Collaborative practices in new product development projects involving suppliers

Abstract

Collaboration with suppliers in New Product Development (NPD) is essential for business competitiveness. However, the management of such collaborative project needs to focus on interactions between team members from different companies since they performed inter-organizational activities. While the impact of collaboration with suppliers on NPD project performance has been widely studied, the investigation of practices to support daily collaborative activities between both teams has received limited attention. This paper aims at developing a framework of operational practices for successful inter-organizational collaboration in NPD. The practices enacted by both project teams in six case studies were examined according to the stages of the collaboration and a knowing perspective. The results revealed some peculiarities linked to the inter-organizational context. Practices interact with each other across stages with a specific dynamic. More particularly, early in the project, practices to justify the collaboration with the suppliers are determinant for practices related to the creation of social interactions between project members and project commitment. The results also show that boundary objects are useful formal socialization mechanisms for supporting the undertaking of collaborative work.     

Recent and Past Governance Reforms in Latin America: What Can We Learn?

By doing a parallel between old and new reforms on governance issues applied in Latin America, this paper seeks to identify learnings as well as to understand what is new and what is not from this type of policy endeavor. The article focuses on the analysis of the State reforms implemented in Latin America during the 1920s and those of the 1990s. It shows that modernization of public administration follows the State reform; that needs calling for modernization are permanent; and that while ends pursued by the State change in the long run, modernization has to be a permanent activity.

     

基于DEA的中国证券市场竞争力国际比较

证券交易所作为市场经济的轴心，其高效运行是经济持续健康发展的必要条件。近年来，中国证券市场不断发展，规模和竞争力都不断进步，这与其在国际化层面的落后表现不符。在Lo（2013）对全球最大45个交易所的竞争力研究的基础上，本文拓展了交易所国际化程度的指标，并且采用面板数据，针对沪深两所的竞争力变化进行深入研究。首先，本文利用2008年至2016年的面板数据和DEA-Malmquist方法研究沪深两所上市和交易竞争力的动态演变，并且给出近五年来45个证券交易所竞争力发展速度的排名。其次，本文利用2016年的截面数据和context-dependent DEA方法研究沪深两所当前的上市和交易竞争力以及国际化程度排名，并且将2013年的国际化程度排名与2016年进行对比，研究近年来我国证券市场国际化程度的变化。结果表明，与Lo（2013）的评价结果相比，两个交易所的综合排名快速提升，上交所的上市竞争力和深交所的交易竞争力已经跻身前列，但两市的发展并不平衡，尤其是上市竞争力差距明显。相对于2013年，沪深两所的国际化程度均有所提升，说明沪港通、深港通和QFⅡ等开放政策及市场规范建设措施成效显著，但总体处于落后水平，这是制约沪深交易所竞争力提升的关键要素。为了尽快打造世界一流的证券市场，实现资本强国目标，我们应该借鉴新加坡、香港、印度等市场的成功做法，重点做好去"政策市"和推进国际化两方面的工作，尤其是分红政策和股东保护监管，丰富交易品种，扩大互联互通，开设"国际板"等。相比国内外同类文献，本文创新引入了国际化程度指标，组合运用DEA-Malmquist和context-dependent DEA方法，并聚焦于国际情境下的沪深交易所竞争力动态演变和政策效应分析。     

Policy Theories in Hard Times? Assessing the Explanatory Power of Policy Theories in the Context of Crisis

Can the behavior of political actors in business-as-usual conditions be analyzed with the same theoretical framework as decision-making in situations characterized by uncertainty, ambiguity, complexity and urgency? After comparing major existing approaches and evaluating their explanatory logic under crisis circumstances, the present article develops a theoretical framework which explicitly accounts for the crisis characteristics at two stages of the policy making process, agenda-setting and decision-making. The bearing of policy-entrepreneurs, international networks, institutions and partisanship on policy outcomes critically depends on the specific workings on these levels in crisis-mode. These expectations are probed in an empirical re-evaluation of the 2011 Spanish pension reform.

