S. Wadhwa, K.S. Bhoon and F.T.S. Chan
To demonstrate how postponement strategy can be applied in an automotive company by using business process redesign in the knowledge innovation context.
Abstract
Purpose
To demonstrate how postponement strategy can be applied in an automotive company by using business process redesign in the knowledge innovation context.
Design/methodology/approach
A demonstrative case was developed using simulation of alternative scenarios of cycle service levels (CSL) and product flexibility, etc. to determine the value of postponement (VOP) in a manufacturing process integrated with a supply process.
Findings
It was shown that by managing the knowledge on existing processes and developing an innovative mindset for managers, it is possible to derive significant benefits by redesigning the processes. The financial benefits in terms of the VOP showed significant savings even at high service levels desired in automotive supply chains. The need to identify judicious level of flexibility to benefit from postponement strategy was observed to be important.
Research limitation/implications
A pragmatic data set reflecting the operating conditions was used to show the potential benefits. There is a need to generalize the results with alternative data sets. Additional research will be expedient to enrich some of the useful possibilities identified in this industry research effort.
Practical implications
Postponement strategies can offer significant benefits if the knowledge of existing supply chain and manufacturing processes is used to innovate new integrated process redesigns. These benefits may be usefully measured by the industrial managers as the VOP. The VOP is dependent on CSLs as well as the flexibility requirements due to the multiple automotive models.
Originality/value
In the knowledge and innovation context this is a useful industrial research effort in the organization to redesign the external (supply chain) processes with proper collaboration and redesign of the internal (manufacturing) processes leading to significant potential benefits as shown by the VOP under various scenarios.
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To innovatively address challenges faced by corporate entrepreneurship (CE) in this modern age of globalization and digitalization, this chapter takes a fresh look at questions of…
Abstract
To innovatively address challenges faced by corporate entrepreneurship (CE) in this modern age of globalization and digitalization, this chapter takes a fresh look at questions of learning and leadership from the perspective of organization development (OD), a field that has long studied questions of planned and emergent change. This alternate perspective adds to our knowledge and understanding of the role of individuals and teams in CE and presents opportunities to integrate learning and leadership. In particular, the OD literature provides us with multilevel measurement methods and tools to better analyze the employee and team level-of-analysis. As a result, these insights should enable us to better explain the interaction between CE strategic orientation and the performance of corporate venturing employees and teams, as well as the progress of organizational strategic renewal and market (re)creation efforts.
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This note explores the applicability of evaluation criteria to the problem of evaluating the supply chain strategy (SCS) of an organization. A discussion of SCS evaluation is…
Abstract
This note explores the applicability of evaluation criteria to the problem of evaluating the supply chain strategy (SCS) of an organization. A discussion of SCS evaluation is relevant today, as the validity of the dominant approach – proposed two decades ago and based on matching types – has come into question. While evaluation criteria have a long history in other disciplines, they are new to SCS evaluation. To help supply chain (SC) scholars assess the applicability of evaluation criteria to SCS, this note proposes a tentative set of criteria and provides insights derived from the authors’ recent experience. We propose that the use of criteria for the evaluation of SCS may be a useful alternative, or at least a complement, to the dominant approach. These proposed criteria are currently being validated in a project with a company in Uruguay; we invite further empirical validation by third parties.
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M. Palani Natha Raja, S.G. Deshmukh and Subhash Wadhwa
The purpose of this paper is to describe research which compared quality awards and the selection of criteria for assessing health care processes quality status, in private sector…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe research which compared quality awards and the selection of criteria for assessing health care processes quality status, in private sector health care institutions in India.
Design/methodology/approach
A comparison of quality awards was performed and criteria were selected for assessing health care processes quality status. The relationships in the model, as measured by the instrument, was the work's main objective. Using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, European Foundation for Quality Management and Kanji Business Excellence Model, common factors were extracted to measure the quality perceptions of health care organizations and to measure the relationships among the quality dimensions. The sample selected for this study comprised healthcare stakeholders.
Findings
As a result of respondents' knowledge, data provide unique insights into the relationships among the dimensions that compose quality in healthcare organizations. Principal component analysis was used to identify relationships among service quality dimensions in the developed quality framework. Specifically, the relationship between leadership, resource measurement, people management, process management and customer satisfaction.
Originality/value
The research shows that developing a measurement instrument is an important step in assessing an organisation's actual or perception of quality and assessing customer's perception is one way to improve service quality.
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Wasana Jayawickramarathna, Kaleel Rahman, Rajendra Mulye and Tim Fry
The market-based approach to catering for the poor mainly focusses on companies making profits while helping the poor enhance their lives. This concept presented the possibility…
Abstract
The market-based approach to catering for the poor mainly focusses on companies making profits while helping the poor enhance their lives. This concept presented the possibility of there being a ‘fortune’ to make at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) market that was an opportunity for both businesses and consumers. The notion of the BoP market has been widely studied using urban and rural contexts as distinct classifications; yet many argue that the opportunity does not in fact exist in the rural BoP markets. In this chapter the authors examine the prospects in the rural BoP in Sri Lanka through a qualitative study using insights provided by industry practitioners who operate at the BoP level. Findings show that a large percentage of the income of multinational companies is derived from rural BoP markets. Compared to the urban sector, the rural BoP market indicates relatively higher disposable income and is viewed as an attractive market segment by industry practitioners. The findings also show that rural BoP people have more resources and skills than their urban counterparts, although the former commonly have lower levels of education. Moreover, the youth segment in both the urban and rural BoP markets was found to heavily consume social media. The authors conclude their discussion by providing several key proposals for organisations looking to seize opportunities in this market.
