Erdal Şen and Necmiye Tülin İrge
Today humanity is facing a time period, in which the speed and rate of change in different fields are faced. The rapid and effective change in the technological, economic…
Abstract
Today humanity is facing a time period, in which the speed and rate of change in different fields are faced. The rapid and effective change in the technological, economic, military, social and cultural fields all over the world in recent years has had important results in many topics such as informatics, interactive communication, production, data production and sharing and forms of consumption and perception. Changes and developments at very high speeds and rates affect the personal life, social life and work life in a deep manner, especially after the 1980s, paving the way for many concepts such as globalization, Industry 4.0, digitalization, new economy, new world order and digital transformation age to be the leading variables in every field of social sciences.
Production, consumption and communication forms at the global level are becoming more and more in depth and predicting the future is becoming more and more difficult and valuable. Understanding, analyzing and predicting the future for national and international companies and organizations directly and indirectly affect all economic, military and political variables. At this point, competition stands out as one of the most critical concepts for survival and growth for profit-oriented companies.
Based on this, the topics and contents selected in this study were created to cover the field of management and strategy. Indeed, in this study, the concept of organizational agility is explored theoretically from a historical perspective on the concept of Industry 4.0 and especially emphasized the dimensions and components of agility used in today’s world.
Within the scope of this study, the aim is to define and present the general framework of the Industry 4.0 and agile firms, which aim to combine the conceptual and theoretical infrastructure with the implementation of the agile firms within the field. In this respect, the study defines the situation coming from the past together with the world of today in the relationship of the technological and economical dimensions of globalization with the digitalization and latest theoretical view for the agile firm’s structure and management. On the other hand; in this study, the possible effects of the recent COVID-19 pandemic crisis on the management of organizations are interpreted in the context of Industry 4.0 and agile companies. This aim will provide a foresight for the future periods, with the conclusions added with the theory of senism, which present the dominant value of the study.
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Considers how far the aerospace industry has travelled on the long journey towards lean and agile manufacturing. Starts by comparing the industry with a well‐established model of…
Abstract
Considers how far the aerospace industry has travelled on the long journey towards lean and agile manufacturing. Starts by comparing the industry with a well‐established model of a lean and in some cases agile manufacturing system already well established in the automotive manufacturing industry. Makes some attempts to overcome the difference in output volume of the two industries. Asks whether lean manufacturing can be applied to the aerospace industry. Draws on observations made both by academics and during visits to aerospace supply companies. Evidence is put forward as to deployment of lean practices in the industry and why lean manufacturing must be deployed throughout the industry. Focuses on the tentative steps towards the first phases of agile manufacturing, through Lean production, in an industry that produces a high technology leading‐edge product using outdated manufacturing systems.
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Abdelkebir Sahid, Yassine Maleh and Mustapha Belaissaoui
S.M. James‐Moore and A. Gibbons
Observes that although the concept of lean manufacture is well understood, little work has been carried out to determine its applicability to high‐value, low‐volume complex…
Abstract
Observes that although the concept of lean manufacture is well understood, little work has been carried out to determine its applicability to high‐value, low‐volume complex products. Proposes a methodology for enabling an examination of the degree of relevance of lean manufacturing to such products, using a model of a typical lean high‐volume automotive producer as a base, comparing the drivers faced, the practices adopted to respond and the type of measures used to assess effectiveness. Provides an explanation as to how this approach was applied to the civil aerospace industry as an example of those products the authors have chosen to define as “super value goods”, together with some initial first line results.
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Per Carlborg, Daniel Kindström and Christian Kowalkowski
Service productivity continues to receive ever‐greater amounts of attention as service covers a greater portion of the economy. As competition increases, service productivity…
Abstract
Purpose
Service productivity continues to receive ever‐greater amounts of attention as service covers a greater portion of the economy. As competition increases, service productivity becomes increasingly important. This study aims to explore the applicability of lean principles in a service context and to conceptualize how these principles impact service productivity.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a conceptual analysis of the six most commonly used lean principles in manufacturing and their applicability to a service context for different types of services. Using this analysis, six propositions are developed to examine the influence of lean on service productivity.
