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The purpose of this paper is to examine the consistency of benchmarking performance measures and to investigate the impact of organizational size and managerial positions on the deployment of strategic and tactical benchmarking performance measures.

A set of eight hypotheses was used to examine the consistency of the benchmarking performance measures and the impact of organizational size and managerial positions on selection of strategic and tactical benchmarking performance measures. A questionnaire-based survey data were used to test the hypotheses. The target population was manufacturing firms in Midwestern USA; the sample covers organizations in a variety of industries. Out of 91 completed surveys received, 84 surveys were usable resulting in a response rate of 17 percent.

The paper found evidence of misalignment between organizational goals and objectives and proactive development of organizational core capabilities. The result also indicates that managers with high-level positions as well as managers from large organizations placed higher emphasis on strategic benchmarking performance measures.

Research is general and not industry specific.

Effective performance measurement is a critical element of organizational success. It requires a thorough understanding of organizational strategy and deployment of the strategy into consistent sub-strategies.

For effective benchmarking, managers must develop a complete understanding of their own business strategy and choose long-term and short-term benchmarking performance measures that are consistent with organizational strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to examine if there are links between just-in-time (JIT) practices and consistency of benchmarking performance measures at various levels of organization.

A set of ten hypotheses were used to examine the differences between traditional and JIT organizations in the effectiveness of benchmarking performance measures. A questionnaire-based survey data were used to test the hypotheses. The target population was manufacturing firms in Midwestern US; the sample covers organizations in a variety of industries. Out of 91 completed surveys received, 84 surveys were usable resulting in a response rate of 17 per cent. Out of 84 usable surveys, 33 organizations were grouped as JIT and 51 as traditional organizations.

JIT organizations are better in recognizing external environmental factors, developing organizational core competencies, building learning organization through knowledge workforce, and using a broad and balanced mix of performance measures that are consistent with organizational strategy.

Research is general and not industry specific.

Effective performance measurement is a critical element of organizational success. It requires a thorough understanding of organizational strategy and deployment of the strategy into consistent sub-strategies and action plans.

The benefits of JIT principles go beyond inventory management. These principles can be applied to other areas such as effective performance measurement.

The purpose of this paper is to show if there are differences between traditional and just‐in‐time ( JIT) companies in choosing benchmarking performance measures at various levels of organization.

A questionnaire‐based mailed survey was used to examine five questions on the differences between traditional and JIT companies. The target population for the study was manufacturing firms in midwestern USA. The sample covers organizations in a variety of industries ranging from fabricated metal, communication, electronics, automotive, toots, chemicals, rubber, and paper products. In addition to general organization and managerial profile items, the survey contained series of questions regarding organizational goals and objectives, competitive priorities, manufacturing performance objectives, and manufacturing action plans. Out of 91 completed surveys received, 84 surveys were usable resulting in a response rate of 17 percent. Out of 84 usable surveys, 33 respondents declared their organizations to be JIT organizations.

The paper finds that JIT companies are more consistent in choosing benchmarking performance measures that are aligned with organizational strategy.

This research is general and not industry specific. Future research needs to focus on specific industries.

Successful implementation of JIT principles requires a thorough understanding of organizational strategy and deployment of the strategy into consistent sub strategies and action plans.

The paper shows that the benefits of JIT principles go much beyond inventory reduction and frequent deliveries. These principles could be applied to other areas of business.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the relationships between lean manufacturing (LM) principles and concurrent engineering approach to new product development (CENPD).

A survey instrument based on a number of critical factors was used to examine if there are relationships between LM and CENPD. In addition to general organization and managerial profile items, the survey contained 44 items (22 paired) regarding similarities between LM and CENPD factors. Also, the survey instrument contained a number of questionnaire items on NPD performances for LM companies using CENPD and conventional companies.

Statistical results show high degree of similarities between LM and CENPD factors. The results also indicate that LM organizations are able to develop new products with 63 per cent better quality, 52 per cent less development time, 45 per cent less development cost, and 36 per cent less manufacturing cost than conventional companies.

Research is not industry specific. Future research needs to focus on specific industries.

LM companies are able to develop new products better, faster, more often, with less development cost, and less manufacturing cost than conventional companies.

The benefits of LM principles go much beyond inventory reduction and frequent deliveries. These principles are also applicable to other areas such as NPD.