     

High value manufacturing: Capability,appropriation, and governance

Manufacturing competitiveness is on many policy agendas, born out of a concern for firms in high-cost economies finding themselves outcompeted by low-cost rivals. Government policy makers and manufacturing firm strategists have put their faith in what we label as high value manufacturing (HVM). We see HVM as an incipient phenomenon currently in a situation of prescience, as something that is still “in-the-making,” with manufacturing firms trying to find ways to be able to step away from having to compete on price. This paper consults relevant strategy theories with the purpose to pinpoint the issues and problems that need to be accommodated for bringing HVM into being and for creating the effects that are anticipated. We found that HVM must be seen as a distributed activity, thus realizing complex functionality for a system-of-use, while being subjected to path constitution. For HVM to function, the firms involved need to find solutions to the capability problem, the appropriation problem, and the governance problem. We suggest that further research needs to involve itself in problem-solving activity to assist in bringing HVM about while simultaneously further developing strategy theory geared toward firms that are involved in a distributed activity like HVM.     

智力资本:21世纪旅游饭店战略竞争力的源泉

本文从21世纪旅游饭店战略竞争力角度出发,运用核心能力理论分析饭店持久竞争优势的来源将是对智力资本的开发、利用与保护,这不仅是时代发展的需要,也是饭店业竞争加剧的必然结果.文章还结合智力资本的内容对其作用的更好发挥提出了几点建议.     

Improving supply chain responsiveness through Advanced Manufacturing Technology: the mediating role of internal and external integration

Abstract

Responsiveness is one of the key performance factors that firms need to face up to the challenges posed by today’s markets. Many manufacturing firms are investing in advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) with a view to improving competitiveness. However, empirical evidence shows that investments in AMT alone do not lead to improvements in performance. In this study, a model that links AMT implementation and responsiveness through internal integration and external integration is proposed. A sample of 441 Spanish industrial companies was used to test the model through structural equation modelling. The findings highlight that internal integration needs to be supplemented with external integration in order to ensure that the implementation of AMT will result in improved responsiveness. Supply chain managers should focus on integration within the supply chain – firstly internal and later external – to obtain returns on investments in AMT in the form of improved flexibility and more reliable and faster deliveries.     

Aspects of manufacturing strategy

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly important for manufacturing organizations to articulate clear and coherent manufacturing strategies that support their long term business objectives. In particular, manufacturing strategy should take conscious account of the competitive posture adopted by the organization in each of the product/market segments in which it has decided to participate. This paper discusses the various ways in which a systemic manufacturing strategy can contribute to an organization's competitiveness, and the processes by which such a strategy can be developed. Some important and often neglected issues concerning the development of the individual components of a manufacturing strategy are examined and the problems and issues of strategy implementation are discussed.     

A global meaning of supply chain social sustainability

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to help reduce tensions in supply chain social sustainability (SCSS) decisions by providing a common global, contextual definition of social sustainability. This exploratory study utilised an inductive structured interview method to capture SCSS concept meanings. Those interviewed are from, have lived, and worked in developed economies, emerging economies and the base of the pyramid (BOP) economies. The results present a new global baseline definition of SCSS to inform theory and practice by finding that SCSS meanings differ not only between the different levels of economic development, but also within the levels as well. Culture, community and whether basic human needs are met all weigh into perspectives of what this concept is and should entail; a broad, contingent definition is most appropriate moving forward for sustainability planning and execution. Further research with stakeholders in more countries and communities is needed to validate our proposal.     

National Competitiveness: A Question of Cost Conditions or Institutional Circumstances?

The issue of national competitiveness is a matter of considerable importance to both managers and public policy makers alike. Business scholars reflect this importance by their annual production of international indices of country competitiveness. Nevertheless, the notion of national competitiveness is controversial and has both (i) a narrow, concise conception that relates primarily to cost conditions as determined by exchange rates, and (ii) a broader, more nebulous conception that comprises the institutional and systemic circumstances of an economy, such as legal, governmental, public policy and other factors framing countries' wider business environments. In practical managerial terms, national competitiveness is a combination of both these narrow and broad conceptions. However, exactly how important cost conditions as opposed to institutional circumstances are to national competitiveness from a practical business perspective has never been investigated and is not known. This study uses qualitative and quantitative data gathered from senior firm executives in a specimen economy to find out. Hierarchical regression analyses suggest that institutional circumstances are significantly more important than cost conditions to the competitiveness of an economy from a practical managerial viewpoint.     

