An integrated framework of mimetic pressures,quality and environmental management,and firm performances

Abstract

Manufacturers have extensively recognised the strategic importance of quality and environmental management. However, there is little guidance on how they adopt and exercise both management practices in a way that enhances firms’ performance outcomes. To fill the research gap, this paper empirically investigates the relationships among mimetic pressures, a firm’s quality management practices (QMPs), environmental management system (EMS), and environmental and financial performances. By using a data set collected from 212?U.S. manufacturing firms, this study examines the proposed hypotheses. Our major findings are: first, mimetic pressures are a driving factor for EMS but do not motivate the adoption of QMPs; second, QMPs are an important enabler not only for enhancing firms’ financial performance but also for promoting EMS and environmental performance; and finally, EMS does not influence firms’ financial performance directly, but indirectly does so through enhancing environmental performance. This study contributes to the literature of quality and environmental management and provides practical implications by addressing motivating factors of both QMPs and EMS, and identifying factors for successful environmental management practices.     

Engineering change: A theoretical assessment and a case study

The competitive playground where nowadays firms struggle to survive has rapidly become unforeseeable: product life cycle has shrunk, becoming even shorter than in the past, and world-wide market is suffering for a strong customer differentiation which led to an increasingly wide product mix. In this industrial environment, the engineering change process is getting more and more attention throughout the branches of industry, as it appears as a critical process which seeps into the operations management core, thus influencing the overall firm's performances. A brief state-of-the-art in the area of engineering change is firstly presented. Then a proposal of classification and a new methodology for an effective engineering change process management are suggested. The new proposed methodology has been successfully applied to a real-life manufacturing system and the related case study is reported at the end of the paper.     

THE IMPACT OF UNIONS ON OPERATIONS STRATEGY

This paper explores the effect that unions have on a firm's ability to reengineer manufacturing processes. We begin by exploring the various effects that a union may have in a manufacturing environment. Next, we briefly review how unions may affect managerial initiatives to reengineer processes and improve manufacturing performance. The third section analyzes an existing database to test for differences in cycle time and manufacturing performance between union and nonunion firms. Finally, we discuss the implications of the study for future operations strategy research and note how a different form of union‐management relationships is beginning to evolve.     

Breaking down the “Green Wall” (part one): Early efforts at integrating business and environment at SC Johnson

Integrating environmental management initiatives with business functions, such as manufacturing and purchasing, is now a major goal in many firms. Most environmental professionals agree that success in this pursuit is a product of their greater involvement with traditional business management areas as well as their ability to avoid the “green wall”—the separation between environmental and business functions that companies often experience.In this article, the first of a two-part series, Mark Haveman and Mark Dorfman examine how some firms deliberately break down these barriers. The case study of SC Johnson specifically illustrates how elements such as gaining senior management commitment, explicitly aligning environmental issues with key business goals, and designing consistency into the overriding management system can all lead to breaking down that integration. In the next issue, authors from SC Johnson and the Alliance for Environmental Innovation will discuss a recent project to further the efforts of business-environment integration.     

Organizational modifications to support JIT implementation in manufacturing and service operations

This study investigates JIT implementation practices and performance in manufacturing and service organizations in the US. Literature related to JIT usage and performance in both sectors is reviewed. A field study is then conducted to investigate the actual implementation experiences of a selected group of service and manufacturing users of JIT. Our findings from the literature and the field study are used to develop four research hypotheses that are tested using survey data from 130 manufacturing and 61 service firms. Manufacturing and service firms that had engaged in modifications such as operator and management training and improving linkages with suppliers prior to implementing their JIT systems experienced less implementation problems and achieved higher levels of success than firms that placed less emphasis on these modifications. This paper details and discusses these and other results from our study. In addition, managerial implications of our findings are presented.     

