Mahmoud Moradi, Nima Esfandiari and Majid Keshavarz Moghaddam
This paper aims to propose a model to assess leagile strategy effectively as one of the most discussed production and supply chain strategies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a model to assess leagile strategy effectively as one of the most discussed production and supply chain strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is based on an integrated FLinPreRa-FQFD approach, which ranks and determines the importance of criteria and indices of the proposed model in an effective way.
Findings
“Cost” has been taken as the most important competitive advantage in the four selected industries. “Customer and market sensitiveness” has been considered as the most important enabler in three industries (“machinery and equipment,” “textile” and “food and beverage”). “Collaborative relationship” has been also considered as the most important enabler in the “material and chemical products” industry to gain leagility.
Practical implication
On the one hand, the proposed research model can be used as a reference guide for firms to reach leagility. This model presents indices of leagility at different levels. On the other hand, with respect to the main activities of the Iran Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, including Qazvin’s, committed to provide requirements for economic development, this work provides an opportunity for the implementation of leagility model in 151 active companies. It also gives new insights into the leagility application in the four industries and Qazvin’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.
Originality/value
This research has two main contributions. First, it presents a model of enablers and attributes of leagility, combined with four competitive advantages. Second, the research study is equipped with an integrated and consistent methodology that, first, helps decision makers prioritize their goals and agenda by means of fewer paired comparisons without the need of consistency rate and, second, allows for direct evaluation of impact of enablers on attributes of leagility.
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Keywords
– The purpose of this paper is to benchmark the assessment approaches of agility in a manufacturing organization.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to benchmark the assessment approaches of agility in a manufacturing organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The criteria for agility assessment were identified comprehensively based on literature review. The agility assessment was done using Multi Grade Fuzzy and Fuzzy logic approaches, and the results were benchmarked.
Findings
Based on Multi Grade Fuzzy approach, the agility index was found to be 6.6; Fuzzy logic approach reveals the agility index as (5.37, 6.91, 8.45) which indicated the case organization is agile. The gaps were identified from both the approaches and the results were corroborated.
Research limitations/implications
In the present study, Multi Grade Fuzzy and Fuzzy logic approaches were only benchmarked. Also, the benchmarking exercise was done only in one manufacturing organization.
Practical implications
The benchmarking study was conducted in a manufacturing organization. The practitioners’ views were gathered and they were involved in the study to substantiate the practical validity.
Originality/value
The benchmarking study between two approaches for agility assessment was found to be original and adds value to the agility assessment field.
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Anil Kumar K.R. and J. Edwin Raja Dhas
The purpose of this study is to improve supplier performance and strategic sourcing decisions by integrating jobshop scheduling, inventory management and agile new product…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to improve supplier performance and strategic sourcing decisions by integrating jobshop scheduling, inventory management and agile new product development. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizations have struggled a lot to maintain the supplier performance and strategic sourcing decisions in the organizational benefit. However, in this context, the organization’s agile new product development (ANPD) process must be aligned with this requirement by maintaining the inventory and jobshop scheduling. As a result, identifying ANPD indicators, performance metrics and developing a structural framework to guide practitioners at various stages for smooth adoption is essential to improve the overall performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive literature review is conducted to identify jobshop scheduling, inventory management and ANPD indicators along with the performance metrics, and the hierarchical structure is developed with the help of expert opinion. The modified stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) and weighted aggregated sum product assurance (WASPAS) techniques, along with expert judgement, are used in this study to calculate the weights of the indicators and the ranking of the performance metrics.
Findings
As per the weight computation by SWARA method, the strategy indicators have the highest relative weight, followed by the product design indicators, management indicators, technical indicators, supply chain indicators and organization culture indicators. According to the ranking of performance metrics obtained through WASPAS, the “frequency of new product development is at the top”, followed by “advances in product design and development” and “estimated versus actual time to market”.
