An exploratory study of manufacturing strategy practices of machinery manufacturing companies in India

This paper presents findings of a survey on manufacturing strategy practices adopted by the Indian machinery manufacturing companies (IMMC). Based on the survey, three companies have been selected for detailed case studies. Their experiences in the manufacturing strategy process are analyzed. Although the companies represented diversity in terms of product type, sales volume, and geographic location, they share several commonalties including use of advanced manufacturing technologies and use of several improvement techniques. The process of strategy formulation varied among the companies in terms of participants, complexity and degree of formalization. Competitive priorities, order winners and critical success factors are also identified for these companies. Based on strategic manufacturing issues, manufacturing competence index and business performance index for the companies has been worked out.     

Technology management in Indian companies

Since 1966, the Indian Government has progressively restricted imports of technology. Together with constraints on the growth of big business houses and of foreign firms, the next consequence of the Government's policies has been that it takes 3–5 years for a large firm to get a sanction for the import of technology and its utilization; this entails advance planning of technology imports, and advance action for the generation of alternatives within the country, should the imports not be allowed.

The restrictions on technology imports accentuated the need for internal research and development; at the same time, the recession that began in 1966, and whose effects still continue to be felt in some sectors, squeezed industrial profits and limited the resources that could be allocated to R & D. Hence large Indian firms have felt the need for methods of rational allocation of R & D resources among competing projects, and a number of them have been feeling their way towards general criteria of allocation. Some of their efforts are described here. They are essentially exploratory; but since R & D management is still a problematic area even in industrial countries, an analysis of Indian practices is perhaps of more general interest.     

Quality circle failures in UK manufacturing companies—A study

This paper presents the results of a study of quality circle failures in UK manufacturing companies. A questionnaire survey formed the first part of the investigation, which reveals that the majority of companies which implement quality circles should expect to encounter some form of failure. The first three years of operating a quality circle programme represent the critical period for establishing long-term survival of the programme, whilst in the case of individual circles it is the first 18 months. The results indicate that white collar circles are more difficult to sustain over time than are circles in blue collar areas. The main reasons for circle failure include: rejection of the concept by top management and trade unions; the company restructuring, redundancies and labour turnover; circle leaders lacking time to organise meetings and a lack of co-operation from middle and first-line management. It is pointed out, that despite an average circle failure rate of 20%, there is a high level of satisfaction with quality circles amongst the respondents.     

Chemicals,companies, and countries: The concept of diffusion in management research

In the field of organizational behavior, the term “diffusion” has come to be implicitly paired with the concept of innovation and a peculiar set of conceptual choices. We explore how this came about, and examine the evolution of the concept “diffusion” from its inception in the English language through its use in the natural and social sciences to its current meaning in organizational research. A sensemaking perspective on researchers’ cognition helps us explain the changing meaning of the concept, and alerts researchers to the subtle but far-reaching effects of revisions in a field's conceptual language. Even though the field of organizational studies ostensibly treats diffusion as a neutral phenomenon, it implicitly narrates diffusion as a mechanical and positive process that should be welcomed and encouraged. The implications of this reframing become even more important with the increasing focus on innovation in recent diffusion studies. The diffusion of new products among consumers and the diffusion of market institutions around the world are things of a rather different nature and consequence, but treating them as implicitly equivalent “innovations” that “diffuse” naturalizes and hence legitimates them. We conclude by noting implications of our findings for exploring the evolution of meaning for other concepts, and their utilization in research on organizations.     

Flexible manufacturing systems: Major breakthrough in manufacturing management

With the implementation of fully automated plants, a new awareness of the opportunities for manufacturing cost reduction is emerging. To fully exploit the capabilities of these expensive and highly automated systems to the survival of modern industries, it is very important for the managers to understand their behaviour, and the vital role of management in planning and shaping the factory of the future.     

Strategic management in major Japanese hightech companies

Since the early 1980s, there has been remarkable progress in advanced technology in Japan and in leading Western countries. What is the present situation in technological development in major Japanese industries and what are the implications for strategic management? The author describes how Japanese industries have harnessed new technologies and suggests a number of concepts which underly these trends. Given the imperatives of advanced technology, he emphasizes the importance of positioning the technology development strategy in the context of strategic management paying particular attention to developing an open organizational culture through a flexible corporate planning system.     