竞争驱动战略转型的人力资本视线研究——以天津中小制造业企业为例

转型升级阵痛中的中国制造业企业，唯有基于人力资本"视线"实施差异化战略、推进激进式创新，才能变革成功，进而在激烈市场竞争中存活下来并形成核心竞争力。以天津市各大工业园区154家中小制造业企业的问卷调查数据为样本，采用结构方程模型对制造业企业创新逆驱战略转型的人力资本"视线"进行统计检验。结果显示，战略层面的"视线"有一个：外部环境竞争性、差异化战略、激进式创新与企业绩效。资源层面"视线"有两个：差异化战略、HRM系统、人力资本、渐进式创新、激进式创新与企业绩效；差异化战略、HRM系统、知识共享与企业绩效。这三条"视线"为中国制造业企业指明了战略转型、创新变革的具体方向。     

Fuzzy multi-attribute decision-making for evaluating manufacturing flexibility

Evaluation of manufacturing flexibility in operations management is important to determine the competitiveness of manufacturing system, and is being increasing discussed in the literature on manufacturing system. The objective of this research is to develop a multi-attribute decision-making model based on fuzzy set theory to improving the manufacturing flexibility evaluation process. Since most information available in this stage is not numerical, fuzzy linguistic assessment is used to represent the performance rating of all flexibility metrics under flexibility dimensions and importance grade of all flexibility dimensions. This paper proposes a modified LOWA operator, which uses the maximum entropy weights, and uses it to direct computation on linguistic terms. The developed model evaluates the degree of manufacturing flexibility that can assist decision-makers, when making capital investment decisions and measuring performance, in finding the need for improving manufacturing flexibility, and in determining the dimensions of flexibility as the best directions to improvement. Examples using a case study of leading Taiwan firm in the bicycle industry are used to illustrate the concept developed. In addition, sensitivity analysis can be performed to examine the solution reasonability.     

Survey of manufacturing curricula from around the world

In the manufacturing organization cost or more specifically cost reduction is an everyday obsession with managers and engineers. To compete globally and win new contracts, manufacturing firms need to learn how to be responsive, lean and efficient. On the other hand, in order to retain and motivate workers, improve systems efficiency and conform to various regulations including health, safety and the environment, manufacturing firms need to continuously invest. Both opposing pressures create a challenging environment for manufacturing managers and engineers. This paper introduces research into how the manufacturing environment is changing and in particular the type of issues that manufacturing managers and engineers need to learn. The paper presents the first results of a study being conducted by a number of academic institutions and industries from around the world into manufacturing education issues. The principle aim of the research consortium is to anticipate the needs of manufacturing organization of the future and to provide a framework for curriculum development within universities that meet these needs. This paper specifically outlines the results of a study of existing manufacturing curricula from around the world and takes an in-depth look at four recently developed masters programmes.     

Causal Linkages in Supply Chain Management: An Exploratory Study of North American Manufacturing Firms

In this paper we investigate the key causal linkages in supply chain management. We propose a conceptual framework and test this framework on data from 215 North American manufacturing firms using structural equation modeling techniques. Three major research issues are addressed in this study: Do sourcing decisions affect the degree to which firms achieve manufacturing goals of cost, flexibility, dependability, and quality? Does the degree of manufacturing goal achievement lead to higher customer responsiveness? Does the degree of manufacturing goal achievement lead to higher internal manufacturing performance? The study examines the relationship among sourcing decisions, manufacturing goals, customer responsiveness, and manufacturing performance. The results support the notion that an integrated supply chain involves aligning sourcing decisions to achieve manufacturing goals that are set to respond favorably to the needs of customers.     

Examining the Impact of Interorganizational Systems on Process Efficiency and Sourcing Leverage in Buyer–Supplier Dyads

Manufacturing firms are increasingly seeking cost and other competitive advantages by tightly coupling and managing their relationship with suppliers. Among other mechanisms, interorganizational systems (IOS) that facilitate boundary‐spanning activities of a firm enable them to effectively manage different types of buyer–supplier relationships. This study integrates literature from the operations and information systems fields to create a joint perspective in understanding the linkages between the nature of the IOS, buyer–supplier relationships, and manufacturing performance at the dyadic level. External integration, breadth, and initiation are used to capture IOS functionality, and their effect on process efficiency and sourcing leverage is examined. The study also explores the differences in how manufacturing firms use IOS when operating under varying levels of competitive intensity and product standardization. In order to test the research models and related hypothesis, empirical data on buyer–supplier dyads is collected from manufacturing firms. The results show that only higher levels of external integration that go beyond simple procurement systems, as well as who initiates the IOS, allow manufacturing firms to enhance process efficiency. In contrast, IOS breadth and IOS initiation enable manufacturing firms to enhance sourcing leverage over their suppliers. In addition, firms making standardized products in highly competitive environments tend to achieve higher process efficiencies and have higher levels of external integration. The study shows how specific IOS decisions allow manufacturing firms to better manage their dependence on the supplier for resources and thereby select system functionalities that are consistent with their own operating environments and the desired supply chain design.     