Research limitations/implications
It is believed that the framework developed will help industrial practitioners to plan effectively to improve supplier performance. The indicators identified may guide the ANPD penetration, and performance metrics may be useful for evaluation and comparison.
Practical implications
The outcomes of the present study will be extremely beneficial for the industry practitioners to improve the supplier performance. The indicators identified may guide the ANPD penetration, and performance metrics may be useful for evaluation and comparison.
Originality/value
A unique combination of modified SWARA–WASPAS technique has been used in this study which would be beneficial for organizations willing to adopt the jobshop scheduling and inventory management and ANPD for improving supply chain performance.
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Unsustainable actions have resulted in the deterioration of the environment. Higher education institutions are social entities responsible for developing future leaders who have…
Abstract
Purpose
Unsustainable actions have resulted in the deterioration of the environment. Higher education institutions are social entities responsible for developing future leaders who have the skills and abilities to solve societal challenges. This study aims to develop a conceptual assessment model of environmental sustainability in higher education and apply the model to test the environmental sustainability level of a higher education institution.
Design/methodology/approach
The fuzzy logic method is used to develop the conceptual model, and a higher education institution in India was selected for evaluating the environmental sustainability level.
Findings
The fuzzy environmental sustainability index for the higher education institution selected for the study was computed as (3.58, 4.95, 6.33). The computed value identifies the institution as “environmentally sustainable”. The calculation of the fuzzy performance importance index further helped in identifying weak attributes that need improvement.
Research limitations/implications
The result of this study would help the management understand their current environmental sustainability level and take corrective measures to improve the weak attributes. It would also assist the institution in reworking its processes and practices.
Originality/value
This study has contributed to the literature of environmental sustainability assessment by creating a conceptual model for evaluating environmental sustainability in higher education. This model can be applied to any higher education institution.
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Pavan Kumar Potdar, Srikanta Routroy and Astajyoti Behera
Agile manufacturing (AM) has evolved as a revolutionary way of manufacturing the products while managing the uncertainties, product introduction time, responsiveness, innovation…
Abstract
Purpose
Agile manufacturing (AM) has evolved as a revolutionary way of manufacturing the products while managing the uncertainties, product introduction time, responsiveness, innovation, superior quality, etc. along the supply chain to satisfy the ever increasing customer demand and to maximize the profit. The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the literature related to various dimensions of AM and to report the findings.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents the reviews of 300 scholarly articles from 1993 to 2016 by various researchers and practitioners on AM collected from different sources, i.e. Google Scholar and ResearchGate. The information related to AM is also captured during industrial visits to different Indian manufacturing plants.
Findings
AM definitions are reported along divergent scopes and objectives in the literature. The researchers have given importance on performance measurement and process analysis through empirical and descriptive analysis whereas its implementation issues are neglected. It is also observed that the effort made on AM is significant for manufacturing industries which is overlooked in service industries.
Practical implications
This literature review has identified many research gaps in AM which were not paid attention before. Researchers can address these research gaps for strengthening the AM implementation.
Originality/value
In total, 300 research papers are reviewed and analyzed to capture the various aspects of AM and its related issues but not restricted to research methodologies, author profiles, types of industries, tools/techniques/methodology used, etc.
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Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a widely accepted business improvement methodology in healthcare, which aims to improve operations and quality and reduce cost, medical errors and waiting…
Abstract
Purpose
Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a widely accepted business improvement methodology in healthcare, which aims to improve operations and quality and reduce cost, medical errors and waiting time by combing the principles of lean thinking with Six Sigma methodologies. To implement LSS successfully in healthcare organizations it is necessary to know the readiness level before starting the change process. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to assess the readiness level for the implementation of LSS in healthcare using a fuzzy logic approach.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study uses a fuzzy logic approach to develop an assessment model for readiness to implement LSS. The conceptual model for readiness is developed with 5 enablers, 16 criteria and 48 attributes identified from the literature review. The current study does the study in a medium-size hospital from India.
