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PurposeThe concept of responsiveness has been widely discussed, yet so far most of this discussion has remained qualitative in nature. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model identifying the key factors that determine the responsiveness of a supply chain system, which – once quantified – provide a unique profile of each supply chain setting towards the appropriate supply chain strategy.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews existing contributions and synthesises these into a conceptual model of responsiveness. The model is applied using three case studies from the automotive and electronics industry. The case research is based on value stream mapping, semi‐structured interviews, and site visits.FindingsThree key findings could be established: first, the concept of responsiveness has a simple logic that aligns itself to a wide range of manufacturing strategies. However, underlying this remit is a complex interaction of an array of key variables, and it was found that previous contributions largely have only addressed a subset of these. Second, these key variables can be grouped into three categories or dimensions of responsiveness – product, process and volume – to provide a holistic understanding of responsiveness and its key determinants. Third, due to the large involved, there cannot be one single "holy grail" concept of how responsiveness can be achieved, neither does one single approach apply to entire sectors.Research limitations/implicationsA great variety of variables needs to be considered in order to provide a balanced view of all three dimensions of responsiveness, thus the case analyses remain at a necessarily high level.Practical implicationsThe paper provides guidelines for management on how to align their supply chain strategy to volume, product and process contingency factors in order to balance responsiveness to customer demand and supply chain efficiency.Originality/valueThe paper aims to elevate a discussion that previously has been held mostly at a conceptual level beyond the qualitative description, and thus addresses a key shortcoming in the current debate.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the context of major projects and their management from an OM perspective; the authors provide a foundation for exploring how the body of work on lean production (the "old" theory) can contribute to the development of major projects (the "new" context). In doing so, it extends the prevailing economic approach to major projects (best described as "predict and provide") and posits the development of an alternative approach based on extending the lean production logic to this new context (referred to as "predict and prevent").


Design/methodology/approach
The paper investigates the scope for adopting lean practices in context of major project. To this effect the authors review the current state of both lean thinking and major project management, and use "Universal Credit" as an exploratory case study to illustrate and verify the arguments in practice.


Findings
Two main findings are proposed: first, the authors demonstrate the inherent performance challenge of major projects in OM terms, which the authors argue presents significant scope for the application of OM concepts to improve major project performance. Second, using lean thinking as framing, the authors identify three distinct process levels and common wastes in major projects, and identify five principles how lean could improve the delivery of major projects.


Research limitations/implications
Major projects present an untapped area for OM research; based on the exploratory case the authors propose ways how OM concepts can be applied to this new context. Further research will be needed to validate and generalise.


Practical implications
Major projects, including organisational transformations, IT-enabled change, major events and large infrastructure projects, constitute a large proportion of economic activity. Despite their prominence, however, they are also commonly associated with low success rates. This paper provides one route for exploring how a successful set of principles could be applied to improving their performance.


Originality/value
This work translates a popular set of ideas from OM to strengthening a relatively neglected context within OM. An agenda for further research is suggested to support the development of this application.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an update to the Supply Chain Volatility Index (SCVI), and expand on prior work by presenting a conceptual framework illustrating how firms can deal with persistent volatility, the ensuing risk and mitigate the cost implications for their supply chain operations.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use long-term time series of secondary data to assemble a "basket" of key indicators that are relevant to the business context within which global supply chains operate. The authors also report on five years of feedback gained from presentations of the SCVI to scholars and practitioners.FindingsVolatility has reduced from record levels experienced during the global financial crises, yet remains at levels considerably higher than prior to the crisis, with no sign of a return to the more stable conditions that prevailed when many current supply chain networks were designed.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors reaffirm that new mental models are needed which embrace volatility as a factor in supply chain design, rather than seek to eradicate it in supply chain operations. Traditional static "network optimisation" based on a simple definition of low unit cost seems no longer appropriate under conditions of persistent volatility.Practical implicationsThe authors provide a conceptual link of volatility, risk and cost in the supply chain, and outline how firms can develop a supply chain strategy by managing their exposure to volatility.Originality/valueThe authors challenge the common assumption that volatility invariably leads to risk and higher cost in the supply chain. Instead the authors argue that the supply chain structure can mitigate the exposure to supply chain risk. The authors introduce the concepts of recovery and resilience cost within a framework designed to help firms manage volatility-induced risk by minimising the adverse cost implications of volatility in their supply chains.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to develop a typology of co‐located supplier clusters, such as logistics centres or supplier parks, and second, to evaluate the theoretical perspectives at hand to investigate the co‐location phenomenon.Design/methodology/approachThe research encompasses 28 semi‐structured interviews with key operations executives from vehicle manufacturers, component suppliers and logistics service providers at nine co‐located supplier clusters, the findings of which are triangulated with secondary sources.FindingsThe investigation yields two main findings: first, a typology is proposed based on two key dimensions "spatial integration and infrastructure" and "local value‐added". From a theoretical perspective, the paper further concludes that transaction cost economics is less suited for studying dedicated co‐location, and suggests that future investigations should focus on consolidating the contributions on the spatial dimension of sourcing configurations into a novel theoretical framework.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based on an exploratory research design, investigating a selected number of co‐located supplier clusters only. While the research does not claim to provide a comprehensive survey of co‐located supplier clusters, it proposes a general categorisation that aims to provide a structure currently lacking further research into this phenomenon.Originality/valueA structured overview of the phenomenon of co‐located supplier clusters is provided, extending the existing morphological debate. Furthermore, the discussion of their theoretical foundations provides novel insights into this phenomenon as well as into the operational implications of value chain modifications in general, with the intention of guiding further research in this area.

