption of supply chain management

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Construction Management and Economics on 10th October 2013, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01446193.2013.830186.Largely taken for granted within the UK construction sector has been a view that supply chain management theory is robust, relevant and reliable. As such it has formed a substantial aspect of previous and contemporary policy and government funded research. Despite this, the general view of its development and diffusion over the last 15 years within the construction industry has been problematic. Coincidentally, prevailing debates within the supply chain management academic community point to the lack of unified theory, models of diffusion and strong connections to organization theory. Using Straussian grounded theory, iterations between data and organization theory provided a fresh perspective on the development and diffusion of supply chain management in construction. This inductive research provided contextually rich explanations for development and diffusion that explicitly connected with and drew upon robust, relevant and reliable theories of institutions, innovation diffusion, triads, quasifirms and mechanisms of organizational governance. These explanations challenge the simplistic assumption that chains and networks of organizations are holistically managed and controlled by any single organization or institution in the construction industry. The debate therefore shifts away from proselytizing supply chain management towards research that explores the rigour, relevance and reliability of supply chain management assumptions in construction. The gap between industry practice and policy is exposed and the question is posed: to what extent policy and practice do, or should, constitute a recursive relationship.© 2013 Taylor & Francis

Supply chain management

Information technology and management information systems are assuming an ever greater importance in the arena of business and management. Traditional areas of the work place are being redefined while MIS and IT are becoming the most potent productive forces and sources of competitive advantage. The IEBM Handbook of IT in Business explains these new developments and puts them into the wider business context. Coverage includes clear explanations of the new technological developments in the business world, how and why they are being applied, and the new strategies and infrastructures involved

Managing operations and quality

This introductory management text includes extensive case studies showing how theory is put into practice in the business world, and also contains end-of-chapter exercises to reinforce learning

From research to practice via consultancy and back again: a 14 year case study of applied research

The article will examine an extended case study (over 14 years) of the challenges of operating a mode 2 academic research project (which generated a unique diagnostic tool for use in business to business relationships) and then of converting academic theory into a practical application which has been used successfully in over 150 companies. The research process will be discussed and the difficulties of managing the operational management agendas along with the need to do rigorous academic work will be examined

Prescriptions for managing change: a survey of their effects in projects to implement collaborative working between organisations

This paper reports on a quantitative study of 100 companies which had attempted to move towards a more collaborative relationship with another organisation. Judged on criteria set out in the survey 46 had succeeded and 54 had failed in their attempt to implement supply chain partnering. A questionnaire invited respondents to indicate which project management practices (drawn from a review of the change management literature) they had used. Statistical analyses showed that four practices accounted for most of the difference between successful and unsuccessful implementation. These concerned project goals, resources, structures and controls. Many conventional change management prescriptions had no statistically significant effect on the outcome. The paper relates these results to theories of change management and draw the practical implications. These are likely to apply to many other types of change project