Suchergebnisse

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address a research gap relating to the understanding of how one type of manufacturing flexibility – mix flexibility – is achieved during day‐to‐day operations.Design/methodology/approachConstructs from coordination theory are used in order to understand the way in which physical manufacturing resources are coordinated during daily operations to produce a company's product mix. A multiple case study methodology is used to investigate the applicability of these constructs in the flour milling industry. Subsequently, a conceptual framework is proposed which captures the coordination mechanisms used in the achievement of mix flexibility.FindingsThe paper finds that mix flexibility requirements influence how a company achieves mix flexibility. Further, the findings indicate that, at an operational level, mix flexibility is achieved via the use of coordination mechanisms to manage specific dependencies relating to mix flexibility requirements.Research limitations/implicationsMix flexibility achievement was studied in a single industry. Future research can test the applicability of the conceptual framework in other manufacturing settings.Originality/valueAn empirical contribution to the study of manufacturing flexibility achievement has been made, where the application of constructs from coordination theory presents a novel approach to the study of manufacturing flexibility achievement.

PurposeThis paper aims to describe an interactive action planning software tool (TAPS) for manufacturing objective deployment, and to report the results of its application in five companies.Design/methodology/approachA process approach based on action research was adopted in this research. Under this approach, a series of four to five workshops were conducted in each company. Each workshop took half a day and involved a multi‐disciplinary team of four to six managers. Besides direct observation in the workshops, a structured questionnaire was also used to elicit managers' feedback at the end of each workshop.FindingsThe TAPS approach (integration of Burbidge's connectance concept and the analytic hierarchy process) helps managers to visualise and represent their perceptions of the relationships between variables and objectives through a sequential, analytical process. Results from the case studies indicate that TAPS provides the following benefits to managers: it improves collective understanding, reduces the complexity of strategy deployment into manageable steps, facilitates discussion, and manages organizational knowledge.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is so far limited to application in five case studies. Future research will involve further cases and improvements to the usability of the software tool.Originality/valueFor practitioners, the paper provides them with an interactive software tool (TAPS) for effective strategic action planning. For academics, this paper provides an approach for researching strategy deployment, and a potential classroom teaching tool for operations management.

ABSTRACTThe process of translating objectives into actions is a difficult task. This difficulty is due to the wide range of possibilities and the lack of structured information. Managers must take into account relevant information and generate a range of options before a decision is reached. So far, little is available to guide managers in translating a set of objectives into actions. This paper presents a three‐stage action‐planning process to address this gap. The process, supported by a software tool, takes managers through the stages of model building, action generation, and action evaluation and selection. A case study illustrates the application of the process. The paper concludes by discussing the implication of this work for managers and academics.

This paper aims to produce a justified, generic, pictorial architecture of the relationships between resources and competences within firms. It begins by providing definitions of the nature, scope and relationships between resources, capabilities and competences from the resource and competence literatures. In so doing, theory is refined and a linked resource and competence architecture is developed. The architecture distinguishes between high‐level competences that customers recognize, for example fast product delivery, and competences that support high‐level competences but are less visible customers, like competences in rapid knowledge acquisition and deployment. An empirical example is then used to illustrate how the architecture enables the construction of structured pictures of connected competences and co‐ordinated resources within a manufacturing business. Finally, the architecture is critiqued and its value for managers in structuring competence performance improvement activities is discussed.

This paper describes research on the resources that underlie a manufacturing company's service competence in its most established product group. Published methods for identifying and assessing resources are reviewed and, based on current theory, improvements are developed, tested and critiqued. A historical representation of the firm's activities in its service provision over more than ten years is used to enable grounded identification of the resources involved. Sets of theory‐based questions are used to assess the value and sustainability of the resources identified. The plans and actions that appeared to relate to the intervention are then described over the following two years. Finally the methods are discussed from three perspectives – first, their appropriateness; second, the resource data they generated, and third, their apparent utility for managers.

The importance of performance measurement has long been recognized
by academics and practitioners from a variety of functional disciplines.
Seeks to bring together this diverse body of knowledge into a coherent
whole. To ensure that the key issues are identified, focuses on the
process of performance measurement system design, rather than the detail
of specific measures. Following a comprehensive review of the
literature, proposes a research agenda.

Proposes a framework for considering the factors relevant to the
design of manufacturing strategy processes. The framework is built from
manufacturing and business strategy literature through a review which
positions popular strategies like Cellular manufacturing, TQM and JIT
within more traditional manufacturing strategy frameworks and includes
aspects of strategy that have been rarely mentioned in the manufacturing
strategy literature. Thus competence, capability, culture and
alternative strategy process modes are incorporated and throughout the
review potential influences on the design of the strategy process are
identified. Finally the framework′s ability to assist the design of a
manufacturing strategy process is tested and the dependence of key
process elements like the procedure and tools used are shown to be
contingent on, for example, the outputs required from the process and
the content areas under development.

This article describes an updateable picture of manufacturing strategy content, called a "strategy chart". It is based on established manufacturing and business strategy theory and is designed for use by managers in a wider strategy development process. Three cases are used to examine and improve methods for constructing a strategy chart; to explore the biases inherent in this representation of strategy; and to assess its utility. Preliminary conclusions are that charts present manufacturing strategy content more holistically than normally achieved and can make "strategy" a more understandable and communicable concept for manufacturing managers and workforce. The approach also provides useful insight into the development of a firm's manufacturing strategy over time, providing the potential for managers to examine their strategy process and to learn from the past.

This paper addresses issues met when designing, implementing, using and continuously updating performance measurement systems in manufacturing companies. The paper develops, from theory, a framework for analysing the implementation of a performance measurement system and uses this framework to interpret three longitudinal case studies. The paper concludes that specific processes are required to continuously align the performance measurement system with strategy. When these processes are combined with a well defined model of strategic success, the measurement system can enhance the strategic management process by challenging the assumptions and the strategy itself.

Describes the development and testing of a framework which can assist in the process of designing performance measures. Grounds the framework in the relevant literature and explains how it was developed and tested through a series of action research projects involving collaborators primarily from the aerospace and automotive industries. Notes that inadequately designed performance measures can result in dysfunctional behaviour often due to the method of calculation encouraging individuals to pursue inappropriate courses of action. The performance measure record sheet presented provides a structure which considers factors such as the purpose of the measure and the source of data. Notes the advantages of the record sheet, such as its use to audit existing measures of performance and to facilitate the process of designing new ones.

It is widely accepted that firms should have manufacturing strategies
consistent with their overall business strategies, but while much has
been written about the content of these strategies, little has been said
about how they should be developed and realized. Reports on research
which set out to investigate the extent to which UK firms seek to
influence the realization of their manufacturing strategies through
their performance measurement systems. Over 800 small and medium‐sized
manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in the UK were surveyed in late 1992.
Analysis of the data suggests that while firms which compete on quality
or time place most emphasis on performance measures which match their
strategies, those which compete on price do not.