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Article
Publication date: 15 August 2008

Andrew Thomas, Richard Barton and Paul Byard

Both total productive maintenance (TPM) and Six Sigma are key business process strategies, which are employed by companies to enhance their manufacturing performance. The purpose…

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Abstract

Purpose

Both total productive maintenance (TPM) and Six Sigma are key business process strategies, which are employed by companies to enhance their manufacturing performance. The purpose of this paper, therefore, will be to develop and implement an integrated Six Sigma maintenance (SSM) model for manufacturing industry

Design/methodology/approach

Through the development of a case study approach, the paper chronicles the design, development and implementation of an integrated Six Sigma maintenance (SSM) model. The model is subsequently evaluated for its effectiveness in the subject company.

Findings

A model is proposed and the effectiveness of the approach is subsequently evaluated highlighting the benefits the host organization received through this new approach by measuring the effects of implementation against the seven quality, cost and delivery (QCD) measures.

Practical implications

The design, development and implementation of a Six Sigma maintenance model shown in this paper provides a simple yet highly effective approach to achieving significant improvements in a company's product quality cost and delivery measures. The model combines contemporary business management techniques with total productive maintenance strategies and offers practicing maintenance managers and engineers a strategic framework for increasing productive efficiency and output.

Originality/value

The proposed SSM model contributes to the existing knowledge base on maintenance systems and subsequently disseminates this information in order to provide impetus, guidance and support towards increasing the development companies in an attempt to move the UK manufacturing sector towards world class manufacturing performance.

Details

Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2511

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Article
Publication date: 3 February 2012

Andrew J. Thomas, Paul Byard and Roger Evans

The purpose of this paper is to recognise the key manufacturing challenges currently facing UK manufacturing industry and to further identify the Key Developmental Areas (KDAs…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to recognise the key manufacturing challenges currently facing UK manufacturing industry and to further identify the Key Developmental Areas (KDAs) (which includes technologies, systems and paradigms) which need to be developed and employed in order to ensure manufacturing firms in the UK become economically sustainable and are able to operate effectively in a global competitive market. The aim of the paper is to provide a benchmark for UK manufacturing industry to work from, after which future measuring instruments could be employed to track whether companies are meeting these challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey into 100 UK manufacturing companies provides the basis for the identification of the challenges and KDAs. The findings from the survey are analysed against information obtained from existing strategy reports and foresight papers/studies to reach a point where the authors identify a balanced set of challenges and developmental areas obtained from this mixed research approach.

Findings

Through a comprehensive academic and industrial study, the authors identify and propose nine key manufacturing challenges for UK manufacturing industry to consider. Furthermore, the authors also identify a number of the KDAs which could be used to assist companies in meeting these challenges. The KDAs are not meant to be exhaustive but aimed to provide the underpinning support to the challenges proposed.

Research limitations/implications

The paper proposes a set of key manufacturing challenges for UK manufacturing businesses to consider and apply appropriate technologies and systems to achieve business resilience. This paper will therefore be of benefit to the academic community in that it distils a wide range of academic theory and industrial practice in order to create a coherent body of knowledge. As with any survey work, the accuracy of information depends largely on the size of the survey. Whilst 100 companies were surveyed, a further extension to this number would always help to strengthen future research.

Originality/value

The identification of these key manufacturing challenges and their corresponding technologies, systems and paradigms is aimed at providing a new manufacturing perspective to both academics and industrialists. The challenges and developmental areas proposed provide the basis for a new and advanced manufacturing strategy to be developed for UK companies which aims to create economically sustainable manufacturing organisations.

Details

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, vol. 23 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-038X

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 2016

Andrew Thomas, Paul Byard, Mark Francis, Ron Fisher and Gareth R.T. White

The purpose of this paper is to identify the tools, methods and models that UK manufacturing companies adopt and apply in order to achieve resiliency and economic sustainability…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the tools, methods and models that UK manufacturing companies adopt and apply in order to achieve resiliency and economic sustainability. The results of this work can assist in developing the foundations for defining a new joint resiliency/sustainability paradigm to assist industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a detailed, triangulated secondary data analysis and industry survey, the authors initially identify and then analyse the key resiliency and sustainability characteristics surrounding manufacturing operations. This paper initially reviews key literatures around resiliency and sustainability models and frameworks and subsequently draws out their key features and weaknesses. The work then details the research survey undertaken in to manufacturing companies aimed at identifying the resiliency/sustainability approaches that are adopted in companies. A sample of 72 manufacturing companies are used in the survey and from which the results are based.

Findings

Through analysing the fundamental business data of sales and manufacturing costs for 72 manufacturing companies, the authors cluster the companies in to four key manufacturing profiles. The work then shows through a more detailed analysis of the profiles that companies which are sustainable and more resilient in nature are, better engaged and connected to the development and application of resiliency and sustainability models. It was found that companies who seem to struggle in achieving economic sustainability or lack the ability to bounce back from various set-backs either do not employ such models or at best apply tools and techniques in an ad hoc manner.