Integrated Education for Resilient Urban Adaptation: Wildfire Risk Reduction in Australia

Abstract

Urban and regional planning education seeks, often through highly applied teaching, to develop students’ abilities allowing them to work meaningfully on emergent urban and regional issues. However, it is relatively uncommon that education itself develops alongside government policy and research agendas. This paper documents the development of a new tertiary wildfire management qualification prepared in partnership with planning and building agencies after the devastating 2009 Victorian wildfires. It is argued that the process of developing educational outcomes in this case paralleled an interactive and ongoing agenda of research, policy development and education that represents adaptive-ness facilitating resilience as learning and institutional change.     

Computer integrated manufacturing applications in an automotive factory

Abstract

System integration is critical to development and implementation of CIM (computer integrated manufacture). This paper outlines the elements of the CIM system implementation strategy and deals with the representation of CIM implementation stages in TO FAS; which is a car manufacturing factory. In TOFA?, a pilot CIM project has been completed with success and other projects are in the development phase.     

Causal factor relations of supply chain competitiveness via fuzzy DEMATEL method for Thai automotive industry

Abstract

The automotive industry is complex and global. An automotive supply chain involves multiple manufacturers and service providers in different parts of the chain across different countries. Diffusion of the global production system creates both opportunities and challenges for the supply chain itself as well as production base countries. Thailand is a production base for over 15 automotive brands. The industry contributes significantly to the Thai economy and employs approximately half a million people. To address competitiveness of the Thai automotive industry, its supply chain is studied in this paper. Ten factors affecting the competitiveness of the Thai automotive supply chain are analysed through the fuzzy DEMATEL method. The method forms a structural model that categorises the causal or effect roles of the factors, and the degree at which they impact the supply chain. This study focuses on Tier 1 and Tier 2 manufacturers of the supply chain. The results reveal that there are three common causal factors and four common effects in both tiers. The other four factors play different roles in different tiers. Managerial implications relating to these factors are also discussed and certain recommendations proposed in order to enhance the competitiveness of the Thai automotive supply chain.     

The contribution of foreign subsidiaries to host country national competitiveness

In this article, we develop a conceptual model of national competitiveness, focusing on the influence of foreign subsidiaries on the competitiveness of their host countries. Essentially, we view foreign subsidiaries as potential sources of resources important to a nation in developing and maintaining its international competitiveness. We argue that there is a set of subsidiary characteristics that enables a foreign subsidiary to contribute to the national competitiveness of its host country. These characteristics include the strategic role of the subsidiary, the level of technology employed in the subsidiary's processes, the type of training provided by the parent company, and the degree to which the subsidiary is part of an interdependent network of international subunits of the firm. National policy implications are discussed.     

Modeling corporate citizenship and turnover intention: social identity and expectancy theories

Drawing upon the expectancy theory and social identity theory, this study proposes a model that explains how perceived corporate citizenship influences turnover intention. In the proposed model, perceived economic and legal citizenships affect turnover intention indirectly via the full mediation of career development expectation, while perceived economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic citizenships impact turnover intention indirectly via the full mediation of organizational identification. The hypotheses of this study were empirically tested by conducting a survey on employees in the tourism industry. The empirical findings show that a firm’s corporate citizenship can provide a competitive advantage in retaining its employees by simultaneously boosting their career development expectation and organizational identification. Lastly, managerial implications and limitations of this study based on empirical results are presented for in-depth discussion.

     

What Future for Green Infrastructure Planning? Evaluating the Changing Environment for Green Infrastructure Planning Following the Revocation of Regional Planning Policy in England

ABSTRACT

The revocation of the regional tier of planning by the UK Coalition Government in 2010 removed the established framework of strategic planning in England. Using a case study of green infrastructure (GI), this paper examines whether revocation has negatively impacted the development of environmental, and specifically GI policies and practice. It questions if changing government policy narratives have hindered advocacy and subsequently the delivery of GI and the extent to which it has been able to position itself as a mainstream approach in planning. Using the development of the RSS in England, and the North-East and East of England sub-regional GI strategies (areas of significant policy development), as case studies, the paper presents an ex-ante evaluation prior to revocation of the evolution of GI policy at a regional scale, alongside an ex-post assessment (2011–2015) of its continued growth within sub-regional policies. The paper concludes that whilst RSSs provided a promotional forum, that revocation has not negatively impacted upon GI development, as its advocates have facilitated a supportive policy-implementation environment which has led to the development of more integrated approaches in planning praxis.     

