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Introduces a framework for benchmarking organisations – “evolutionary benchmarking”. Discusses the concept and operation of the framework, along with its proposed advantages in aiding benchmarking. The benchmarking approach proposed utilises an evolutionary classification method called cladistics. Uses an example classification of automotive assembly plants to show how the proposed framework helps benchmarking in terms of: providing a framework for representing benchmarking information; enhancing the quality and validity of the information according to the classification rules of parsimony, congruence and homology; and providing a comparison that indicates how the practices should be adopted. This framework is considered to be useful to researchers who study benchmarking methodologies and those that categorise the findings of benchmarking studies.

This paper aims to present an empirically developed and tested process to address the limitations in the literature on the lack of appropriate performance measures and benchmarks for recording activity and sub‐process related cost. The process presented integrates performance measures, process cost accounting tools and benchmarking.

A special type of research methodology called innovative action research is utilized to develop and test the new process benchmarking tool.

The new tool provides information not only about costs, but also about the following non‐financial indicators: process volumes, process‐related time (cycle times), and used capacity/resources of processes. Also, the tool can be used in a very economical way.

The findings of the study are limited to the German mechanical engineering industry. Further research is needed for generalization of the proposed model.

Although, the mechanical engineering industry is used to demonstrate the proposed framework, it can be applied to other industries with a little modification.

A new, effective and efficient tool for cost reduction and performance improvement is developed and empirically tested.

This study aims to explore the impact of bring your own device (BYOD) practices on teleworkers’ job performance, work–life conflict and their implications for environmental sustainability, with a particular focus on Green IT in the post-pandemic remote work context. Drawing on the job demands–resources (JD-R) model, it examines the relationships between private technology adoption, job demands, job resources, job performance and work–life conflict, while also assessing how BYOD impacts environmental outcomes such as electronic waste reduction and carbon emissions.

The study used confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) using AMOS version 22 to evaluate seven hypotheses among 424 full-time teleworkers from various occupational sectors in Mauritius, a developing country.

SEM results confirm that BYOD enhances job performance and work–life conflict through increased job autonomy, workload and work pressure. BYOD and teleworking also contribute to Green IT and environmental sustainability by reducing energy consumption and electronic waste, indirectly supporting broader sustainability goals through reduced corporate device demand and lower commuting-related emissions.

Organisations should leverage BYOD policies to advance Green IT practices and improve work performance in remote settings, focusing on balancing job demands with resources like work autonomy to enhance productivity and well-being.

The findings strongly support the JD-R model in the context of remote work and BYOD, particularly in developing economies with limited infrastructure, offering insights for policies that enhance both employee well-being, Green IT and environmental sustainability.

The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the state of the art of applications of organisational systematics and manufacturing cladistics in terms of strengths and weaknesses and introduce new generic cladistic and hierarchical classifications of discrete manufacturing systems. These classifications are the basis for a practical web-based expert system and diagnostic benchmarking tool.

There were two stages for the research methods, with eight re-iterative steps: one for theory building, using secondary and observational data, producing conceptual classifications; the second stage for theory testing and theory development, using quantitative data from 153 companies and 510 manufacturing systems, producing the final factual cladogram. Evolutionary relationships between 53 candidate manufacturing systems, using 13 characters with 84 states, are hypothesised and presented diagrammatically. The manufacturing systems are also organised in a hierarchical classification with 13 genera, 6 families and 3 orders under one class of discrete manufacturing.

This work addressed several weaknesses of current manufacturing cladistic classifications which include the lack of an explicit out-group comparison, limited conceptual cladogram development, limited use of characters and that previous classifications are specific to sectors. In order to correct these limitations, the paper first expands on previous work by producing a more generic manufacturing system classification. Second, it describes a novel web-based expert system for the practical application of the discrete manufacturing system.

The classifications form the basis for a practical web-based expert system and diagnostic benchmarking tool, but also have a novel use in an educational context as it simplifies and relationally organises extant manufacturing system knowledge.

The research employed a novel re-iterative methodology for both theory building, using observational data, producing the conceptual classification, and through theory testing developing the final factual cladogram that forms the basis for the practical web-based expert system and diagnostic tool.

This theoretical paper presents, extends and integrates a number of systems and evolutionary concepts, to demonstrate their relevance to manufacturing strategy formulation. Specifically it concentrates on fitness landscape theory as an approach for visually mapping the strategic options a manufacturing firm could pursue. It examines how this theory relates to manufacturing competitiveness and strategy and proposes a definition and model of manufacturing fitness. In accordance with fitness landscape theory, a complex systems perspective is adopted to view manufacturing firms. It is argued that manufacturing firms are a specific type of complex system – a complex adaptive system – and that by developing and applying fitness landscape theory it is possible to create models to better understand and visualise how to search and select various combinations of capabilities.

Ways of sharing information as part of the development and implementation of new evaluation methods were studied in a project involving thirteen public libraries, one polytechnic library, and one university library. The purpose of the project was to initiate collaboration in evaluation and to develop qualitative evaluation tools that would be easy to use. Communities of practice, comprising of representatives of the different libraries, had a focal role in the development work, in which sharing of information was elemental. Qualitative tools consisted of portfolios and various forms for collecting information. In addition, informal consortium benchmarking was applied to evaluate different library tasks. Although small units have rarely been studied with regard to the sharing of knowledge or information or benchmarking, they should be. Moreover, small units may even be able to contribute to development. The study is based on information gathered from participants using interviews and questionnaires as well as project documentation, the contents of which have been analyzed qualitatively.

The purpose of this paper is to show how the quality practices such as leadership and strategic quality planning, supplier relationship management, customer focus, quality data and reporting, process management and human resource management are as relevant to supply chains as they are to an individual firm.

Based on the review of relevant literature, propositions have been framed to stimulate future research. In order to evaluate the quality management (QM) practices in Pakistani supply chains, three cases have been presented. These cases provide information about QM practices of the case companies with respect to the supply chains they represent. Based on the case comparisons, common themes regarding the state of QM in Pakistani supply chains have been identified.

The current study shows that the state of QM in the supply chain context is at a primitive level in Pakistan. Most organizations have instituted quality departments and devised quality policy and planning inspired by ISO 9000 standards. However, quality culture that promotes bottom‐up improvement throughout the organization is nonexistent. Compared with the proposed framework of total supply chain quality management (TSCQM), Pakistani organizations have a long way to go before any significant integration can be achieved in the quality functions at the supply chain level.

Building upon the current literature in the field of supply chain and QM, the current study proposes a new, more comprehensive framework TSCQM.

The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of internal benchmarking through the evaluation of quality management in two quality departments (Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC)) in a pharmaceutical company by utilizing total quality index (TQI).

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose a structured questionnaire was used to assess the gap between the ideal and current status of the quality management system. The mean differences between the current and ideal states for the eight critical factors were compared for the two departments using t-test.

There is difference in the actual and ideal scores on three out of eight critical factors between the QA and QC departments.

The internal benchmarking process which was applied in this case study can be applied in other pharmaceutical companies in order to improve the status of the quality management system and achieve competitive advantage.

Benchmarking of total quality management (TQM) can improve the performance of organizations. The benchmarking tool used in this study TQI is an information technology-supported tool that helps managers assess a TQM program by enabling the cost-effective measurement of key organizational processes. TQI measures the ideal and actual quality management along eight critical factors synthesized by Saraph et al. (1989).