Research limitations/implications

The paper provides key insights in to the adoption of tools, techniques and models surrounding the achievement of resiliency and sustainability in manufacturing companies. In so doing, the paper offers a new view on these issues and with the profiling exercise undertaken, companies will be able to identify their position in relation to the survey companies. This can be of benefit to the wider industrial and academic community. The development of a qualitative assessment around a relatively small sample size has its obvious limitations and it is crucial that further work with a range of companies in the area of manufacturing sustainability is key to developing (and also validating) a comprehensive set of resiliency and sustainability characteristics.

Practical implications

The paper highlights the issues surrounding existing academic resiliency/sustainability models and through the industry survey, it provides further information on where UK manufacturing companies are on adopting specific resiliency/sustainability models. The work suggests that the resiliency/sustainability landscape of UK manufacturing companies is much more complex and that a single strategic approach towards achieving improved manufacturing performance is somewhat dated and ineffective.

Originality/value

The development of a set of resiliency/sustainability profiles including the identification of the specific tools and techniques adopted by industry is aimed at tackling directly the issues of improving company performance and is considered by the authors as one of a kind. The results of the survey provide essential information on the resiliency/sustainability landscape of UK manufacturing companies.

Details

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-038X

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Publication date: 1 March 2012

Eva Heidhues and Chris Patel

Over the last decade, the accounting convergence process with the development and adoption of IFRS as national standards has become the focus of governments, professionals, and…

Abstract

Over the last decade, the accounting convergence process with the development and adoption of IFRS as national standards has become the focus of governments, professionals, and researchers. In 2005, the EU (including Germany) and Australia adopted IFRS. A survey by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (2010) reported that 89 countries have adopted or intend to adopt IFRS for all their domestic listed companies. Currently, more than 100 jurisdictions require or permit the use of IFRS, with countries such as Canada, Brazil, and Argentina being the most recent adopters (IFRS Foundation, 2011b). This growing number of countries implementing IFRS and their experiences and emerging challenges have further raised researchers' interest in this controversial topic (Ashbaugh & Pincus, 2001; Atwood et al., 2011; Byard et al., 2011; Christensen et al., 2007; Daske et al., 2008; Ding et al., 2007; Hail et al., 2010a, 2010b; Kvaal & Nobes, 2010; McAnally et al., 2010; Mechelli, 2009; Niskanen, Kinnunen, & Kasanen, 2000; Stolowy, Haller, & Klockhaus, 2001; Tyrrall et al., 2007). However, these studies have concentrated on the development and application of specific accounting standards and practices and/or cross-national and cross-cultural issues concerning adaptation, implementation, and evaluation of IFRS. Moreover, an increasing number of studies have been devoted to classifications of accounting models and categorization of accounting standards, principles, and values (Chanchani & Willett, 2004; D'Arcy, 2000, 2001; Doupnik & Richter, 2004; Doupnik & Salter, 1993; Gray, 1988; Kamla, Gallhofer, & Haslam, 2006; Nair & Frank, 1980; Patel, 2003, 2007; Perera & Mathews, 1990; Salter & Doupnik, 1992). However, very few studies have critically examined the historical development of accounting practices and issues related to convergence in its socioeconomic context and, importantly, we are not aware of any study that has rigorously examined the institutionalization of Anglo-American accounting practices as international practice with an emphasis on power and legitimacy in the move toward convergence of accounting standards.

Details

Globalization and Contextual Factors in Accounting: The Case of Germany
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-245-6

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Book part
Publication date: 16 October 2014

Martin Stuebs and Li Sun

This chapter examines the association between corporate governance and environmental performance. The purpose of governance mechanisms is to build trust by ensuring that corporate…

Abstract

This chapter examines the association between corporate governance and environmental performance. The purpose of governance mechanisms is to build trust by ensuring that corporate responsibilities, including environmental responsibilities, are met. We obtain corporate governance data from the Investor Responsibility Research Center, Inc’s (IRRC’s) governance and director database and additional corporate governance and environmental performance data from Kinder, Lydenberg, and Domini’s (KLD’s) database. Our analyses document a significant positive association between corporate governance and environmental performance. Moreover, we find that corporate governance is positively related to environmental strengths, and negatively related to environmental concerns. Our findings contribute to and extend our understanding of the relationship between governance and performance and have important implications for policy makers, managers, investors, and others.

Details

Accounting for the Environment: More Talk and Little Progress
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-303-2

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Article
Publication date: 14 August 2017

Erick Rading Outa, Peterson Ozili and Paul Eisenberg

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative value relevance of accounting information arising from the adoption of converged and revised International Accounting…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative value relevance of accounting information arising from the adoption of converged and revised International Accounting Standards (IAS)/International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in East Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

The research applies “same firm year” design for identification of the effects of changes in accounting standards. A model similar to Ohlson’s price model and random-effects GLS are used to estimate R2 of the regressions of share prices on book values and earnings.