Supplier Rationalization: A Sourcing Decision Model

We draw on extant literature on strategic sourcing and supply base rationalization to anchor our argument that measuring supplier performance diversity is germane to executing an effective supply base rationalization strategy. We explicate how a novel approach to data envelopment analysis (DEA) efficiency assessment can be utilized to measure this performance diversity. More specifically, our methods are anchored in cross efficiency analysis in DEA that allows for evaluating the efficiency of a supplier with respect to the optimal weights (strengths) of its peers. This methodology is applied to an actual supplier dataset of a large multinational telecommunications company in categorizing their supply base into groups for effective supplier rationalization. We conclude that measuring and analyzing the performance diversity within the framework of DEA provides a mechanism for firms to better balance a rationalized and diversified supply base with unique skills.     

Fuzzy Overall Equipment Effectiveness (FOEE): capturing performance fluctuations through LR Fuzzy numbers

The paper focuses on the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), a performance indicator that is extensively used in the industry. The aim is to extend the capabilities of the OEE, so as to capture the day-to-day fluctuations to which manufacturing performances are subjected. To this aim, manufacturing losses are decomposed into elementary causes and modelled as LR fuzzy numbers. Next, in order to compute the Fuzzy Overall Equipment Effectiveness (FOEE), single losses are aggregated using the ‘fuzzy transformation model’. This approach limits the fuzzy overestimation phenomenon and assures both results’ accuracy and robustness. An industrial application, part of a lean project carried on by an important Italian manufacturing firm, is finally presented. Results are encouraging, since the FOEE made it possible to trace back the share of the overall fluctuations that is ascribable to each cause of loss. In this way, it provided the basis for setting improvement priorities and directed the lean team toward the selection of appropriate corrective actions.     

Relationships among JIT practices: an interpretive modeling approach

Abstract

This research develops a model of relationships among components of Total-JIT, including JIT-information, JIT-manufacturing, JIT-purchasing, and JIT-selling, to establish an implementation hierarchy based on relative importance. The data collected relates to the relationships among JIT components and two performance measures, supply chain competency and organizational performance. Two groups are used in the research, one group of five operations management academics and another group of 30 practicing operations managers working in U.S. manufacturing firms. An interpretive structural modelling methodology is used to develop alternative structural models. The academics’ data show JIT-information emerging as lynchpin of relationships, directly impacting all other JIT practices and both performance measures. The practitioners’ data indicates that all JIT practices and performance measures are interactive as components and outcomes. This study is the first to apply interpretive structural modelling to investigate the interplay among total-JIT components and the performance measures of supply chain competency and organizational performance.     

Quality management and performance: a comparison between the UK and Turkey

Purpose: The aim of this article is to detail the correlation between quality management, specifically its tools and critical success factors, and performance in terms of primary operational and secondary organisational performances.

Design/methodology/approach: Survey data from the UK and Turkey were analysed using exploratory factor analyses, structural equation modelling and regression analysis.

Findings: The results show that quality management has a significant and positive impact on both primary and secondary performances; that Turkish and UK attitudes to quality management are similar; and that quality management is widely practised in manufacturing and service industries but has more statistical emphasis in the manufacturing sector. The main challenge for making quality management practice more effective lies in an appropriate balanced use of the different sorts of the tools and critical success factors.

Originality/value: This study takes a novel approach by: (i) exploring the relationship between primary operational and secondary organisational performances, (ii) using service and manufacturing data and (iii) making a cross-country comparison between the UK (a developed economy) and Turkey (a developing economy).

Limitations: Detailed contrast provided between only two countries.     