Presents a hierarchical production planning (HPP) model that integrates aggregate‐type planning, family disaggregate planning, lot‐sizing, job scheduling and evaluation of the final production plans into a complete planning and scheduling system. In‐corporation of a simple heuristic scheduling algorithm into the HPP model is the primary contribution. The scheduling routine schedules the jobs based on just‐in‐time (JIT) concept and provides detailed shopfloor information such as job tardiness, bottleneck work centres, capacity level, inventory or shortage level and number of set‐ups. This information is critical for effective shopfloor management. Experimental results indicate that the performance of the present model is better than the existing models in general. However, the model is truly superior under tight capacity conditions.

The purpose of the article is to improve the effectiveness of benchmarking by detecting and reconciling possible inconsistencies in manufacturing strategy process and identifying benchmarking areas that are critical to organizational success.

The paper develops the following five propositions and uses survey data to test the propositions: P1, organizational goals and objectives are consistent with core competencies; P2, organizational goals and objectives are consistent with competitive priorities; P3, organizational competitive priorities are consistent with core competencies; P4, manufacturing performance objectives are consistent with organizational competitive priorities; P5, manufacturing action plans are consistent with manufacturing performance objectives.

The article shows evidence of misalignments, inconsistencies and lack of consensus at the organizational level, as well as within the specific manufacturing area.

Lack of proactive strategy to develop organizational core competencies, over‐emphasis on cost reduction objectives, and under‐emphasis on critical objectives such as changing manufacturing organization culture, improving inter‐functional communication, improving employee morale, and improving supplier relationship are the primary areas of misalignment. Successful resolution of these inconsistencies is essential before committing resources to external benchmarking.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the perceived level of Jordanian nurses’ competencies in offering care to the community during a disaster.

A correlational descriptive design was used to assess nurses’ competencies in offering care for the community during a disaster.

A total of 370 nurses (55 % males) aged 25−55 agreed to participate. The mean score of competencies of nurses who offer care to the community during the disaster was 2.11 (SD = 0.59) points. The results of correlation coefficient tests revealed a significant positive correlation between stated competencies level and nurses’ sex, receiving disaster education and training with rpb (371) = 0.13, p < 0.01; rpb (598) = 0.15, p = 0.004; rpb (598) = 0.21, p < 0.001, respectively. Furthermore, the “care of communities” subscale had a weak positive correlation with the.

Nurses play a critical role in disaster response. However, there was a gap in nurses’ competencies for disaster, which shows there is a crucial need to include disaster management courses in the nursing curriculum and update disaster management courses in hospitals based on nurses’ needs to improve their competencies during disasters.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a benchmarking project carried out by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) as part of a structured benchmarking initiative. The project was based on the TRADE benchmarking methodology and this paper examines the tools, activities and outcomes that relate to each stage of the adopted methodology.

This study is based on case study methodology. Data were collected from various sources including analysis of project reports written by DEWA’s benchmarking team reporting on their activities during the project. Data were also collected from four project presentations given at different stages of the project. In addition, the research team held three meetings with the DEWA benchmarking team at different stages of the benchmarking project.

The results show the key challenges and successes faced during each stage of the benchmarking project. It indicates the actions taken to overcome the challenges and the role played by internal and external stakeholders in facilitating the success of the benchmarking project.

The study presents information that would guide organisations that wish to carry out a benchmarking project – and particularly those implementing benchmarking for the first time. The study provides a summary of the key lessons learnt by DEWA’s benchmarking team as a guide for other organisations.

Academic research has not adequately examined and analysed the stage-by-stage elements of a benchmarking project from the perspective of the implementing organisation. This study addresses this gap by detailing and analysing the experiences of a benchmarking project by tracking the stage-by-stage activities of the benchmarking team.

The purposes of the present study are to ensure higher sustainability of journal bearings under different applied loads and to observe bearing performances such as elastic strain, total deformation and stress formation.

A journal bearing test rig was used to determine the effect of the applied load on the bearing friction, film thickness, lubricant film pressure, etc. A steady-state analysis was performed to obtain the bearing performance.

An efficient aspect ratio (L/D) range was obtained to increase the durability or the stability of the bearing while the bearing is in the working condition by using SAE 5W-30 oil. The results from the study were compared with previous studies in which different types of oil and water, such as Newtonian fluid (NF), magnetorheological fluid (MRF) and nonmagnetorheological fluid (NMRF), were used as the lubricant. To ensure a preferable aspect ratio range (0.25-0.50), a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was conducted by ANSYS; the results show a lower elastic strain and deformation within the preferable aspect ratio (0.25-0.50) rather than a higher aspect ratio using the SAE 5W-30 oil.

It is expected that the findings of this study will contribute to the improvement of the bearing design and the bearing lubricating system.