Findings

The results show that accounting information prepared from revised and converged IAS/IFRS display higher value relevance and also increased following the revision and convergence of IAS/IFRS. The cross-product term is more significant in the post-revision/convergence period thus providing further evidence for increased value relevance after the revision of IAS/IFRS. The results are robust to various models and show that value relevance in East Africa is relatively lower than that of the developed markets.

Originality/value

The current study provides empirical evidence that value relevance increases with converged/revised IAS/IFRS based on quasi natural experimental setting in East Africa. The authors also extend the debate on whether value relevance is relevant in emerging markets, which are regarded as imperfect markets with few regulations, weak enforcement and limited sources of information. The results may be useful to accounting preparers, regulators, investors, standard setters and countries seeking to adopt IAS/IFRS in developing countries.

Details

Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-1168

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Article
Publication date: 11 August 2021

Osama Fayez Atayah, Mohamed Mahjoub Dhiaf, Khakan Najaf and Guilherme Francisco Frederico

This study aims to contribute to the extant literature on logistics by investigating the interrelationship between the financial performance of listed logistics firms and the…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to contribute to the extant literature on logistics by investigating the interrelationship between the financial performance of listed logistics firms and the COVID-19 and compare the logistics firms’ financial performance of G-20 countries during the pandemic period.

Design/methodology/approach

To conduct the confirmatory analysis by testing the hypotheses formulated for this study, data have been collected from Bloomberg of all logistics firms from G-20 countries. This paper gathered the first quarter from 2010 until the last quarter of 2020 as the research sample to examine the pandemic impact on financial performance.

Findings

The results show that the financial performance of logistic firms was significantly higher during 2020. Overall, the country-wise findings corroborated with the main results and the financial performance of 14 countries’ logistic firms out of 20 ones analysed has been significantly elevated, during the pandemic period. However, this paper has found out a negative financial performance of the logistics firms during the COVID-19 period in six countries (Germany, Korea, Russia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and the UK), which support the second proposition.

Research limitations/implications

The study’s results were important as they highlighted the role of logistics firms in offering insights to academics, practitioners, policymakers and logistic firms’ stakeholders. For future research, this paper suggests including some other variables that might influence firm performance and that have not been considered in this study, which is a limitation, and going more deeply into the logistics sector by comparing the financial performance of the sub-sectors.

Practical implications

As the importance of logistics services during the pandemic period is relevant, this study may provide significant insights because the logistics firms play a crucial role by anticipating to ensure the supply of essential items such as food, medicine, then supporting for the continuity of supply chains. The view of finance impacts during the pandemic may provide insightful perspectives for logistics companies, allowing them to understand those impacts and better prepare for likely disruption events such COVID-19 pandemic.

Originality/value

This paper is novel considering that it is unique in evaluating logistics firms’ financial performance from a global perspective, considering the context of this historical pandemic.

Details

Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5364

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1934

OUR pages continue the discussion on book‐display, about which all has not been said by any means. The ingenious librarian will always sharpen his wits upon the attracting of…

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Abstract

OUR pages continue the discussion on book‐display, about which all has not been said by any means. The ingenious librarian will always sharpen his wits upon the attracting of readers, and the main problem in the matter is merely: what sort of reader is it most desirable to attract? We do not apologise for this reiteration, because it is the fundamental subject now facing librarians. We are not in the least moved by a comment in a contemporary that we are decrying libraries when we assert, and in spite of him we do assert, that fiction issues nearly all over London show a decline. That decline, we repeat, is due to the slight increase in the employment of readers, and to cheap fiction libraries. What the public librarian has to decide is if he shall compete with such libraries or more definitely diverge from them. If a middle course is preferred—as it usually is by Britons—what is that course? Ultimately, is the educated reader to be the standard for whom the library works, or the uneducated? Or, to put it another way, is the librarian in any way responsible for the quality of the books his community reads? Our readers, young and not so young, are invited to help us to answers to these live questions.

Details

New Library World, vol. 36 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

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Book part
Publication date: 1 March 2012

Abstract

Details

Globalization and Contextual Factors in Accounting: The Case of Germany
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-245-6

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Article
Publication date: 9 February 2015

Marty Stuebs and Li Sun

– This paper aims to draw on the stakeholder theory to examine the association between corporate governance and social responsibility.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to draw on the stakeholder theory to examine the association between corporate governance and social responsibility.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper hypothesized that corporate governance is positively associated with corporate social responsibility (CSR), and good corporate governance also leads to good social responsibility in the following year. Corporate governance was measured by using the corporate governance index provided by Brown and Caylor (2006, 2009). CSR data come from Kinder, Lydenberg and Domini (KLD), Inc.

Findings

Regression analysis documents significant evidence to support a positive association between corporate governance and social responsibility. Evidence suggests that good governance leads to good CSR performance.

Originality/value

The results should interest managers who engage in behavior leading to or maintaining strong corporate governance mechanisms, financial analysts who conduct research on corporate governance and firm performance and policymakers who design and implement guidelines on corporate governance mechanisms. Moreover, results of this study can increase individual investors’ confidence in investing in companies with stronger corporate governance.

Details

International Journal of Law and Management, vol. 57 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-243X

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