Rosangela Maria Vanalle and Leandro Blanco Santos
The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse the most valued practices of sustainability, as well as factors related to environmental, financial, and operational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse the most valued practices of sustainability, as well as factors related to environmental, financial, and operational performance considered in the process of selecting and developing suppliers to members of supply chains in the Brazilian automotive sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The method used was a literature review examining the subject and exploratory-descriptive field research. The data collection instrument was a survey of companies using a five-point Likert scale. The data were treated by descriptive statistics.
Findings
The practices most valued by companies involve eliminating or reducing the use of hazardous substances. These practices are evaluated in the selection, development, and environmental performance assessment of suppliers. Operational performance was most valued by companies, with highlighted practices including the amount of products delivered on time, commitment to quality management, delivery time, and order compliance rate.
Research limitations/implications
The investigation and its findings are still relatively exploratory. Future research can investigate automakers’ requirements of suppliers in its supply chain in terms of sustainability and the actions of suppliers to meet these requirements.
Originality/value
There are few sustainable practices that are valued by companies within the supply chain of the automotive sector. Major changes are needed because companies must respond to increasing demands by government regulations, whose goal is sustainability. Such pressures are of little importance to the companies in the automotive supply chain located in Brazil.
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Milton Vieira Junior, Wagner Cezar Lucato, Rosangela Maria Vanalle and Kalinga Jagoda
The Brazilian textile industry has been facing fierce competition from low-cost imports from China and other Far East countries. To maintain their competitiveness in the local…
Abstract
Purpose
The Brazilian textile industry has been facing fierce competition from low-cost imports from China and other Far East countries. To maintain their competitiveness in the local market, Brazilian companies have been adopting the product differentiation strategy. By using new technologies, they are able to develop new products with better quality at lower costs. With regard to new technologies, companies in the Brazilian textile industry have been using get-some and buy-some strategy, and international technology transfer (TT) has become an important part of their business strategies. However, due to lack of planning, many projects failed to achieve the desired results. This paper aims to provide theoretical insights and practical guidance on how textile firms could use a stage-gate model to enhance the effectiveness of their TT projects.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to investigate the TT practices in the Brazilian context, three issues are assessed. First, the paper evaluates the possibility of deploying TT practices used by firms in similar industries, to enhance the effectiveness of TT process. Second, it verifies whether it is possible for the textile firms to use a stage-gate model to manage their TT processes, using as a normative framework the stage-gate model proposed by Jagoda and Ramanathan and Jagoda et al. Finally, possible changes to the stage-gate model are evaluated to specifically fit the Brazilian textile sector. This step is accomplished through four case studies from the Brazilian textile industry.
Findings
The analyses of TT projects carried out by four companies show that there are many similarities and differences among the TT practices that are employed by the four companies that were investigated. The evaluation of the TT practices of the Brazilian textile companies against the stage-gate framework allowed authors to identify the gaps between the model and the TT practices of the companies investigated. Broader guidelines in adapting the stage-gate model to improve the TT process in the textile industry are discussed in the final part of this study.
Originality/value
The TT process in the Brazilian textile industry is not a widely investigated phenomenon; however, this process has been critical to enhancing Brazil's competitiveness. Thus, providing a better framework to support the TT process in the local textile sector could be relevant information for improving management action in the area.
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Rosângela Maria Vanalle, Wagner Cezar Lucato and Roberto Torres Rodrigues
The continuous improvement in the performance and satisfaction of all stakeholders is a permanent management objective and part of an organisation’s strategy. To achieve this…
Abstract
Purpose
The continuous improvement in the performance and satisfaction of all stakeholders is a permanent management objective and part of an organisation’s strategy. To achieve this goal, organisations invest in technological upgrades, process improvements and management models that assure efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to verify the possibility of measuring the management maturity level of an organisation that is dedicated to passenger public transportation; this organisation is used as a reference framework for the self-evaluation maturity-level measurement tool provided by the ISO 9004:2009 standard.
Design/methodology/approach
The objective of this paper was accomplished through a case study in which the selected measurement instrument was applied to the management system of the maintenance area of one of the largest subway companies in Brazil.
Findings
The results of the study showed that the referential method was capable of precisely and adequately measuring the maturity level of the appraised management system. The method also enabled the researchers to identify best practices for the study organisation, which can be employed by the administration to develop action plans to improve their management system.
Research limitations/implications
As a limitation, the results obtained by this paper cannot be generalised, because they were based on only one company. As a result, the conclusions established cannot be extended to other types of companies since their competitive priorities and management practices may be different and generate characteristics of maturity that were not considered in this work. However, these limitations can be minimised if additional researches ponder other types of organisations.
Practical implications
On the practical side, this paper motivates companies to improve their operations management by using the self-evaluation tool to identify gaps in their management systems and consequently plan actions to achieve the related improvements.
Originality/value
The ISO 9004:2009 standard provides a self-evaluation instrument that can support companies on measuring their respective management system maturity level. However, this paper was able to demonstrate that the aforesaid tool can be used in a broader way as it allows management to define action plans to boost their management systems towards a full utilisation of best management practices.