Juliana Keiko Sagawa and Marcelo Seido Nagano
Effective planning requires the participation of different functions and may be hampered by lack of integration and information quality (IQ). This paper aims to investigate the…
Abstract
Purpose
Effective planning requires the participation of different functions and may be hampered by lack of integration and information quality (IQ). This paper aims to investigate the relationships among integration, uncertainty, IQ and performance, in the context of the production planning and control function. The literature lacks in-depth studies that consider these factors altogether, showing how they interact and how they contribute to improve business performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors introduce the variable of planning performance, which represents the quality of the production plans/planning process and is related to the frequency and causes of modifications to these plans. The relationships among the mentioned constructs are investigated by means of multiple case studies.
Findings
The results illustrate that integration is positively related to planning performance, and this relationship is mediated by IQ and moderated by uncertainty.
Originality/value
The presented analysis may help practitioners to foster interfunctional integration, better cope with uncertainty and improve information management, aiming to achieve better planning performance. The managers can choose integration and IQ improvement mechanisms that better fit to their environment/reality, using the four different cases as a benchmark. Moreover, this research contributes to the literature exploring this contingency perspective by means of in-depth case studies, considering that most of the existing research adopting this perspective is survey-based.
Details
Keywords
C. De Snoo, W. Van Wezel and J.C. Wortmann
The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of physical proximity between schedulers and operators within manufacturing firms. In literature, a small distance between…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of physical proximity between schedulers and operators within manufacturing firms. In literature, a small distance between interdependent employees is assumed to be a prerequisite for a high level of coordination. This study investigates this assumption empirically for the relationship between scheduling and manufacturing and shows effects of proximity that are only partly in line with literature.
Design/methodology/approach
Consequences of relocating the scheduling department within a production firm are studied using a longitudinal case study approach. Data have been collected within three phases: before, three months after, and one year after the relocation.
Findings
Findings show that schedulers and operators communicate more face‐to‐face and less by phone after the relocation, especially during rescheduling. Furthermore, schedulers and operators perceived positive changes in ease of coordination and performance due to the relocation.
Research limitations/implications
Scheduling and rescheduling are usually treated in literature as a mathematical puzzle to be solved. The authors do not contest this in itself, but the findings indicate that communication and collaboration are important aspects as well. In the case company, the possible negative aspects of close proximity, such as more interruptions, are offset by the advantages for rescheduling such as fast response and improved quality of communication. As the study was done in only one manufacturing firm, further research is needed to determine what firm characteristics specifically determine the appropriate location of the scheduling department.
Practical implications
The paper demonstrates the need to carefully design, manage, and facilitate the interface and critical task interdependencies between scheduling and manufacturing departments.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to operations management literature by providing a detailed empirical analysis concerning the effects of physical proximity between schedulers and manufacturing operators, including behavioural and organizational factors.
Details
Keywords
Patrik Jonsson and Paulina Myrelid
The purpose of this paper is to define supply chain information utilisation and explore how its antecedents impact shared information utilisation in information receiver’s…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to define supply chain information utilisation and explore how its antecedents impact shared information utilisation in information receiver’s planning processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is based on a literature review and exploratory case study of three supplier dyads of original equipment manufacturers. This study presents a four-phase model of supply chain information utilisation, and identifies how information sharing, information quality, and intended information usage are antecedents of actual usage of information shared in supply chains. In the dyads, 35 potential information utilisation situations are analysed.
Findings
Inter- and intra-organisational factors are antecedents of information utilisation, by their effects on the four phases of utilisation. Composite information sharing, social network governance, human process involvement, and formal planning processes are important antecedents, which are not much emphasised in the literature.
Research limitations/implications
The study focusses on routinised sharing of formal demand-related planning information in supply chain dyads. The analysis is based on three case dyads which are chosen to be complementary in several respects, and where there is access to rich data.
Practical implications
Understanding phases and antecedents could support managers in developing information sharing strategies.
Originality/value
The literature does not explicitly consider information utilisation, or related antecedents or effects. However, by defining information utilisation and proposing a multi-phase utilisation model, this study can explain the performance effect of information sharing. In addition, the composite information variable is defined. This is the first attempt to conceptualise and explore antecedents of information utilisation in supply chains.
