基于个性化需求的产品竞争供应链结构选择

基于"制销分离"与"定制一体"两种结构选择,构建个性化产品供应链处于非竞争与竞争环境下的博弈模型,在引入一个实际案例的基础上,运用算例仿真比较分析两种运营模式下的供应链运作策略和盈利差异。结果显示：与制销分离结构相比,个性化产品供应链选择定制一体结构,有利于匹配产品个性化制造、提升产品个性化水平和市场需求、增加供应链的期望收益;个性化产品供应链选择制销分离结构时,适度的批发价格激励能够提升产品个性化水平、更好满足消费者个性化需求、改善供应链的运营绩效,分销商适度让利加大批发价格激励力度可显著促进产品个性化制造互动、提升产品个性化水平;竞争将消减个性化产品供应链的运营绩效,但选择定制一体结构可显著提升竞争力。     

CAX-ICT/ERP技术对敏捷制造战略决策的调节效应

本文从战略的市场观出发,探讨敏捷制造战略的决策机理,以及数字化制造技术对决策模型的影响.通过对敏捷制造战略、制造战略一致性、使能技术等理论的研究,本文认为竞争优先权在市场环境认知对敏捷制造战略的作用中不仅仅起到了间接效应,还有可能起到中介效应.而且企业数字化制造技术和信息技术的应用程度对于敏捷制造战略的决策起到了调节作用.在理论假设的基础上,本文构建了结构方程模型,包括市场环境认知对敏捷制造战略的总效应模型,以及竞争优先权的中介效应模型.在国际制造业战略调查2005(International Manufacturing Strategy Survey,IMSSⅣ)的支持下,本文对假设进行验证分析.实证结果显示,竞争优先权具有显著的中介效应,甚至是完全中介效应.而数字化制造技术和信息技术的应用程度,也对敏捷制造战略的决策起到了显著的调节效应.     

Reaching the Board: Factors Facilitating the Progression of Marketing Executives to Senior Positions in British Companies

The scarcity of marketing executives on the boards of directors of large British companies has been the subject of much discussion in recent years. Yet empirical research into the antecedents of board membership for marketing managers has been sparse. This study surveyed senior marketers in 209 registered companies in the food and beverages manufacturing sector with the aim of establishing some of the main factors that distinguish marketing managers who had attained board level positions and those who had not. Possible determinants of board membership covered by the investigation comprised the personal background of the manager (elite credentials, functional specialism, knowledge of general and financial management, social behaviour, emotional intelligence), the competitive environment of the business, whether marketing performance was measured systematically, and the degree of the sales orientation of the firm.     

Creating a manufacturing strategy to suit your business

The development of manufacturing strategy requires approaches and techniques different from those used in the past. To play its proper role in establishing competitive advantage, the contribution of manufacturing must be recognized explicitly and exploited in conjunction with marketing, design and purchasing. Strategy and implementation are inseperable, and are a vital force in overcoming resistance to change.     

Investment in Facility Changeover Flexibility for Early Entry into High‐Tech Markets

A model is introduced to analyze the manufacturing‐marketing interface for a firm in a high‐tech industry that produces a series of high‐volume products with short product life cycles on a single facility. The one‐time strategic decision regarding the firm's investment in changeover flexibility establishes the link between market opportunities and manufacturing capabilities. Specifically, the optimal changeover flexibility decision is determined in the context of the firm's market entry strategy for successive product generations, the changeover cost between generations, and the production efficiency of the facility. Moreover, the dynamic pricing policy for each product generation is obtained as a function of the firm's market entry strategy and manufacturing efficiency. Our findings provide insights linking internal manufacturing capabilities with external market forces for the high‐tech and high‐volume manufacturer of products with short life cycles. We show the impact of manufacturing efficiency and a firm's ability to benefit from volume‐based learning on the dynamic pricing policy for each product generation. The results demonstrate the benefits realized by a firm that works with its manufacturing equipment suppliers to develop more efficient and flexible technology. In addition, we explore how opportunities afforded by pioneer advantage enable a firm operating a less efficient facility to realize long term competitive advantage by deploying an earlier market entry strategy.     

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.     

Decision support tool for lean product and process development

Lean and concurrent engineering (CE) are widely acknowledged business process improvement strategies. These strategies can improve processes, reduce costs, and cut waste enabling organisations to remain competitive. Lean manufacturing offers an enterprise-wide methodology that improves reliability and flexibility while reducing lead-times and inventory carrying costs. Companies in manufacturing and service sectors are focusing on integrating lean manufacturing methodology with other applications, so that, all their systems and processes are aligned. This article proposes a CE framework based on application of information technology and object-oriented methodology for lean manufacturing. This approach expected to give manufacturing companies an extra edge in today's competitive market. A case study is presented in this article to demonstrate the effectiveness of CE framework in a machine tool manufacturing company. CE practice was adopted for new products, to align the systems and processes of the company. Product development lead-time was found to decrease by more than 50% compared to similar development projects carried out by the company. The need for rework was found to be negligible and the development cost was reduced considerably.     