Development and validation of a lean supply chain management measurement instrument

It is widely argued that to be competitive, a company not only needs to focus on internal aspects but on the entire supply chain. Lean supply chain management has become a means of enhancing competitiveness by improving efficiency and increasing flexibility at all stages of the supply chain. This research develops and validates a lean supply chain management measurement instrument. A two-phase approach is used for scale development and refinement. In the first phase, a literature review is conducted to identify definitions of lean supply chain management and agile supply chain management and their corresponding measurement items. In the second phase, the lean supply chain management measurement instrument is validated using survey data based on scales developed in the first phase by 59 scholars with experience in lean management and/or supply chain management. The results provide a structured and comprehensive measure of lean supply chain management indicating that there are two differentiated dimensions in the measurement instrument: one related to the operational aspects of lean supply chain strategy implementation and the second related to lean supply chain planning.     

Consumers,clothing retailers and production planning and control in the smart city

Abstract

Though there has been much talk of smart cities, it is still unclear what the concept means and what the role of their inhabitants might be in the development of such cities. There is a tendency to focus on technology and infrastructure and forget that cities are places for people to live. To counter this, smart city planners need to recognise that people’s needs can and should influence and shape their environment, rather than concentrating too much on technology or the built environment. In order to understand how smart cities can serve the needs of their inhabitants, we will examine the specific example of the fashion clothing industry and its development of omni-channel retailing. This will show that retailers, driven by technology-smart and fashion-conscious consumers, are reshaping the clothing supply chain to achieve greater integration, flexibility and speed. Central to this process is the manufacturers’ ability to create production planning and control (PPC) systems capable of operating effectively in an omni-channel environment. The paper presents a Composite Model of Enterprise Planning which can aid the development of such PPC systems. The paper concludes that changes within the fashion clothing industry indicate how smart cities can develop and are developing, and that although these changes are facilitated by technology, they are driven by the necessity to meet consumers’ needs.     

Universal-deterministic and probabilistic hypotheses in operations management research: a discussion paper

Abstract

Based on Karl Popper’s approach to science, this conceptual article aims at promoting a discussion on important issues debated in the OM literature. Our focus is on the different types of hypotheses used in OM investigations and the implications of this for the formulation and testing of theory with an emphasis on case study research. Given that Popper’s methodology calls for an adequate testing of scientific propositions (universal-deterministic or probabilistic), we illustrate how case study research can be used to conduct a severe test of a scientific theory. It is also explained how case studies can be utilized to propose universal-deterministic hypotheses that should then be tested. Our investigation further discusses why it is important to clearly acknowledge the differences between the two types of hypotheses. Otherwise, inadequate research designs, deficient policy advice, and other similar problems, can arise. Topics for future research and discussion are also offered.     

执行时间视角下的可再生能源发电项目激励政策优化研究

为实现可持续发展并降低温室气体排放,中国需大力发展可再生能源,而激励政策对可再生能源发展具有重要推动作用。鉴于此,本文采用实物期权方法评价了中国可再生能源发电项目激励政策的实施效果：首先分析了可再生能源项目的经济性,提出模型假设,接着构建并求解实物期权模型。为更直观地评价激励政策效果,本文利用最优执行条件求解项目预期执行时间和不同技术水平下的激励政策最优值。最后,以光伏发电项目为例进行实证分析。研究表明：①目前,中国光伏产业还难以独立发展,仍需国家政策的支持,但现行或曾实施的光伏激励政策存在超额激励现象。②随着技术水平的提高,为鼓励投资者及时投资,政府需提高激励力度。③从政府支出、政策效果和技术影响三个角度综合分析,单项激励政策中上网电价政策效果最佳,但政府支出较高;价格补贴政策效果偏弱,但政府支出较低;与其他两项政策相比,成本补偿政策效果较差。