Replacing Voice Input With Technology That Provided Immediate Visual and Audio Feedback to Reduce Employee Errors

In this report from the field at two auto parts distribution centers, order selectors picked auto accessories (e.g., fuses, oil caps, tool kits) into industrial plastic totes as part of store orders. Accurately identifying all store order totes via the license plate number was a prerequisite for the warehouse management system (WMS) to track each tote to the correct sorting lane, the correct shipping door, the correct route, the correct store, and to invoice the store. Using voice technology, the order selector uttered the license plate number; however, in the event the utterance did not match the license plate number affixed to the lid of the tote, the tote was routed to a “penalty” area of the sorting lanes as a misidentified tote. Each misidentified tote cost the company approximately $500 in lost labor and lost sales. Replacing the utterance of the order selector with a scanning stylus that provided both a “good read” light indicator and a “good read” auditory beep informed the selector that the license plate had been scanned and reliably decreased the number of misidentified totes. The role of the organizational behavior management (OBM) practitioner in industrial settings in designing interventions that increase accuracy and productivity was examined.     

The potential for recall insurance to improve food safety

This paper explores the food safety implications of insurance products that compensate for business losses when food contamination causes a processing firm to initiate a recall. Discoveries of meat and poultry product contamination, in particular life-threatening pathogens, are increasing. The financial losses that follow a recall can be substantial as illustrated by several recent U.S. cases—Hudson Foods, Bil Mar, and Thorn Apple Valley Inc. Additionally, contaminated food product that escapes the current recall system poses a threat to consumer safety. The conceptual analysis presented here suggests that insurance underwriters could motivate earlier recalls and more diligent implementation of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP). With sound underwriting, these changes could ultimately reduce the incidence of illness and death from foodborne pathogens.     

产品召回供应链中线性保险合约与订货决策

考虑一个由单供应商和单制造商组成的二级供应链,在不确定市场需求情形下考虑产品召回,站在制造商角度研究供应链线性保险合约下的最优订货决策以及最优线性保险合约决策。研究表明,最优的订货决策与产品召回概率以及线性保险系数相关,存在唯一的最优订货量来最大化制造商的利润。对于密度函数倒数的导数较大的一般需求分布函数,最优的线性保险系数与线性保险合约的固定费用以及产品召回概率有关。当产品召回概率和线性保险合约的固定费用均较小时或者产品召回概率较大但线性保险合约的固定费用适中时,制造商通过选择线性保险合约可以改善自己的利润。     

Immediate Feedback on Accuracy and Performance: The Effects of Wireless Technology on Food Safety Tracking at a Distribution Center

The effects of wireless ring scanners, which provided immediate auditory and visual feedback, were evaluated to increase the performance and accuracy of order selectors at a meat distribution center. The scanners not only increased performance and accuracy compared to paper pick sheets, but were also instrumental in immediate and accurate data capture and tracking in compliance with the Public Health Security Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act (BTA) of 2002. The intervention, which required minimal training, successfully accelerated key operational processes and compliance with food safety mandates. The implications for Organizational Behavior Management practitioners are discussed.     

Improving Treatment Integrity in a Human Service Setting Using Lottery-Based Incentives

The present study was conducted to improve implementation fidelity of discrete trial training procedures. Three participants were selected from a special education school providing services for students with intellectual disabilities. Staff behaviors measured included the correct implementation of a prompt hierarchy, the accuracy of data recorded, the correct delivery of prompts, and whether procedures were correctly set up for the following day's activities. Intervention consisted of daily verbal and graphic feedback and a lottery-based incentive system in which staff had to perform at a set goal level for the week in order to be eligible for entry into a drawing. A multiple-baseline-across-participants design was utilized to evaluate the effects of the intervention package, and integrity improved consistently for all participants during the intervention.     