Database marketing for competitive advantage

Achieving fully integrated Database Marketing is a long way off for most companies but the technology to achieve it is available today. More and more companies in different sectors are increasing the degree of automation in their marketing every year. By the 1990s there will be major manufacturing and distribution companies able to claim that their marketing is truly integrated with all their other functional activities through database marketing.     

Competitive Advantage, Quality Strategy and the Role of Marketing

The improvement of product and service quality has been widely discussed in the literature as an appropriate competitive strategy for achieving sustainable competitive advantage. However, neither the linkage between competitive strategy and quality, nor the role of marketing in the implementation of quality-based competitive strategy, has received detailed attention in the marketing and strategy literatures. This paper explores the interface between marketing and quality management in seller organizations, by developing a contingency model of quality strategy. This model is grounded in the literatures of marketing, strategy and quality management, and the perceptions of managers uncovered in exploratory interviews.     

BUILDING THE POM CURRICULUM FOR A PRIVATIZING ECONOMY: AN EVALUATION FROM MANUFACTURERS‘ PERSPECTIVES

Manufacturing in Eastern European countries is in transition to open-market competition. One transitional issue is university education for operations managers from the perspective of business practitioners. Survey responses by 203 manufacturing professionals from 83 companies provide recommendations for operations management education at the University of Sibiu in Romania. The recommendations substantially reorient curricula that traditionally prepared students for professions in centrally controlled economies rather than for open-market competition. The redesigned curriculum has an educational advantage in its integration of production, marketing, and engineering, all under one college of engineering. However, the curriculum is inconsistent with some tenets of quality management and just-in-time production. Also, survey data imply a need for coverage of competitive manufacturing strategy that, currently, is underrepresented in the curriculum.     

TRACKING PRODUCT-PROCESS INTERACTIONS: A RESEARCH PARADIGM*

To design (or redesign) a competitive product, it is imperative that both the sales and manufacturing cost implications are assessed in a structured way. That is, the interactive (multidimensional) aspects of manufacturing and marketing variables need to be positioned in a proper perspective so that the system impact of variation in one or more variables may be ascertained quickly. In this paper we show how some of the system-related paradigms can be used as foundations for developing quantitative and qualitative models for tracking such interactive ímpacts. The emphasis is not on building complex mathematical models to solve specific problems but on providing a framework where system properties expressed as simple postulates can be used in an intelligent way to assess the impact of improvements in specific product-process scenarios.     

Editorial Another milestone

A Master Production Scheduling Decision Support System within a multi-product medical supplies market has the dual task of providing good customer service levels while maintaining minimum reasonable levels of finished goods stock in the face of considerable internal manufacturing lead time and customer demand uncertainty. This paper examines the critical design parameters within an adaptive model highlighting how the total system orders in the internal pipeline are utilized in the decision-making process for assessing how much to load the internal manufacturing pipeline. Two different methods for tracking manufacturing lead times within the adaptive loop are also considered. Classical control concepts are applied within the Decision Support System (DSS) to avoid any long-term drift in finished stocks. Finally scenario analysis is performed via simulation for a set of design parameters and a range of stimuli typical of company operating situations. An effective decision support system design in terms of architecture and parameter settings is recommended based upon the ability of the model to maintain high customer service levels. The DSS readily interfaces between marketing and production functions to enhance company competitive advantage across a wide range of products.     

Aligning operations,marketing, and competitive strategies to enhance performance: An empirical test in the retail banking industry

The close linkage between competitive strategy and functional strategic activities is asserted to be a precondition to the achievement of optimal business performance. This study explores how the relationship between (and among) operations, marketing, and competitive strategies affects organizational performance in the banking industry. Our findings show that: (a) competitive strategy moderates the relationship between operations and marketing strategic activities, and organizational performance, (b) certain integrated strategic decisions of operations and marketing functions have a significant impact on organizational performance, and (c) the performance of retail banks within a strategic group differs depending on the quality of the strategic fit.     

Can a Previous Alliance Between an Acquirer and a Target Affect Acquisition Performance?

Throughout the 1990s, organizations have been combining resources through acquisitions and alliances in record numbers. An acquirer’s previous alliance with a target may give an acquirer target-specific information and experience that may be an advantage-producing resource in selection, valuation and integration of the target. This study investigates whether a previous alliance between an acquirer and a target affects post-acquisition performance and finds that a previous alliance between an acquirer and a target correlates positively with acquisition performance. Acquirers’ previous R&D, technology transfer, manufacturing and marketing alliances with targets benefit acquisition performance more than their previous licensing alliances with targets. Furthermore, target-specific learning effects are strongest and most beneficial to acquisition performance in acquirers’ previous technology transfer and manufacturing alliances with targets.     

