A review of the Chinese cultural influences on Chinese enterprise management

In order to create and sustain competitive advantage, a company should not only develop technologies to create products and processes that meet customer needs, but also stimulate a corporate culture that commits to continuous performance improvement. Managing corporate culture is one of a number of important factors that make for organizational change and business success. This paper reviews the cultural roots and identifies the characteristics of Chinese cultural values and management. A comparative analysis of the differences between Anglo-American and Chinese cultures is made. The cultural influences on Chinese management systems are then elaborated with reference to enterprise management in Mainland China and Hong Kong. With unique cultural heritage, collective orientation has a pervasive influence on the mode of Chinese management and organization. The prevailing Chinese culture values stress largely the paternalistic approach to management, acceptance of hierarchy and the importance of relationships. Today's Chinese enterprises need to determine changes in practice or value or both aspects of corporate culture in order to facilitate organizational change and maintain a competitive edge over their rivals. The paper also discusses the links of cultural values to employee involvement (EI) and total quality management (TQM), and initiates a need to manage cultural influences on EI/TQM practices to improve organizational performance in Chinese enterprises.     

Visual extended enterprise engineering and operation-embedding knowledge management and work execution

This paper describes a new approach to extended enterprise engineering and operation-embedding knowledge management and work-tops for work execution. The approach is based on web technologies and a new technology we call active knowledge models (AKM). By developing and using AKMs of extended enterprises, most methodologies, work environments and business solutions will converge. Enterprises will be integrated by externalized shareable knowledge. During forming and managing of extended enterprises, knowledgesharing infrastructures and the process of generating operational solutions will be simplified and facilitated. Extended enterprises will be engineered and managed as reflective, selfadapting AKMs. By using process-oriented methods to externalize internal and tacit knowledge, the AKM technology provides an environment of work-tops and views to produce, share, cultivate and manage situated knowledge. This knowledge will be applied and managed as competences and skills, and as improved methods. AKMs let us benefit from the intrinsic properties of knowledge. They facilitate convergence of methodologies and integration of technologies.     

开放型商业模式NICE属性与价值创造关系的实证研究

企业竞争优势或价值创造的源泉在哪里,或者企业绩效异质性的成因是什么?这一问题一直是战略管理领域的研究焦点。移动互联网时代,企业纷纷通过重塑商业模式来实现转型升级或跨界发展,并将其作为价值创造和竞争优势的一种重要来源。因此,本文旨在以开放型商业模式为研究对象,探讨其内在属性与价值创造之间的关系。首先,本文阐述开放型商业模式的内涵及构成;接着,识别出其内在属性特征,即新颖性(N)、锁定性(I)、互补性(C)、效率性(E);同时,重点借助战略网络理论、新木桶理论、平台经济学等理论基础论证NICE与价值创造间的关系及背后的作用机理,提出理论假设;最后,运用调查问卷和结构方程模型的方法实证检验,且演绎结论的管理含义。本文所使用的数据来源于中国最大的服务交易平台:猪八戒网和EMBA、MBA、EDP等项目课堂。研究表明,开放型商业模式新颖性与企业价值正相关、互补性与顾客价值正相关、效率性与企业价值和伙伴价值均呈正相关关系;而新颖性与顾客价值及伙伴价值正相关;互补性与企业价值及伙伴价值呈正相关关系等结论未得到印证。本文的研究回答了"企业竞争优势或价值创造源泉在哪里?"这一问题,并且本文的理论机理分析和实证结论有利于指导企业创新商业模式并获取竞争优势的战略决策。     

Performance and risk management

Abstract

Performance and risk management are seen by some as two ends of the same spectrum. Performance measurement and management is about steering an enterprise towards a profitable and viable future, whilst risk management is about avoiding the pitfalls that can overwhelm and ultimately put an enterprise out of business. But should the functions and processes of performance measurement and management be integrated with those of risk management? What are the consequences of this integration? How should this be done in practice? In this editorial we briefly chart the debate between those who propose it is important to keep the functions separate and those who advocate integration before presenting the empirical research that informs this conversation.     

Some thoughts on enterprise modelling

Enterprise management is highly value conscious, trying to determine and guide the activities of the company so as to be competitive (improve profits, reduce costs and time to market, etc.) and to build future capability to remain competitive. It is necessary to demonstrate why enterprise modelling is necessary to attain business objectives. We then discuss the role of interfaces in enterprise engineering and why enterprise modelling will play an even more significant role in the future enterprise. Finally, we discuss three research questions: model interoperability, the development of a reference model for global virtual enterprise, and plug-and-play, or 'component-based' enterprise engineering.     