Details
Keywords
Nienke Hofstra, Wout Dullaert, Sander De Leeuw and Eirini Spiliotopoulou
The purpose of this paper is to develop propositions explaining the influence of individual goals and social preferences on human decision making in transport planning. The aim is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop propositions explaining the influence of individual goals and social preferences on human decision making in transport planning. The aim is to understand which individual goals and social preferences planners pursue and how these influence planners’ decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
Propositions are developed based on investigation of decision making of transport planners in a Dutch logistics service provider using multiple data collection methods.
Findings
The study shows how decision making of transport planners is motivated by individual goals as well as social preferences for reciprocity and group identity.
Research limitations/implications
Further research including transaction data analysis is needed to triangulate findings and to strengthen conclusions. Propositions are developed to be tested in future research.
Practical implications
Results suggest that efforts to guide planners in their decision making should go beyond traditional (monetary) incentives and consider their individual goals and social preferences. Moreover, this study provides insight into why transport planners deviate from desired behaviour.
Originality/value
While individual decision making plays an essential role in operational planning, the factors influencing how individuals make operational planning decisions are not fully understood.
Details
Keywords
Manfredi Bruccoleri, Salvatore Cannella and Giulia La Porta
– The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of inventory record inaccuracy due to behavioral aspects of workers on the order and inventory variance amplification.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of inventory record inaccuracy due to behavioral aspects of workers on the order and inventory variance amplification.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopt a continuous-time analytical approach to describe the effect of inbound throughput on the inventory and order variance amplification due to the workload pressure and arousal of workers. The model is numerically solved through simulation and results are analyzed with statistical general linear model.
Findings
Inventory management policies that usually dampen variance amplification are not effective when inaccuracy is generated due to workers’ behavioral aspects. Specifically, the psychological sensitivity and stability of workers to deal with a given range of operational conditions have a combined and multiplying effect over the amplification of order and inventory variance generated by her/his errors.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of the research is that the authors model workers’ behavior by inheriting a well-known theory from psychology that assumes a U-shaped relationship between stress and errors. The authors do not validate this relationship in the specific context of inventory operations.
Practical implications
The paper gives suggestions for managers who are responsible for designing order and inventory policies on how to take into account workers’ behavioral reaction to work pressure.
Originality/value
The logistics management literature does not lack of research works on behavioral decision-making causes of order and inventory variance amplification. Contrarily, this paper investigates a new kind of behavioral issue, namely, the impact of psycho-behavioral aspects of workers on variance amplification.
Details
Keywords
Louise J. Suckley, Ilfryn Price and Jason Sharpe
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the value of adopting an organizational ecological perspective to explore behavioural barriers in a UK operations & production…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the value of adopting an organizational ecological perspective to explore behavioural barriers in a UK operations & production management (OPM) setting.
Design/methodology/approach
An ethnographic case study approach was adopted with a narrative ecological stance to deconstruct the perceived realities and the origins of the inter‐departmental barriers applying Scott‐Morgan's unwritten rules methodology.
Findings
Despite an improvement in the physical proximity of the production and quality control departments, the qualitative approach revealed that latent, socially constructed drivers around management, interaction and communication reinforced inter‐departmental barriers. Conflicting enablers were ultimately responsible derived from the organizational structure, which impacted the firm's production resources.
Research limitations/implications
As a case study approach, the specificity of the findings to this OPM setting should be explored further.
Practical implications
The paper demonstrates the use of theoretical frameworks in a production and manufacturing organization to provide insights for maximising process effectiveness. Using the organizational ecological perspective to uncover the socially constructed unwritten rules of the OPM setting beneficially impacted on operational effectiveness.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to organization ethnography literature by providing a detailed empirical analysis of manufacturing and services behaviour using an organizational ecology perspective. The example demonstrates that “qualitative” research can have real world impact in an advanced operational context. It also contributes to an ecological or complex adaptive systems view of organizations and, inter alia, their supply chains.