Findings
This study suggests promising synergies, as well as important obstacles, for applying lean principles in services. Standardizing services and increasing reliability in service processes through lean principles can increase efficiency. However, the customer's active role in certain services and, simultaneously, high diversity make the application of lean principles increasingly difficult. Also, customer satisfaction must be considered when improving service productivity, otherwise the positive long‐term effects of a lean approach in service will be absent.
Practical implications
These findings are useful for organizations aiming to improve their service productivity. Particularly, lean principles are invaluable to increase efficiency and customer satisfaction for services with low diversity and low customer participation. This paper suggests a direction for the proper use of lean principles for different service types, and how efficiency and customer satisfaction are affected through a lean approach.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the research on service productivity and continues the discussion on prototypic characteristics of service and manufacturing orientations.
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Desirée H. van Dun and Celeste P.M. Wilderom
Although empirical tests of effective lean-team leadership are scarce, leaders are often blamed when lean work-floor initiatives fail. In the present study, a lean-team leader’s…
Abstract
Purpose
Although empirical tests of effective lean-team leadership are scarce, leaders are often blamed when lean work-floor initiatives fail. In the present study, a lean-team leader’s work values are assumed to affect his or her team members’ behaviors and, through them, to attain team effectiveness. Specifically, two of Schwartz et al.’s (2012) values clusters (i.e. self-transcendence and conservation) are hypothesized to be linked to team members’ degree of information and idea sharing and, in turn, to lean-team effectiveness. The paper aims to report the examination of these hypotheses.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey responses (n=429) of both leaders and members of 25 lean-teams in services and manufacturing organizations were aggregated, thereby curbing common-source bias. To test the six hypotheses, structural equation modeling was performed, with bootstrapping, linear regression analyses, and Sobel tests.
Findings
The positive relationship between lean-team effectiveness and leaders’ self-transcendence values, and the negative relationship between lean-team effectiveness and leaders’ conservation values were partly mediated by information sharing behavior within the team.
Research limitations/implications
Future research must compare the content of effective lean-team values and behaviors to similar non-lean teams.
Practical implications
Appoint lean-team leaders with predominantly self-transcendence rather than conservation values: to promote work-floor sharing of information and lean-team effectiveness.
Originality/value
Human factors associated with effective lean-teams were examined, thereby importing organization-behavioral insights into the operations management literature: with HRM-type implications.
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Kristy de Salas, Ian J. Lewis and Craig Huxley
Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) exhibit limited understanding of their business processes. This lack of understanding limits the potential of these businesses and is a…
Abstract
Purpose
Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) exhibit limited understanding of their business processes. This lack of understanding limits the potential of these businesses and is a direct contributor to the high failure rates of this sector of the economy. Research has suggested that existing BP methods to not support SMEs in gaining an improved understanding of their processes due to the high complexity and resource intensity of these tools, more suitable for deployment within a large business context. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reports on two qualitative case studies of medium-sized financial entities that employ a new approach, the critical process targeting method (CPTM), to improve their understanding of their processes.
Findings
In reviewing these two case studies, the authors find that the CPTM can be considered a useful tool in improving process understanding in SMEs, and can lead to the achievement of strategic goals. This paper, however, also describes a number of practical limitations that were encountered when employing the CPTM within the SME context.
Originality/value
This new contribution to theory adds significant and critical support to academia and practice in business process understanding where current methods are found to be too resource heavy for even some large organisations. These two case studies have also provided support for struggling management teams being overwhelmed by the need to understand business processes within their organisations. Published literature and the case study experience both suggest that medium-sized entities have difficulty understanding their business processes.