Modelling collaborative product development using axiomatic design principles: application to software industry

Even though collaborative product development (CPD) is considered as a strategic business plan to maintain competitive advantage, the literature lacks a systematic and detailed model of CPD from a strategic point of view. This article aims to develop a CPD model based on an axiomatic design technique by offering a system perspective in the context of software development (SD). Software industry is characterised by a dynamic and innovative nature and it gives a suitable application area in order to detail the proposed model in industry. Three main dimensions of CPD derived from the literature are defined in strategic level: partnership process, collaboration process and PD/SD. These three dimensions are detailed into hierarchy through business feedback and by experts from software industry. The model is evaluated and verified through two interviews. A case study is then conducted to observe the performance of the model. The conceptual model offers a guideline for CPD practitioners to increase effectiveness in collaborative efforts in the development process. The proposed model incorporates the main success factors of CPD in general, collaborative SD in specific, and it can be used as a performance evaluator in collaborative projects.     

基于企业属性的IT价值多维度研究

目前,业界对于IT为企业所带来的战略价值持有两种观点,一种观点认为,IT已经成为基础设施,是企业的一种纯技术工具,将不再为企业带来竞争优势,企业对于IT只需进行风险管理；另一种观点则认为IT仍然具有战略价值,对于提升企业竞争力仍具有推动作用。本文从组织管理的角度审视IT价值,结合企业特定的内部条件和外部环境探讨了IT带给企业的差异性,从行业、规模、组织结构、管理流程以及企业文化五个企业属性维度分析了IT对企业具有的不同战略价值,认为IT仍然是企业未来发展和提升竞争力的核心动力之一。     

The extended enterprise-a context for manufacturing

Today's manufacturing enterprises face tremendous competitive pressures. Global competition, together with market demands for customized products delivered just in time, place tremendous pressures on manufacturers. The emerging global economy is rapidly replacing local markets. The emergence of open markets, reductions in trade barriers, and improvements in transportation and communications links have led to a situation where local competition and markets operate in the context of global standards. This open infrastructure allows manufacturers to respond to these challenges by working more closely with their suppliers and customers, and by building extended enterprises across the whole value chain. Such extended enterprises present great challenges in terms of redesigning business processes to create a competitive advantage from the linkages they include. This paper describes the manufacturing philosophies currently in vogue. Any manufacturing or related business will need to use them, albeit tailored to its own circumstances, in one form or the other, to ensure its prosperity.     

Expanding the HRD Role: Improving employee well-being and organizational performance

Abstract

An important opportunity for the HRD profession lies in assessing and reshaping the psychosocial work environment to create a healthy, mentally focused workforce that provides their organization with a competitive advantage. We explain why HRD professionals should be concerned with employee well-being, offer suggestions for assessing the work environment through a stress audit and discuss four key work factors that affect well-being: job control, role overload, social support and supervisor behaviour. By expanding their role to these concerns, HRD professionals can improve quality of life and contribute to organizational effectiveness. If they do, the result should be healthier employees, healthier organizations and a greater recognition of HRD's potential for transforming organizations.     

面向电子商务的企业资源计划:进化与实施

在电子商务时代,ERP面临着应用环境的变革和挑战,如何认识并应对这些挑战以使ERP与企业电子商务有机融合是目前首要的问题。本文认为在电子商务时代,企业所面临的竞争规则、商务模式、管理重心都已发生了重要变化,ERP必须满足基于虚拟集成的合作性价值创造管理、基于事前、事中、事后的商业智能管理、基于SCM、CRM和KM为核心的集约管理以及灵活的体系结构以适应变化的要求和挑战,为此,ERP必须提供集成供应链资源和能力的管理、个性化客户信息服务、知识管理、实时的业务在线分析处理、多层次的实时决策支持的功能。同时认为,改进战略规划、变革管理模式、优化组织结构、重组业务流程、加强知识和人力资源管理几个方面是成功实施ERP,支持电子商务的关键。     

11 Postcards from the Edge

Abstract

Environmental issues, while of growing interest, have been outside the main focus of business scholarship. This position on the periphery may have been a good thing. It allowed scholars of business and the environment to consider unusual theories and evaluate overlooked phenomenon. In doing so, they have created a body of research providing new insights into two topics of mainstream interest: (a) the sources of competitive advantage and (b) the origin and function of self-regulatory institutions.     

Interdisciplinary and Interorganizational Research: Establishing the Science of Enterprise Networks

We review and discuss the evolution of interdisciplinary and interorganizational research in operations management and suggest directions for future investigations. The proposed operations management research focus is one that embraces a more holistic view of an “extended enterprise” which involves working with a new business model—the organization as a network. This methodology starts by treating the organization as a system that is enabled by information technology and is characterized by ubiquitous information sharing across traditional enterprise. Proper integration of technology, business processes and people factors needs to be developed to create higher value from networked enterprises. Operations management research future lies in establishing this science from an interdisciplinary perspective. We analyze this perspective in the context of papers published in the first 50 issues of Production and Operations Management and the related literature.     

Age,Experience and Corporate Synergy: When Are They Sources of Business Unit Advantage?