Management performance: An empirical study of the manufacturing companies in Taiwan

This paper proposes a methodology to measure the management performance of the firms of an industry. The idea is to break down the very complicated concept of management into subjects such that the performance of each subject can be measured. The performances of all subjects are then aggregated to form an overall performance of management. The weights associated with the subjects which play a decisive role in aggregation are determined from a two-stage method. This method takes into account both the experience of the experts and the reality reflected by the data collected from the firms. Therefore, the weights generated are more acceptable to the firms. An example of the manufacturing firms in Taiwan illustrates how management is broken down into subjects and how their performances are aggregated. A regression analysis shows that management, in addition to capital and labor, makes a significant contribution to organizational performance. Although the discussion of this paper is confined to the manufacturing industry in Taiwan, the methodology can be applied to other industries and other countries.     

Innovation, cultural values, and the management of change in British hospitals

This paper describes the results of a study of innovation in the management teams of 27 UK hospitals. It is argued that the content of innovations provides an accurate representation of the underlying cultural values of the management teams, and the cultural values which they seek to purvey within the wider organizational settings. The authors propose that values in action (as opposed to espoused values) are manifest in the range of innovations introduced by top management within organizations. Using a typology of organizational culture, they categorize the innovations introduced by the management teams, in order to map their underlying cultural values. The results indicate predominant orientations of hospital management teams towards rational goal and hierarchical values in the current context of health care in Britain. Internal climate and service innovations were relatively infrequent, suggesting that the hospitals were dominated by management concern for control rather than flexibility. The costs of such cultural strategies in health service settings are discussed.     

Capacitated qualification management in semiconductor manufacturing

In semiconductor manufacturing, machines are usually qualified to process a limited number of recipes related to products. It is possible to qualify recipes on machines to better balance the workload on machines in a given toolset. However, all machines of a toolset do not have equal uptimes and may further suffer from scheduled and unscheduled downtimes. This may heavily impact an efficient recipe-to-machine qualification configuration. In this paper, we propose indicators for recipe-to-machine qualification management based on the overall toolset workload balance under capacity constraints. The models, deployed in industry, demonstrate that the toolset capacity must be considered while managing qualifications. Industrial experiments show how capacity consideration leads to an optimal qualification configuration and therefore capacity utilization.     

Strategic information management in global manufacturing

Responding to new forces on the competitive landscape, global manufacturing companies are restructuring corporate cultures, organizational cofigurations and management coordination channels and styles. The emergence of flexibility as a prime competitive parameter for manufacturing is paralleled by companies shifting toward flexible, adaptive structures. A major challenge is to develop and deploy information technologies linking organizational subgroups for a streamlines process of new product/service creation and delivery. This article describes the convergence of information management and manufacturing activities over the past 30 years and suggests what the future will hold.     

Implementation of manufacturing strategy: A select study of Indian process companies

This paper presents findings of an extensive survey of Indian process companies. Based on the survey, three companies have been selected for detailed case studies. Their experiences in the manufacturing strategy process are analysed. Although the companies represented diversity in terms of product type, sales volume, longevity and geographic location, they shared several commonalities including use of advanced manufacturing technologies. The process of strategy formulation varied among the companies in terms of participants, complexity and degree of formalization. Competitive priorities, order winners and critical success factors are identified for these companies. Based on strategic manufacturing issues, manufacturing competence index for the companies has been worked out.     

Physician practice management companies: a failed concept

Is there a lesson? Famed investor Warren Buffet claims he never buys a company unless he personally understands the business. He admits he has missed a few real opportunities in the high technology sector. However, he is pleased to have avoided many disasters. Many physicians entered into PPMC deals without completely understanding the concept. Perhaps the lesson is to simply avoid a deal that does not make sense. Understand the market. Understand the business. If you, as a buyer, seller or partner cannot clearly understand how a transaction creates value that you can capture, walk away.     

Applications of neural networks in manufacturing management systems

Abstract. The inherent complexities of modern manufacturing require more sophisticated systems for their management. Neural networks, which are massively parallel interconnected networks, have been shown to have extensive applications in various systems that can be used in manufacturing management. An extensive amount of literature has been published on the applications of neural networks in manufacturing, yet no comprehensive review of this literature to date has been offered. In this paper, we review the concepts and applications of neural networks as they relate to various aspects of manufacturing management.     

Strategic choices and strategic management accounting in large manufacturing firms

Journal of Management and Governance - This study examines the relationship between strategic choices and the use of strategic management accounting (SMA) techniques in large manufacturing...