Understanding Consumer Confidence in the Safety of Food: Its Two-Dimensional Structure and Determinants

Understanding of the determinants of consumer confidence in the safety of food is important if effective risk management and communication are to be developed. In the research reported here, we attempt to understand the roles of consumer trust in actors in the food chain and regulators, consumer recall of food safety incidents, consumer perceptions regarding the safety of particular product groups, personality characteristics, and sociodemographics, as potential determinants of consumer confidence in the safety of food. Consumer confidence in the safety of food was conceptualized as consisting of two distinct dimensions, namely, "optimism" and "pessimism." On the basis of a representative sample of 657 Dutch consumers, structural equation modeling was applied to simultaneously estimate the effect of the determinants on both "optimism" and "pessimism." The results indicated that, to a considerable extent, both optimism and pessimism about the safety of food arise from consumer trust in regulators and actors in the food chain and the perceived safety of meat and fish rather than other product categories. In addition, support was found for the notion that optimism and pessimism are conceptually distinct, as these dimensions of confidence were partly influenced by different determinants. The results of this study imply that consumer confidence in the safety of food could be enhanced by improving both consumer trust in societal actors, and consumer safety perceptions of particular product groups.     

Partners in new product development: SC Johnson and the alliance for environmental innovation

In the previous issue of CES (Winter 1999), SC Johnson's early efforts at integrating core business decisions with environmental concerns were explored by researchers at INFORM, Inc. By gaining upper management attention, explicitly aligning environmental concerns with key business goals, and designing consistency into the overall company management system, SC Johnson was able to “break down the green wall” in the organization.In this follow-up article, CES explores a recent effort between the Alliance for Environmental Innovation and SC Johnson to further integrate environmental decision making throughout the organization. The project focused on: (1) creating practical tools to identify environmental considerations at the earliest stages of new product development, and, (2) addressing consumers' environmental needs in the conception and marketing of “greener” products. The Alliance and SC Johnson formed a task force that included both staff members from the Alliance, as well as members of the environmental, product development, product safety and marketing staffs at SC Johnson. This unique partnership has aided SC Johnson by more directly linking consumer and company environmental objectives to the new product development process.     

An Empirical Study of the Alignment Between Manufacturing and Marketing Strategies

It is widely recognised that manufacturing can be a formidable competitive weapon if equipped and managed properly, and that to achieve this success a company must have the correct alignment of manufacturing and marketing strategies. The authors considered there to be a need for empirical research into the effect of such methods within industry today. Their research was based on two questionnaires: the first was sent to 319 companies looking at levels of integration, the second to 20 of the responding companies concentrating on the development process and content of their individual strategies. Known models, internal integration and formal procedures were also investigated, none of which seem to be fully functional within any of the companies contacted. It became evident that the size of the company must be taken into consideration when formulating development plans, and that communication, cross-functional teams and formal product development techniques are essential to the success of any marketing strategy.     

When and with whom to cooperate? Investigating effects of cooperation stage and type on innovation capabilities and success

In times of saturated markets and decreasing product life cycles, the continuous development and successful launch of innovations are essential for profit-oriented organizations of any kind. Interorganizational cooperation enables companies to get better access to knowledge and capabilities in order to generate and successfully introduce innovations. While scientific research and management practice have acknowledged the importance of cooperation, little research effort is dedicated to empirically determine the effectiveness of cooperation intensity within different stages of the innovation process (cooperation stage) and with different partners (cooperation type). This article aims to fill these gaps by empirically examining the effects of cooperation intensity with different kinds of partners (horizontal, vertical and institutional cooperation) in different stages of new product development (concept and product development as well as implementation stage) on innovation capabilities and success of individual companies. Drawing upon a sample of 154 high-tech companies from the German B-2-B sector, our results reveal that it is in general beneficial for a company to cooperate. However, cooperation in concept and product development primarily improves a company's innovation capabilities while cooperation in the implementation stage primarily enhances innovation success of a company. With respect to cooperation type, vertical, horizontal as well as institutional cooperation significantly enhance innovation capabilities and success of a company. However, cooperation with institutional partners was found to be the most important contributor throughout all stages.     