It is now becoming apparent that the prevalent "stock‐push" approach in the automotive industry of building vehicles against a long‐term forecast and fulfilling the large majority of orders from existing stock is no longer a viable proposition. Pressure from rising stock levels in the market and the discounts needed to sell these vehicles is forcing the vehicle manufacturers to rethink their sourcing strategy in favour of "build‐to‐order" systems. More responsive order fulfilment at vehicle manufacturer level however will have wide implications on the component supply and logistics subsystems. Based on findings of the 3DayCar research programme, this paper aims at assessing whether current logistics systems are capable of supporting such a "build‐to‐order" approach. Based on empirical evidence of benchmarks covering three million annual vehicle movements in the UK vehicle distribution system, key constraints in current vehicle distribution logistics will be established, and the cost and environmental impact of more responsive logistics will be assessed.

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to understand how large and apparently successful organizations enter spirals of decline that are very difficult to reverse. The paper examines the case of Rover, once one of the largest car producers in the world, which collapsed in 2005. An analysis of strategic and operational choices made over a period of 40 years investigates the reasons for, and consequences of, a growing mismatch between the context faced by the company (industry dynamics, market conditions) and its operational capabilities, a mismatch that ultimately brought about the company's demise.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on interviews with 32 people, including senior managers (including four chief executives), government ministers and union officials who were key decision makers within, or close to, the company during the period 1968 and 2005. Secondary sources and documentary evidence (e.g. production and sales data) are used to build up a historical picture of the company and to depict its deteriorating financial and market position from 1968 onwards.FindingsThe company was formed from a multitude of previously independent firms as part of a government‐sponsored agenda to build a UK National Champion in the car industry. The merged company failed due to several factors including poor product development processes, poor manufacturing performance, difficult labour relations, a very wide product portfolio and a lack of financial control. Although strenuous efforts were made to address those issues, including periods of whole or part ownership by British Aerospace, Honda and BMW, the company's position deteriorated until eventually production volumes were too low for viable operation.Practical implicationsThe case of Rover highlights the importance of what has been termed "the management unit" in complex systems. The management unit comprises processes and routines to deal with challenges such as managing product portfolios, connecting strategic and operational choices, and scanning and responding to the environment. In the case of Rover, a number of factors taken together generated excessive load on a management unit frequently operating under conditions of resource scarcity. We conclude that viewing corporate failure from a systems perspective, rather than in terms of shortcomings in specific subsystems, such as manufacturing or product development, yields insights often absent in the operations management literature.Originality/valueThe paper is of value by showing corporate failure from a systems perspective, rather than in terms of shortcomings in specific subsystems, such as manufacturing or product development; and yields insights often absent in the operations management literature. The Rover case featured in the paper demonstrates the usefulness of systems ideas to understanding at least some types of failure, not as an alterative to capability‐based approaches, but in addition to them.

