Christian Schuh, Wolfgang Schnellbächer, Alenka Triplat and Daniel Weise
Pierre Eric Christian Johansson, Lennart Malmsköld, Åsa Fast-Berglund and Lena Moestam
The purpose of this paper is to describe challenges the manufacturing industry is currently facing when developing future assembly information systems. More specific, this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe challenges the manufacturing industry is currently facing when developing future assembly information systems. More specific, this paper focuses on the handling of assembly information from manufacturing engineering to the shop floor operators.
Design/methodology/approach
Multiple case studies have been conducted within one case company between 2014 and 2017. To broaden the perspective, interviews with additionally 17 large and global manufacturing companies and 3 industry experts have been held. Semi-structured interviews have been the main data collection method alongside observations and web questionnaires.
Findings
Six focus areas have been defined which address important challenges in the manufacturing industry. For manual assembly intense manufacturing company, challenges such as IT challenges, process challenges, assembly process disturbances, information availability, technology and process control, and assembly work instructions have been identified and hinder implementation of Industry 4.0 (I4.0).
Originality/value
This longitudinal study provides a current state analysis of the challenges the manufacturing industry is facing when handling assembly information. Despite the vast amount of initiatives within I4.0 and digitalization, this paper argues that the manufacturing industry needs to address the six defined focus areas to become more flexible and prepared for the transition toward a digitalized manufacturing industry.
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Farhad Nabhani, Christian Josef Uhl, Florian Kauf and Alireza Shokri
The purpose of this paper is to present a new optimisation approach for product variance from the purchasing perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a new optimisation approach for product variance from the purchasing perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on a case study of a collaboration with a global acting automotive Tier 1 supplier, who produces steering systems for cars and commercial vehicles. A total of 116 different variants of three components of a car automotive steering system were analysed and evaluated. The data were gathered from 13 sub-suppliers for three different types of a steering system.
Findings
Unnecessary time, money, quality and technology can be saved through a greater understanding of such product variances. The results of the case study lead to a general method to optimise existing product variance and present cost improvements and a new key performance indicator to manage product variance out of the purchasing department.
Research limitations/implications
The research is based on a purchasing case study at a Tier 1 supplier of the automotive branch. The approach can be used for other company departments, e.g. logistics and for different industries than automotive.
Practical implications
A company can be successful and competitive when it meets the customer needs with a maximum on satisfaction without generating of waste. Unnecessary existing product variance is a kind of waste. The insights of this paper support the operative user and the strategic company management to reduce and improve unnecessary variance in different sections.
Originality/value
The structured analysis of product variance from the purchasing perspective and the key performance indicator “variance share” are new to company management. The research focuses on the management of existing variance out of the purchasing department which is a segment that has received limited academic attention in research to date.
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Olof Brunninge, Markus Plate and Marcela Ramirez-Pasillas
Purpose – This chapter explores the m+eaning and significance of family business social responsibilities (FBSRs) using a metasystem approach, placing emphasis on the role of the…
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter explores the m+eaning and significance of family business social responsibilities (FBSRs) using a metasystem approach, placing emphasis on the role of the family.
Design/Methodology/Approach – We employ a revelatory case study to investigate the complexity of family business (corporate) social responsibility. The main case, a German shoe retailer, is supplemented by other case illustrations that provide additional insights into FBSR.
Findings – To fully understand social responsibility in a family firm context, we need to include social initiatives that go beyond the actual family business as a unit. This FBSR connects family members outside and inside the business and across generations. As FBSR is formed through individual and family-level values, its character is idiosyncratic and contrasts the often standardized approaches in widely held firms.
Practical Implication – Family businesses need to go beyond the business as such when considering their engagement in social responsibility. Family ownership implies that all social initiatives conducted by family members, regardless if they are involved in the firm or not, are connected. This includes a shared responsibility for what family members do at present and have done in the past.
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Every employee embodies manifestations of every demographic that attach to him or her different minority and majority statuses at the same time. As these statuses are often…
Abstract
Every employee embodies manifestations of every demographic that attach to him or her different minority and majority statuses at the same time. As these statuses are often related to organizational hierarchies, employees frequently hold positions of dominance and subordination at the same time. Thus, a given individual’s coping strategies (or coping behavior) in terms of minority stress due to organizational processes of hierarchization, marginalization, and discrimination, are very often a simultaneous coping in terms of more than one demographic. Research on minority stress mostly focuses on single demographics representing only single facets of workforce diversity. By integrating the demographics of age, disability status, nationality, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, and religion into one framework, the intersectional model proposed in this chapter broadens the perspective on minorities and related minority stress in the workplace. It is shown that coping with minority stress because of one demographic must always be interpreted in relation to the other demographics. The manifestation of one demographic can limit or broaden one’s coping resources for coping with minority stress because of another dimension. Thus, the manifestation of one demographic can determine the coping opportunities and coping behavior one applies to situations because of the minority status of another demographic. This coping behavior can include disclosure decisions about invisible demographics. Therefore, organizational interventions aiming to create a supportive workplace environment and equal opportunities for every employee (e.g., diversity management approaches) should include more demographics instead of focusing only on few.
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Sharmila Jayasingam, Safiah Omar, Norizah Mohd Mustamil, Rosmawani Che Hashim and Raida Abu Bakar
Lori G. Beaman and Cory Steele
The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the ways in which the Supreme Court of Canada has shifted away from transcendent/religious to nonreligious conceptualizations of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the ways in which the Supreme Court of Canada has shifted away from transcendent/religious to nonreligious conceptualizations of assisted dying.
Design/methodology/approach
A discourse analysis of a Supreme Court of Canada case on assisted dying and the facta of the 26 associated interveners.
Findings
The research points to a shift away from religious to nonreligious understandings in the way the Court conceptualizes suffering, pain, illness and assisted dying.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the understanding of nonreligion as a social phenomenon.