Findings
The fuzzy readiness for implementation of LSS index (FRLSSI) and fuzzy performance importance index (FPII) are calculated to identify the readiness level for the implementation of LSS in the case hospital. The FRLSSI is computed as average ready with (3.30, 5.06 and 6.83) and the FPII computed helps to identify 15 weaker attributes from 48 attributes.
Research limitations/implications
The current study uses only one hospital for study. In the future, the model can be tested in many hospitals.
Practical implications
The current study would be used by the managers of a healthcare organization to identify the readiness level of their organization to implement LSS. The proposed model is based on the identification of enablers, criteria and attributes to assess the readiness level of a healthcare organization and it helps to improve the readiness level to implement LSS effectively.
Originality/value
The present study contributes to the knowledge of readiness for the implementation of LSS in a healthcare organization. The conceptual model is developed for assessing the readiness level of a healthcare organization and it helps to improve the readiness level for successful implementation of LSS. Weaker attributes are identified and necessary corrective actions should be taken by the management to improve the readiness. The continuation of the assessment readiness model over a period of time would help to improve the readiness level of healthcare for the implementation of LSS.
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Masoud Rahiminezhad Galankashi, Syed Ahmad Helmi, Abd. Rahman Abdul Rahim and Farimah Mokhatab Rafiei
The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework to assess the agility of manufacturing companies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework to assess the agility of manufacturing companies.
Design/methodology/approach
Particularly, three supply chain logistic drivers (facility, transportation and inventory) along with three cross-functional drivers (information, sourcing and pricing) are selected as the main sets to classify all required activities of agility. In addition, supply chain contracts, as an important indicator of supply chain agility, is also considered to categorize the activities. These activities are ranked using an (AHP) and then categorized based on the major perspectives of agility. Finally, using a cycle view of supply chain, the developed activities are categorized as the major policies of supply chain’s echelons.
Findings
This study developed a framework to evaluate the agility of manufacturing companies. Operational activities of agile supply chain strategy (ASCS) in addition to supply chain contracts are determined and categorized with regard to supply chain drivers.
Originality/value
This study contributes to recognizing, ranking and classifying the operational activities of ASCS with regard to logistics and cross-functional drivers of supply chain. In addition, this study considers the supply chain contracts in conjunction with supply chain drivers. From the theoretic and methodological features, to the best of authors’ knowledge, this study contributes to offer new insights to this area as no similar research has been conducted before.
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Bharat Singh Patel, Cherian Samuel and Goutam Sutar
Agility is the ability of an organization to adjust its supply chain tactics and operations to respond quickly against altering business environments such as fluctuating demand…
Abstract
Purpose
Agility is the ability of an organization to adjust its supply chain tactics and operations to respond quickly against altering business environments such as fluctuating demand pattern, supply chain disruption and global competition. An agile organization must possess a promising capability of swiftly responding to dynamic conditions while being cost-effective without compromising the efficiency. Such high-performance adaptability necessitates the role of supply chain managers to maximize the agility of the supply chain through the efficient use of input resources. Therefore, the purpose of this study to reveal a new decision support tool that would allow the key decision-makers to maximize the agility of the supply chain while deploying the input resources more effectively.
Design/methodology/approach
In present study, an integrated approach of popular analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and goal programming (GP) has been adopted as a potential solution methodology. AHP has been implemented to allocate the local and global weights to decision variables, whereas GP incorporates the AHP weights into the desired model.
Findings
It was found that the proposed decision support tool restricts the value of the decision variables for maximizing the agility and optimizing the usage of input resources. The results obtained from the model validate the objective of achieving targeted agility level within the available resource limitations.
Research limitations/implications
The decision support tool developed in the proposed study offers a systematic and effectively simple approach to supply chain managers with a goal of identifying the degree of focus under each decision variable in the respective manufacturing organizations.
