Nicholas Jaques and Chris Morgan
The telecommunications industry is characterized by short product life cycles, driven by rapid market development and sometimes by new technologies emerging from internal and…
Abstract
The telecommunications industry is characterized by short product life cycles, driven by rapid market development and sometimes by new technologies emerging from internal and external research and design activities. These innovations cause product changes ranging from cosmetic, such as re‐packaging an existing product, to fundamental, such as introducing a completely new concept. The challenge for telecommunications manufacturers is to have the correct inventory in place for product launch and subsequent consumer demand. However, there are some categories of components that can cause serious inventory management problems and risk. We use the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in a specific telecommunications case study, and propose new strategies to manage high risk categories of stock. We identify ways of containing those risks through product design strategies, adapting MRP systems, better supplier control and a closer liaison between marketing and manufacturing activities to better anticipate change.
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“All things are in a constant state of change”, said Heraclitus of Ephesus. The waters if a river are for ever changing yet the river endures. Every particle of matter is in…
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“All things are in a constant state of change”, said Heraclitus of Ephesus. The waters if a river are for ever changing yet the river endures. Every particle of matter is in continual movement. All death is birth in a new form, all birth the death of the previous form. The seasons come and go. The myth of our own John Barleycorn, buried in the ground, yet resurrected in the Spring, has close parallels with the fertility rites of Greece and the Near East such as those of Hyacinthas, Hylas, Adonis and Dionysus, of Osiris the Egyptian deity, and Mondamin the Red Indian maize‐god. Indeed, the ritual and myth of Attis, born of a virgin, killed and resurrected on the third day, undoubtedly had a strong influence on Christianity.
Paul S. Adler and Charles Heckscher
“Shared purpose,” understood as a widely shared commitment to the organization’s fundamental raison d’être, can be a powerful driver of organizational performance by providing…
Abstract
“Shared purpose,” understood as a widely shared commitment to the organization’s fundamental raison d’être, can be a powerful driver of organizational performance by providing both motivation and direction for members’ joint problem-solving efforts. So far, however, we understand little about the organization design that can support shared purpose in the context of large, complex business enterprises. Building on the work of Selznick and Weber, we argue that such contexts require a new organizational form, one that we call collaborative. The collaborative organizational form is grounded in Weber’s value-rational type of social action, but overcomes the scale limitations of the collegial form of organization that is conventionally associated with value-rational action. We identify four organizational principles that characterize this collaborative form and a range of managerial policies that can implement those principles.
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Barrie O. Pettman and Richard Dobbins
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
Abstract
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
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Suggests that although social marketing has long been seen as the modern way of communicating social agendas, it may be displaced by a more polemical and manipulative paradigm…
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Suggests that although social marketing has long been seen as the modern way of communicating social agendas, it may be displaced by a more polemical and manipulative paradigm, social propaganda, and that this rivalry is intimately connected with the rise of single issue pressure groups and concomitant decline in conventional political participation. While this thesis is not proved in any rigorous sense, does attempt to achieve a secondary objective, that of sorting out a very real conceptual confusion between social marketing and social propaganda, establishing their boundaries and nuancing the subtleties of each by comparison with a conceptually distinct other.
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The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the…
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The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.
Reports on a lecture tour in India, featuring the main themes of change, culture, conflicts and creativity, and examines current Western organizational trends, such as: “decent”…
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Reports on a lecture tour in India, featuring the main themes of change, culture, conflicts and creativity, and examines current Western organizational trends, such as: “decent” behaviour; “cashing out”; the notion of “gold‐collar workers”; and the increasing visibility of women entrepreneurs. Draws an analogy between an organization and a ship in order to demonstrate how to create a culture which can cope effectively with a rapid rate of change.
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.Counter Competition. SUPERMARKETS and private shopkeepers battle for business in every High Street. In all shopping centres the private trader competes for the customer's cash…
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.Counter Competition. SUPERMARKETS and private shopkeepers battle for business in every High Street. In all shopping centres the private trader competes for the customer's cash with chain and departmental stores. He finds life increasingly difficult in face of rising overheads and shrinking profit margins.