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S. Mishra, S. Datta and S.S. Mahapatra
The purpose of this paper is to develop an agility evaluation approach to determine the most suitable agile system for implementing mass customization (MC) strategies. Evaluating…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an agility evaluation approach to determine the most suitable agile system for implementing mass customization (MC) strategies. Evaluating the alternatives and comparing across them, the best practices of the efficient organization can be identified and transferred to different organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Grey relation approach is a simple mathematical technique useful in situations where the information is not known precisely. Grey relation approach has been applied to measure the agility of various organizations based on agile entities and accordingly the organizations are ranked. The ranking so obtained is compared with the ranking obtained by a popular multi‐attribute decision making (MADM) process known as Fuzzy TOPSIS (technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution) to test the robustness of the proposed method. It is to be noted that grey theory considers the condition of the fuzziness and can deal flexibly with the fuzziness situation.
Findings
It is demonstrated that the grey approach is an appropriate method for solving MADM problems in an uncertain situation with less computational efforts. The alternatives can easily be benchmarked and the best agile system can be selected. As the ranking obtained through grey relation approach closely agree with the ranking found from Fuzzy TOPSIS method, the robustness of the proposed approach is validated. Both the methods lead to choosing a suitable agile system related to mass customization.
Research limitations/implications
In this paper, the proposed approach has been compared with Fuzzy TOPSIS method to test the robustness of the method. Other MADM approaches may be used for comparison purpose to gain insight into the methodology of the proposed approach.
Originality/value
An alternative approach for MADM is proposed to obtain good decisions in an uncertain environment and used for agility evaluation in selected organizations. As agile manufacturing is relatively a new concept, certain and complete information on systems are not available. In such situations, the proposed method can deal with the issue conveniently and results in workable solutions.
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Z. Zhang and H. Sharifi
As we approach the twenty‐first century, manufacturing success and survival are becoming more and more difficult to ensure. This fact is rooted in the emergence of a new business…
Abstract
As we approach the twenty‐first century, manufacturing success and survival are becoming more and more difficult to ensure. This fact is rooted in the emergence of a new business era that embraces “change” as one of its major characteristics. The emphasis is now on adaptability to changes in the business environment and on addressing market and customer needs proactively. The emerging paradigm is agile manufacturing. Understanding and responding to changes, and taking advantage of changes through strategic utilisation of managerial and manufacturing methods and tools, are some of the pivotal concepts of agile manufacturing. This paper discusses these concepts and presents a methodology to assist manufacturing companies to achieve agility. Industrial questionnaire surveys and case studies are carried out to support and validate the methodology. Results and conclusions derived from the surveys and case studies in support of the methodology are reported.
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Jan Stentoft Arlbjørn and Per Vagn Freytag
The purpose of this paper is to examine how “lean” is viewed in academic literature and how it is operationalised. The paper also examines how evidence of lean is accounted for in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how “lean” is viewed in academic literature and how it is operationalised. The paper also examines how evidence of lean is accounted for in practice.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper discusses a review of 105 international peer‐reviewed journals with the purpose of identifying what has been written about lean. All in all, 154 articles featuring lean in the article title are identified and reviewed.
Findings
Lean has moved from application only in production to being used in other sectors, such as the public and service sectors. Most contributions are still found in production and supply chain journals, however, and few contributions discuss the basis of lean or provide a clear definition of the meaning of lean. The literature review indicates that there is a low level of operationalisation of the concept of lean, making the concept seem unclear and vague. About one‐third of the reviewed articles apply a toolbox view on lean; and, in general, the positive effect of lean is documented in only a few of the articles reviewed.
Research limitations/implications
Only those articles published in international, peer‐reviewed journals are examined. Discussion of lean, however, might be found in other sources, such as textbooks, conference proceedings and PhD dissertations.
Practical implications
Due to the indistinct definitions of lean that were discovered, one should use the concept of lean with care. It is especially important to specify the conditions and to describe the intentions of usage.
Originality/value
This paper is the first comprehensive literature review with regard to lean and evidence in relationship to definitions of and assumptions about lean.