PurposeWhile the concept of supply chain responsiveness (SCR) has received considerable attention in the operations management literature, mostly under the auspices of concepts such as build‐to‐order, mass customisation, lean and agility, so far there is a lack of comprehensive definition of SCR, as well as a defined relationship between "responsiveness" and "flexibility". Also, the frameworks at hand tend to consider only a subset of factors previously identified in the literature, and thus do not comprehensively portray the cause‐and‐effect relationships involved. This paper aims to address these gaps.Design/methodology/approachThe paper synthesises the existing contributions to manufacturing and supply chain flexibility and responsiveness, and draws on various related bodies of literature that affect a supply chain's responsiveness such as the discussion of product architecture and modularisation.FindingsFour types of responsiveness are identified: product, volume, mix, and delivery, all of which can relate to different time horizons, and can be present as either potential or demonstrated responsiveness. It is argued that a supply chain can feature different levels of responsiveness at different tiers, depending on the configuration of the individual nodes, as well as the integration thereof. Furthermore, a holistic framework is proposed, distinguishing between requiring and enabling factors for responsiveness, identifying the key relationships within and between these two categories.Research limitations/implicationsThe definition and framework proposed provide novel insights into the concept of SCR as well as a clear terminology that will inform future research. The framework developed in this paper is suitable for both qualitative and holistic quantitative studies.Originality/valueIn addition to a detailed review of the factors associated with SCR, a generic definition of responsiveness is developed. The paper proposes a definition of four types of responsiveness which will support further empirical studies into the concept and its application. Furthermore, a holistic framework is developed that allows for cause‐and‐effect relationships to be investigated and dependencies to be identified.

The application of lean thinking has made a significant impact both in academic and industrial circles over the last decade. Fostered by a rapid spread into many other industry sectors beyond the automotive industry, there has been a significant development and "localisation" of the lean concept. Despite successful "lean" applications in a range of settings however, the lean approach has been criticised on many accounts, such as the lack of human integration or its limited applicability outside high‐volume repetitive manufacturing environments. The resulting lack of definition has led to confusion and fuzzy boundaries with other management concepts. Summarising the lean evolution, this paper comments on approaches that have sought to address some of the earlier gaps in lean thinking. Linking the evolution of lean thinking to the contingency and learning organisation schools of thought, the objective of this paper is to provide a framework for understanding the evolution of lean not only as a concept, but also its implementation within an organisation, and point out areas for future research.

Describes a two‐ and, later, a three‐dimensional view of supply chain dynamics within a theoretical framework derived from research carried out in the UK automotive industry. However, the authors believe that the models developed have a far wider applicability than this narrow sectoral and geographic focus. The research has been developed within two research programmes. The first programme, called "LEAP" (lean processing programme), involves Corus (formerly British Steel Strip Products), two steel service centres and six major UK‐based automotive component manufacturers, all linked within a common supply chain. The second programme, called "3DayCar", involves 20 European industrial sponsors including six automotive manufacturers. Both programmes are supported by the UK Government Innovative Manufacturing Initiative (IMI). Conclusions based on the waves analogy will be applied to a real‐life setting in order to suggest appropriate business strategies to achieving a lean value stream.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of decentralised control on finished goods inventory levels in a distribution system, and to identify the factors that determine the overall inventory level.Design/methodology/approachThe authors' study is based on a mixed method approach using both a survey and semi‐structured interviews to assess inventory management practices and firm performance.FindingsIt was found that the common assumptions that distribution outlets or dealers are homogenous and that their behaviour is uniform in response to central control, such as the manufacturer's strategy, do not hold in practice. In fact, the authors show that under conditions of decentralised control, the inventories held at outlet level vary greatly around the aggregate inventory at overall manufacturer level and in this sense bear little resemblance to it. Amongst other conclusions, these findings provide a possible explanation for previous studies' inconclusive evidence on inventory reduction.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors' research is based on evidence from the automotive industry in the USA; future research may include a wider industry analysis and geographical scope.Practical implicationsThe paper identifies how incentives and decision‐making structures at the outlet level need to be considered in order to derive decisions that are optimal at the supply chain level.Originality/valueThe paper extends the current literature on the determinants of inventory levels by using dealer‐level data, as opposed to manufacturer or firm‐level data in previous studies, thereby identifying possible causes for the previously inconclusive evidence on inventory levels in distribution systems.