Originality/value
A novel decision support tool has been developed known as an agility control system), which helps the decision-maker to achieve the required agility in the supply chain by controlling the decision variables.
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Bharat Singh Patel and Murali Sambasivan
The purpose of this study is to critically examine the scholarly articles associated with the diverse aspects of supply chain agility (SCA). The review highlights research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to critically examine the scholarly articles associated with the diverse aspects of supply chain agility (SCA). The review highlights research insights, existing gaps and future research directions that can help academicians and practitioners gain a comprehensive understanding of SCA.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study has adopted author co-citation analysis as the research methodology, with a view to thoroughly investigating the good-quality articles related to SCA that have been published over a period of 22 years (1999-2020). In this study, 126 research papers on SCA – featuring diverse aspects of agility – from various reputed journals have been examined, analysed and assimilated.
Findings
The salient findings of this research are, namely, agility is different from other similar concepts, such as flexibility, leanness, adaptability and resilience; of the 13 dimensions of agility discussed in the literature, the prominent ones are quickness, responsiveness, competency and flexibility; literature related to SCA can be categorised as related to modelling the enablers, agility assessment, agility implementation, leagility and agility maximisation. This research proposes a more practical definition and framework for SCA. The probable areas for future research are, namely, impediments to agility, effective approaches to agility assessment, cost-benefit trade-offs to be considered whilst implementing agility, empirical research to validate the framework and SCA in the domain of healthcare and disaster relief supply chains.
Practical implications
This paper provides substantial insights to practitioners who primarily focus on measuring and implementing agility in the supply chain. The findings of this study will help the supply chain manager gain a better idea about how to become competitive in today’s dynamic and turbulent business environment.
Originality/value
The originality of this study is in: comprehensively identifying the various issues related to SCA, such as related concepts, definitions, dimensions and different categories of studies covered in literature, proposing a new definition and framework for SCA and identifying potential areas for future research, to provide deeper insights into the subject and highlight areas for future research.
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Manoj A. Palsodkar, Madhukar R. Nagare, Rajesh B. Pansare and Vaibhav S. Narwane
Agile new product development (ANPD) attracts researchers and practitioners by its ability to rapidly reconfigure products and related processes to meet the needs of emerging…
Abstract
Purpose
Agile new product development (ANPD) attracts researchers and practitioners by its ability to rapidly reconfigure products and related processes to meet the needs of emerging markets. To increase ANPD adoption, this study aims to identify ANPD enablers (ANPDEs) and create a structural framework that practitioners can use as a quick reference.
Design/methodology/approach
Initially, a comprehensive literature review is conducted to identify ANPDEs, and a structural framework is developed in consultation with an expert panel using a hybrid robust best–worst method interpretive structural modeling (ISM). During the ISM process, the interactions between the ANPDEs are investigated. The ISM result is used as input for fuzzy Matrice d’Impacts croises-multiplication appliqúean classment means cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis to investigate enablers that are both strong drivers and highly dependent.
Findings
The study’s findings show that four ANPDEs are in the low-intensity cluster and thus are excluded during the structural frame development. ISM output shows that “Strong commitment to NPD/top management support,” “Availability of resources,” “Supplier commitment/capability” and “Systematic project planning” are the important ANPDEs. Based on their driving and dependence power, the clusters formed during the fuzzy MICMAC approach show that 16 ANPDEs appear in the dependent zone, one ANPDE in the linkage zone and 14 ANPDEs in the driving zone.
Practical implications
This research has intense functional consequences for researchers and practitioners within the industry. Industry professionals require a conservative focus on the established ANPDEs during ANPD adoption. Management has to carefully prepare a course of action to avoid any flop during ANPD adoption.
Originality/value
The framework established is a one-of-a-kind study that provides an integrated impression of important ANPDEs. The authors hope that the suggested structural framework will serve as a blueprint for scholars working in the ANPD domain and will aid in its adoption.