The Effects of Safety Discrimination Training and Frequent Safety Observations on Safety-Related Behavior

The intent of the present study was to assess the effects of discrimination training only and in combination with frequent safety observations on five participants' safety-related behavior in a simulated office setting. The study used a multiple-baseline design across safety-related behaviors. Across all participants and behavior, safety improved from 53% during the baseline phase to 74% during the training phase, and improved further to 89% during the training plus observation phase. The results show that both discrimination training only and in combination with frequent observations improves safety-related behavior with a medium effect size. The study also measured participants' accuracy of observation, which was the extent of their correct classification of safe and at-risk behavior. Participants' accuracy of observation was above 80% and had little correlation with safety-related behavior. Based on the various measures, conducting observations appears to serve more than a skill acquisition function for the safety-related behavior.     

Evaluation of safety stock methods in multilevel material requirements planning (MRP) systems

This paper evaluates alternative methods of establishing the safety stock level taking into consideration of historical measures of forecasting accuracy and the needs for master production scheduling and material requirement planning under a rolling time horizon. A computer model is used to simulate the forecasting, master production scheduling and material planning activities in a company that produces to stock and the production activities are managed by multilevel MRP systems. The simulation output is analysed to evaluate the impact of safety stock methods on MRP system performance. The result of the study shows that using safety stock can help to reduce total cost, schedule instability and improve service level in the MRP systems. Guidelines are developed to help managers select methods to determine safety stock in MRP system operations.     

相关多质量特性的优化设计

针对小样本情形下的相关多质量特性优化设计问题,在运用田口(Taguchi)质量损失函数度量多质量特性的稳健性基础上,本文提出了使用多变量偏最小二乘(Partial Least-Squares,PLS)回归模型处理此类问题的新方法,并结合实际的工业案例进行了分析.结果表明,本文所提出的新方法能够有效地处理相关多质量特性的优化设计问题.     

缺陷汽车召回所需安排的最优维修店数目

讨论了缺陷汽车产品制造商在汽车召回事件中如何安排最优维修店数目。假设汽车制造商在召回期限内维修几乎全部召回汽车,车主逗留时间和维修时间都服从指数分布,并且假设维修人员会根据库存水平(车位)调整维修速度。选取制造商安排组织的维修店数目为决策变量,利用有限源排队理论建立了成本控制模型。搜索算法确定了最优的维修店数目,使得期望总成本最小。     

Motor vehicle recalls: Trends,patterns and emerging issues

This paper examines patterns and trends in motor vehicle safety recalls using a dataset based on 23.1 million vehicles registered in the UK between 1992 and 2002. A safety recall occurs when vehicle manufacturers call vehicles that have been sold and are in use back to their dealerships for safety-related remedial work. Safety recalls can be a strategic concern for car makers, having the potential to damage brand value, reduce stock price as well as resulting in significant direct costs. The data from this study show that the incidence of vehicle recalls is increasing—between 1998 and 2002 there was an average of over 120 recall incidents per annum in the UK, compared to less than 50 per annum between 1992 and 1994. Total numbers of vehicles recalled show no clear trend over time, but the absolute level of recalls year on year is very high: in the UK, 10.8 million vehicles were recalled during 1992–2002, representing 47% of all vehicle UK registrations in the period. Moreover, there are substantial differences in recall rates between different car manufacturers, suggesting that recall rates may be a useful indicator of process performance in the automotive design-and-production value chain. European and American producers have recall rates that are nearly three times greater than their East Asian counterparts. This paper concludes with some ideas that may explain these patterns and suggests an agenda for further research.     

The structure of employee attitudes to safety: A European example

This paper concerns organizational safety culture and the structure or architecture of employee attitudes to safety as part of that culture. It begins by reviewing the somewhat scant literature relevant to this area, and then reports a study, conducted in a European company, which collected and factor analysed data on employee attitudes to safety. The framework provided for the study was that offered by Purdham (1984), and the results suggested that employees' attitudes to safety, within this company (across occupation/occupational level and country), could be mapped By five orthogonal factors: personal scepticism, individual responsibility, the safeness of the work environment, the effectiveness of arrangements for safety, and personal immunity. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, and attention is drawn to their subsequent use in an intervention to enhance safety culture within the organization by attacking supervisors' attitudes to safety.     