When do older businesses have a competitive advantage over new startups? When do the corporate subsidiaries have advantages over independent firms? This paper tackles these questions by comparing the performance of businesses classified according to age and affiliation in the game of competitive survival. The research is based on an analysis of 377,000 United States business units between 1978 and 1984. Our results suggest that age confers substantial advantages in competitive environments where intangible assets, accumulated through experience, are critical to success. These include industries with high-labour intensity, high skill levels and heavy reliance on push marketing. For other industries, e.g., where competitive advantage can be built through superior service or media hype, age advantage is generally much more limited. Affiliation with a corporate group, meanwhile, allows young businesses to overcome some of their handicap by ‘borrowing’ experience through their parent. Once a business is well established, however, affiliation is immaterial.     

A hybrid solution to collaborative decision-making in a decentralized supply-chain

This paper considers a decentralized supply chain, where multiple independent manufacturing facilities manage some capital-intensive equipments or resources shared among them. In particular, these manufacturing facilities operate somewhat in isolation to serve their own customers, but coordinate closely with each other to ensure the shared resources are effectively utilized. Such cross-facility capacity management problems are common in high-tech industries, they are typical examples of collaborative decision-making in supply chain integration, and are critical to create a competitive edge in a more interconnected business environment. In this paper, a hybrid algorithm that integrates Lagrangian relaxation and immunity-inspired coordination scheme, known as LR-ICI, is proposed and investigated by extensive numerical experiments, and is shown to be competitive compared to similar algorithms.     

Natural Capitalism: Path to Sustainability?

In this article, the Lovins’² explain what is meant by Natural Capitalism, four principles that enable business to behave responsibly towards both nature and people while increasing profits, inspiring their workforce and gaining competitive advantage. It combines radically increased resource productivity; closed-loop, zero-waste, nontoxic production; a business model that rewards both; and reinvestment in natural capital. The article describes how, even today, when nature and people are typically valued at zero, protecting and restoring nature, culture and community can be far more profitable than liquidating them.     

THE USE OF INDUSTRIAL SOFTWARE TO CREATE EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ACTIVITIES IN OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT COURSES

Computer-based manufacturing planning and control (MPC) systems are widely used in industry to gain competitive advantage through integration and coordination of managerial activities. In collegiate business schools, important operations management activities are taught and studied, often by sequential examination of discrete topics such as aggregate production planning, master production scheduling, capacity planning, material planning, and production activity control. This paper explores the potential use of industrial MPC software in the classroom to create experiential learning activities that address the dynamic and integrative nature of operations management. Experiences with this pedagogical approach over the past decade are reported.     

Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility and Value Creation among Large Firms: Lessons from the Spanish Experience

Can corporate social responsibility (CSR) be a source of good and a wellspring of innovation, competitive advantage and value creation for the firm? Although CEOs and government leaders insist in public that CSR projects create value for the firm, privately they admit that they do not know if CSR pays off. To address this question and drawing on experience for the Spanish context, we test one of the few efforts to model how the strategic management of CSR may contribute to improving firm profitability (Burke and Logsdon, 1996). To do this, we examine the impact of three strategic CSR variables – visibility, appropriability, and voluntarism – on value creation among large Spanish corporations. The conclusions from these findings suggest that managers need to understand how CSR is similar to and different from other traditional corporate market activities if they are to pursue value creation through CSR. We also suggest avenues for future research to explain how CSR may be integrated into firm processes to create resources (assets) and capabilities (routines) that may lead to competitive advantage and superior economic performance.     

Performance measurement system for business processes

All companies need to know at what level and to what extent they are complying with their objectives. We present a system called PMS-BP (performance measurement system for business processes) which has been designed to define indicators and evaluate company performance. The system is used to measure performance through the integrated management of business processes and to define indicators or parameters at all levels of the company. It also detects the linkages that exist between parameters at different levels and associates them with the company's objectives and strategies through critical success factors. PMS-BP has been built around three components: a methodology, an architecture and a performance measurement structure. The interconnection between the different components makes it easy to constantly trace the relationships between the different performance measurement elements at different levels (enterprise, business entity, processes, etc.). Processes are analysed by means of different types of graphs which make it simple to read and interpret the entire context of the company. We describe a real-life case in which the PMS-BP was applied to an SME in the metal/mechanics sector.     

Development of sustainable platform for modular product family: a case study

Abstract

Defining product platform architecture is a critical issue to design and develop product variants. Different factors are highly dependent on the architecture type, such as number of variants, to measure modularity level, component commonality, market demand, etc. It is directly related to manage product portfolios and setting up business plan of a company. Before defining a product platform, whether it is modular or integral product designers need to follow specific design guidelines and checklists. This research mainly focuses on to define the platform architecture as well as provides necessary design guidelines and checklists for the product designers. It also highlights an example product of a case company with the objective to clarify/validate the proposed product design approach. In conclusion, this paper outlines the findings from this research and proposed some critical questions need to be answered within the scope of future research potentials.