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Siddharth Varma, Subhash Wadhwa and S.G. Deshmukh
Performance evaluation in supply chain management (SCM) is not a straightforward task. This becomes even more complicated while evaluating a process industry supply chain because…
Abstract
Purpose
Performance evaluation in supply chain management (SCM) is not a straightforward task. This becomes even more complicated while evaluating a process industry supply chain because of its inherently different characteristics. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a method to evaluate the performance of one such process supply chain, namely the petroleum industry supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a combination of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and balanced scorecard (BSC) for evaluating performance of the petroleum supply chain. The choice of factors determining supply chain performance under the four perspectives of BSC has been validated using opinion from subject matter experts (SMEs). In order to determine relative importance of criteria opinion of SMEs has been collected in the form of pairwise comparisons. Using these comparisons, the AHP technique has been applied to determine the relative weights of various perspectives as well as the factors under each perspective.
Findings
The importance of four perspectives with respect to petroleum supply chain performance in descending order of importance comes out as: customer, financial, internal business process, innovation and learning. Within these perspectives, the following factors seem to be most important respectively: purity of product, market share, steady supply of raw material and use of information technology.
Practical implications
Most research work has focused on discrete part manufacturing supply chains. Process industry supply chains deserve a different treatment due to their inherently different characteristics. The methodology suggested in this paper tries to include these characteristics and can help in comparing performance of supply chains of different petroleum companies.
Originality/value
The value of this paper lies in the unique approach towards determining the performance of process industry supply chains. By using BSC, non‐financial factors have also been taken into account. Opinion of SMEs has been quantified using the AHP technique thus converting qualitative data to quantitative data.
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Navin K. Dev, Rahul Caprihan and Sanjeev Swami
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the case of a manufacturing firm situated in an industrial city of India, focusing on supply chain management issues of the concerned…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the case of a manufacturing firm situated in an industrial city of India, focusing on supply chain management issues of the concerned organization from two operational perspectives: supply side (or the procurement side) and the distribution side of the system.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors first considered the outsourcing decision‐making problem in a static environment using analytical expression by means of a variable fraction of demand. Next, the authors extended the scope of this problem by considering outsourcing decisions in a dynamic environment, using the sequential decision‐making approach with various operational and inventory factors. Finally, the authors carried out the study of the distribution side of the supply chain of industry using discrete event simulation.
Findings
It was observed that, in the case study organization, because of the rather unstructured approach in dealing with the outsourcing perspective, the authors suggested the adoption of a more scientific approach in computation of fraction of demand to be outsourced. Further, since the distribution network typically experienced high inventory levels throughout the supply chain, it was decided upfront to optimize this performance measure.
Originality/value
The primary objectives of this exercise are to: address the operational concerns of a real‐life manufacturing environment; apply the theoretical models in a realistic environment, and compare the results of theory with practice; and provide actionable managerial recommendations.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate what empirical evidence exists regarding benefits of information sharing in supply chains, and to identify potential gaps and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate what empirical evidence exists regarding benefits of information sharing in supply chains, and to identify potential gaps and opportunities in this research area.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an in-depth, systematic literature review and multilevel analysis of 82 selected articles. In the analysis, the authors investigated: whether the articles applied the supply chain as the unit of analysis; the selected research method; whether the articles applied the supply chain as the unit of data collection (i.e. collected data from three or more different companies); and finally, aspects of information sharing – including benefits.
Findings
Despite anecdotal descriptions of benefits from information sharing in supply chains, the authors could not find empirical evidence to support these claims. Rather, the main body of literature reports on a focal company's perspective on traditional buyer-supplier relationships.
Research limitations/implications
Given the lack of evidence for the claimed benefits of information sharing on a supply chain level, more research is needed in this field. The authors therefore propose an agenda for future research building on four key points.
Originality/value
Contrary to popular belief, empirical evidence for benefits of information sharing in supply chains does not seem to exist. This article highlights an issue previously not addressed with a systematic in-depth review and analysis of empirical articles.
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Sukhwinder Singh Jolly and Bikram Jit Singh
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a tactical approach to cope with the issues related to low availability of repairable machines or systems because of their poor…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a tactical approach to cope with the issues related to low availability of repairable machines or systems because of their poor reliability and maintainability. It not only explores the significance of availability, but also embarks upon a step-by-step procedure to earmark a relevant replenishment plan to check the mean time between failure (MTBF) and the mean time to repair (MTTR) efficiently.
Design/methodology/approach
The literature review identifies the extent to which availability depends on reliability and maintainability, and highlights the diversified challenges appearing among repairable systems. Different improvement initiatives have been suggested to avoid downtime, after analyzing the failure and repair time data graphically. Relevant plots and growth curves captured the historical deviations and trends along with the time, which further helps to create more robust action plans to enrich the respective reliability and maintainability of machines. During the case study, the proposed methodology has been tested on four SPMs and successfully validated the claims after achieving around a 98 percent availability at the end.
Findings
Graphical analysis is the key to developing suitable action plans to enhance the corresponding reliability and maintainability of a machine or system. By increasing the MTBF, the reliability level can be improved and similarly quick maintenance activities can help to restore the prospect of maintainability. Both of these actions ultimately reduce the downtime or increase the associated availability exponentially.
Research limitations/implications
The work revolves around the availability of SPMs. Moreover, SPMs have been divided only into series sub-systems. The testability and supportability aspects have not been considered thoroughly during the fabrication of the approach.
Originality/value
The work focusses on the availability of systems and proposed frameworks that helps to reduce downtime or its associated expenditure, which is generally being ignored. As a case study-based work especially on SPMs in the auto sector this paper is quite rare and will motivate affiliated engineers and practitioners to achieve future breakthroughs.