Details
Keywords
Koen Mondelaers, Joris Aertsens and Guido Van Huylenbroeck
This paper aims to perform a meta‐analysis of the literature comparing the environmental impacts of organic and conventional farming and linking these to differences in management…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to perform a meta‐analysis of the literature comparing the environmental impacts of organic and conventional farming and linking these to differences in management practises. The studied environmental impacts are related to land use efficiency, organic matter content in the soil, nitrate and phosphate leaching to the water system, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretic framework uses the driver‐state‐response framework and literature data were analysed using meta‐analysis methodology. Meta‐analysis is the statistical analysis of multiple study results. Data were obtained by screening peer reviewed literature.
Findings
From the paper's meta‐analysis it can conclude that soils in organic farming systems have on average a higher content of organic matter. It can also conclude that organic farming contributes positively to agro‐biodiversity (breeds used by the farmers) and natural biodiversity (wild life). Concerning the impact of the organic farming system on nitrate and phosphorous leaching and greenhouse gas emissions the result of the analysis is not that straightforward. When expressed per production area organic farming scores better than conventional farming for these items. However, given the lower land use efficiency of organic farming in developed countries, this positive effect expressed per unit product is less pronounced or not present at all.
Original value
Given the recent growth of organic farming and the general perception that organic farming is more environment friendly than its conventional counterpart, it is interesting to explore whether it meets the alleged benefits. By combining several studies in one analysis, the technique of meta‐analysis is powerful and may allow the generation of more nuanced findings and the generalisation of those findings.
Details
Keywords
In the developing world, the adoption of new technology in agriculture has emerged as a tool to address the problem of investment-disincentive effect of capital investment on…
Abstract
Purpose
In the developing world, the adoption of new technology in agriculture has emerged as a tool to address the problem of investment-disincentive effect of capital investment on smallholders. In Indian agriculture, which is dominated by smallholders, technological adoption becomes very essential. In this regard, along with the government, local level organizations also provide training and other support to adopt the new agricultural technique. The present study is an attempt to assess the counterfactual impact of this sort of initiative in the context of Bihar, a state in India.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses field survey data which are collected from the Gaya district of Bihar. Overall, 249 sample farmers are surveyed from 23 villages of four blocks of the Gaya district. There are two groups of selected farmers: treatment and control groups. Farmers who adopted the new technique belong to the treatment group, and otherwise, the control group. For analytical purpose, a propensity score matching method has been used to estimate the counterfactual impact of the adoption of the new technique of farming on farmers' agricultural income.
Findings
The study observes a significant improvement in the agricultural income of the farmers who adopted the new technique. New agricultural techniques, propagated through the local level organization, might be instrumental to enhance farmer's skill as well as income.
Research limitations/implications
This type of approach may be adopted, complementary to the government's extension initiative to enhance farmers' income through adoption of the advanced farming process, as well as to improve the human capital of agriculture production.
Originality/value
The study laid a framework of assessing the counterfactual impact of intervention of local level organization and adoption of new farming techniques in the context of Bihar, India.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2022-0606
Details
Keywords
Manuela Olagnero and Irene Ponzo
Based on a case study of conversion of real estate complexes built in Turin at the time of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games into public and subsidized housing, the chapter compares…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on a case study of conversion of real estate complexes built in Turin at the time of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games into public and subsidized housing, the chapter compares policy goals aimed at producing social mix through the mixing of housing tenure, with actual outcomes and thus identifies possible advantages, challenges, and pitfalls of this kind of intervention.
Methodology/approach
The analysis is based on a survey and semi-structured interviews with residents, in-depth interviews with key actors, and observation of daily interactions in public and shared places.
Findings
Regeneration policies and tenure mix seem to be most effective at preventing neighborhood stigmatization and attract private investments in facility development (area-based effects), but not to be “automatically” a source of mixed social relations and positive role models able to limit socially disapproved behaviors (people-based effects).
Social implications
The practical lesson which can be drawn from this chapter is that the achievement of people-based effects requires long-standing actions which go beyond the construction and allocation of new apartments.
Originality/value
The chapter engages critically with the idea that built environment has deterministic effects on social environment, and social mix resulted from regeneration and housing policies can work as a catch-all solution for activating and rehabilitating human and social resources in the target area. Specifically, we show how these processes require particular organizational and policy conditions that cannot be taken for granted.