关系激励管理对供求企业绩效影响的实证研究

有效的供求关系激励管理方式设计,以及这种管理方式如何影响供求双方的绩效,是目前国内理论界和企业界都十分关注的问题之一。本文试图从采购企业角度出发探讨关系激励管理方式对供求企业绩效的影响。首先解释了激励型供应商管理方式的指标测度体系,然后通过对国内近百家企业问卷调查的统计分析,得出了如下两个主要结论:激励型管理方式与采购企业业绩之间存在正相关关系;激励型管理方式与供应商业绩之间存在正相关关系。这不仅证实了合作能够创造"双赢"局面的理论观点,而且也为国内企业供应商管理的具体实践提供了理论上的指导。     

EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ON ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND OPERATIONS

To date, it is unclear as to how Environmental Management Systems (EMS) are implemented and what effects these systems have on other environmental and operational practices. This study reports empirical insights to EMS practices based on the largest EMS survey of manufacturing firms in the United States. The objective of the study is to test for a relationship between environmental management systems and perceived operations performance while considering direct and indirect effects of various environmental practices. The results of this study are supported by several field studies and provide a new source of information regarding EMS theory development. The results also indicate a positive relationship between an EMS, the environmental practices a firm engages, and operations performance measures.     

A model of the adoption of radio frequency identification technology: The case of logistics service firms

Globalization and advances in information technology represent both realities and opportunities for enterprises in the 21st century. This paper aims to broaden understanding of service innovation as a critical organizational capability through which the adoption of information technology influences firm performance. This study examines how the adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology influences the operational performance of logistics service firms. We develop the RFID adoption model based on the interorganizational information systems (IOS) view of the firm that integrates the various strands of research into the framework. The study draws from the related information technology and interorganizational information systems literatures to explore organizational factors associated with the adoption of RFID. A model of the associations between information technology and interorganizational information systems use, social support, power structure, organizational readiness, procedural flexibility, and top management support is developed, and hypotheses are advanced about the relationships among these constructs. An empirical survey was conducted among 500 logistics service firms in Taiwan. A total of 131 valid observations were analyzed using the partial least squares technique. Results showed that RFID adoption has positive effects on business practices, which in turn improves operational performance. We address the value of certain interactive firm behaviors in RFID adoption and identify related constructs of RFID adoption in terms of their efficiency and value for logistics service firms. These results have implications for both education and practice.     

Profit Sharing in Portugal: Why Higher Productivity?

The paper studies some characteristics of Portuguese profit‐sharing (PS) firms based on a sample of 192 manufacturing firms. Some issues are examined that could help explain observed productivity differences such as the performance contingency of PS payments and the complementary or substitution nature of these payments regarding wages. The higher productivity found for PS firms seems to be more related to higher total remuneration in these firms than to the specific PS pay formula. The issues of why, how and by whom PS payments are determined could clarify the exact nature of our findings.     

Understanding the emergence of redistributed manufacturing: an ambidexterity perspective

Abstract

This paper extends operations strategy theory on efficiency and flexibility trade-offs to the emergent phenomenon of redistributed manufacturing (RDM). The study adopts a multiple-case design including five small and five large pharmaceutical firms. We propose that organizations can gain the efficiency benefits of centralized manufacturing and the flexibility advantages of RDM by building an ambidexterity capability. To build such a capability, large firms can structurally partition their manufacturing and supply management functions, with one sub-unit managing centralized production and the other RDM. Smaller enterprises can build an ambidexterity capability by creating the right organizational context, where multi-skilled workers switch between efficient and flexible tasks. This paper contributes to theory by explaining the emergence of RDM using an organizational ambidexterity lens, laying the groundwork for new theory development in the field. We provide managers with a practical example of how to build an ambidexterity capability to realize flexibility and efficiency advantages.     

基于β系数优化的动态投资组合策略研究

本文提出一种股票动态投资组合策略，首先通过上升和下降贝塔来优选行业，然后在选择的行业中构造股票投资组合。对于股票投资组合，利用均值方差投资组合模型作为内核，通过引入参考时间窗口和持有期限窗口两个外生参数构建动态的均值-方差模型，并实证检验了模型的可行性。然后再经过多项业绩评价指标对比分析得出动态投资组合策略的收益明显优于被动投资策略，这种动态投资组合策略能够获得部分超额收益并且具有更好的可靠性。本研究为投资者提供了一种定量的投资组合管理方法，并从侧面验证了我国股市的非有效性。