Optimal Acquisition of FMS Technology Subject to Technological Progress*

In order to gain competitive advantage, a firm must link its technology choice to its total manufacturing strategy and business unit's goals. A dynamic model is presented to examine the strategic decision concerning the acquisition of flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) technology. A major contribution of this model is its ability to capture the strategic benefits of FMS with respect to economies of scope and technological progress. Decisions such as the timing and size of new technology acquisition and the scrapping of conventional capacity are explored as a firm plans for the upgrading of its facility to meet future dynamic strategic goals. This model may be used to assist with strategic planning because it identifies the critical relationships and trade-offs between various exogenous forces (such as market growth or decay, the cost of acquiring flexible manufacturing systems, and the rate of technological progress) and the decision variables considered.     

Where marketing planning fails

This article discusses the results of a recent study of marketing planning in U.K. manufacturing companies. A sample survey revealed some strengths in marketing planning, but also revealed many weaknesses. For example, only a small proportion of companies prepare a comprehensive marketing plan. These identified weaknesses suggest that, in many situations, marketing planning has failed and the author suggests where it has failed. After discussing the results in detail, the author summarizes the identified strengths and weaknesses and suggests several implications for managers who are responsible for marketing planning.     

COMPETITIVE PRIORITIES: INVESTIGATING THE NEED FOR TRADE‐OFFS IN OPERATIONS STRATEGY

A heated debate continues over the need for trade‐offs in operations strategy. Some researchers call for plants to focus on a single manufacturing capability and devote their limited resources accordingly, while others claim that advanced manufacturing technology (amt) enables concurrent improvements in quality, cost, flexibility, and delivery. Yet there is little empirical evidence for or against the trade‐off model. In response, this study addresses the question: “To what extent do manufacturing plants view competitive priorities as trade‐offs?” We employ survey data collected from managers and operators in 110 plants that have recently implemented AMT. Our findings suggest that trade‐offs remain. However, perceived differences in competitive priorities are subtle and may vary across levels of the plant hierarchy.     

INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT: RESOURCE TOOLKIT FOR RESEARCH AND TEACHING

Increasing globalization has affected the way that firms are managed today. While its impact on competitive strategy, marketing, and finance has been well accepted and well studied, its effect on the firm's technology and operations has not. This paper provides resources for research and teaching in international technology and operations management (itom). Included are an extensive bibliography of papers and an overview of large-scale survey research initiatives in the area. By bringing together and categorizing this body of work, we hope to facilitate further work in the area and to help define ITOM'S scope.     

MADE IN THE WORLD: THE GLOBAL SPREAD OF PRODUCTION

We are moving rapidly into an age of transnational manufacturing, where things made in one country are shipped across national borders for further work, storage, sales, repair, remanufacture, recycle, or disposal; but our laws, policies, and management practices are slow in adjusting to this reality. They are often based on inaccurate premises. This article examines these premises and suggests what they imply for management of manufacturing. First, a common view is that manufacturing investment in the industrialized nations is declining and shifting to the developing countries. This is not true. Investment in manufacturing in both industrialized and developing nations is increasing and, in absolute value, there is a lot more investment in industrialized countries than in developing countries. Second, a related view argued by many is that manufacturing does not have a bright future in the rich countries. I argue that manufacturers can thrive in the industrialized countries if they learn how to add more value for the end users. They must go beyond productivity improvement to producing more technologically advanced and customized products, responding faster to changing customer demands, and appending more services to their products. Doing all this is easier in the industrialized countries because the needed skills and infrastructure are more readily available there. Third, another potentially misleading notion is related to why companies invest in manufacturing abroad. Access to low-cost production is not the main motivation in most cases; rather it is access to market. Superior global manufacturers use their foreign factories for much more: to serve their worldwide customers better, preempt competitors, work with sophisticated suppliers, collect critical marketing, technological, and competitive intelligence, and attract talented individuals into the company. They build integrated global production networks, not collections of disjointed factories that are spread internationally. Thus their investment in manufacturing abroad is not a substitute for investment at home, it is a complement. Building and managing such integrated global factor networks is the next challenge in manufacturing.     

面向制造业务国际化的竞争优先权转移研究

从企业国际化的视角,研究了制造业务国际化过程中的竞争优先权转移问题。在对竞争优先权理论文献研究的基础上,提出研究命题:对于不同制造业务国际化类型的制造企业,其所选择的竞争优先权不尽相同。在IMSS2009的支持下,基于制造业务国际化程度,将企业分为本土、本洲以及全球制造型企业,分析了国际化制造企业的竞争优先权特征以及不同国际化程度的制造企业竞争优先权要素的特征差异。根据研究成果,构建了面向制造业务国际化的竞争优先权转移模型。