Implementation of just-in-time methodology in a small company

This paper describes the implementation of JIT in a small manufacturing company and the benefits that resulted for the company's operations. Preliminary analysis identified various problems in the existing manufacturing operations. The pre-implementation and post-implementation conditions of the company arc detailed. The achievements of the JIT implementation included a reduction in material traversing, reduced lead limes and inventories leading to an overall reduction in the cost of manufacturing. A smooth flow of material from the raw material stage to the finished product stage was established. Three separate product lines were combined into a flexible manufacturing assembly line. With the adoption of a holistic approach to JIT implementation, it was found that even a small company can make significant strides towards world class manufacturing status. The experience gained by the company can encourage and benefit other small companies to embrace the JIT approach.     

行业竞争力导向的在线大规模定制产品族规模优化方法

客户导向的产品族规模优化方法在与竞争对手产品族相比时并不一定能使在线定制服务提供商获得竞争优势,还需要考虑竞争对手产品族对其产品族规模的影响。产品族规模优化应该在满足工程技术约束和制造规模经济性的基础上,引入产品功能配置元和结构配置元,结合客户需求强度和偏好分析,构建了行业竞争力导向的在线大规模定制产品族规模优化方法,最后结合案例证明该方法的有效性。     

Effect of product and geographic diversification on company performance: Evidence during an economic crisis

Based on a novel sample of Spanish listed companies from nonfinancial sectors, we explore the effect of product and geographic diversification on company performance during an economic downturn. The study develops comprehensive models to understand the interaction effect of both strategies on company performance. We find a U-shaped geographic diversification–performance relationship and no evidence of a positive effect from product diversification, unless combined with high levels of geographic diversification. The results show that companies improved their performance by combining these strategies. The results are robust after controlling for the endogeneity of both types of diversification. Our findings highlight that geographic diversification is an effective and valuable strategy in economic downturns. Furthermore, this study confirms the importance of the interaction between product and geographic diversification to determine the total effect of product or geographic diversification on company performance.     

基于制销供应链产品安全责任的消费者投资决策

本文运用博弈论的基本思想,从产品的安全性能(企业社会责任的一个方面)对消费者偏好的影响入手,对基于制销供应链联盟产品安全责任的消费者投资决策进行了研究。结果表明:要使g类制销联盟对履行安全责任的要求作出必要的反应,消费者应向消费者组织做出贡献,以确保g类制销联盟被选作为施压的目标;低产品安全责任满意度的消费者既不持有g类制销联盟的股票也不对消费者组织做贡献,而是选择个人捐赠产品安全事业;高产品安全责任满意度的消费者选择持有g类制销联盟的股票或者对消费者组织做贡献是对个人捐赠产品安全事业较好的替代;消费者的产品安全责任满意度与消费者是否选择持有b类制销联盟的股票无关。本文的研究成果能够对基于制销供应链联盟产品安全责任行为的消费者投资决策提供重要指导。     

基金公司竞争策略研究——基于产品创新和机制创新视角

本文以2004-2012年提供开放式基金的基金公司为研究对象,以基金公司市场份额为切入点,利用动态面板模型,检验了基金公司历史业绩、产品创新策略和机制创新策略在基金公司竞争中的有效性。实证结果显示历史业绩是影响基金公司市场竞争力的重要因素,基金投资者偏好具有产品创新能力和机制创新精神的基金公司,并不热衷于投资成立时间久、旗下基金数量众多的老牌金公司,对基金公司股东背景也没有显著偏好。进一步细分市场发现,在股票型基金市场上,实施创造明星策略有利于获得更高市场份额。在债券型基金市场上,提高新基金供给量和相对供给强度是最优策略。与股票型基金市场相同,在混合型基金市场上提供具有实质性创新特征的新基金、增加基金从业者持基的基金数量,有助于获得更大市场份额。因此,基金公司决策层在制定竞争战略时,应当考虑基金投资者对产品创新认知能力的提高和对利益绑定机制的诉求,依据基金类型的不同,设计具有针对性的竞争策略。