Lean and green in the transport and logistics sector – a case study of simultaneous deployment

The transport and logistics sector is of vital importance for the stimulation of trade and hence the economic development of nations. However, over the last few years, this sector has taken central stage in the green agenda due to the negative environmental effects derived from its operations. Several disciplines including operations research and sub-areas of supply chain management such as green supply chains, green logistics and reverse logistics have tried to address this problem. However, despite the work undertaken through these disciplines, theoretical or empirical research into the sequential or simultaneous deployment of the lean and green paradigms, particularly, in the road transport and logistics sector is limited. This paper presents a case study where both paradigms have been combined to improve the transport operations of a world leader logistics organisation in the metropolitan area of Monterrey, Mexico. To do this, a systematic methodology and a novel tool called Sustainable Transportation Value Stream Map (STVSM) were proposed. The results obtained from the case study indicate that the concurrent deployment of the green and lean paradigms through such methodology and the STVSM tool is an effective approach to improve both operational efficiency and environmental performance of road transport operations. The paper can be used as a guiding reference for transport and logistics organisations to undertake improvement projects similar to the one presented in this paper. Additionally, this research also intends to stimulate scholarly research into the application of lean and green paradigms in the transport and logistics sector to expand the limited research pursued in this area.     

Market research with the aid of a smartphone application – a case study

We discuss using the presumed ‘wisdom of the crowd’ to reduce the bullwhip effect in supply chains by enhancing the accuracy of demand forecast. Our case study describes a joint project of a leading European technology company (We chose RAGD as a pseudonym for the company throughout the study.) and the University of Kassel on a smartphone application for end customers to gather early information for this producer’s forecast. Our results confirm the ‘wisdom of the crowd’ hypothesis: A group of experts, in our case technicians who install and maintain RAGD-products, is capable of anticipating market fluctuations six weeks in advance. This only holds true if the ‘crowd’ of technicians is large enough. Our business climate index outperforms the company forecast in the first six months, when on average 22 technicians took part per week. We discuss successes and limitations of the cooperation and provide recommendations for similar projects.     

The how and why of a firm’s approach to CSR and sustainability: a case study of a large European company

This paper aims to analyse “how” and “why” a company engages in CSR and sustainability. The “how” concerns the features of the firm’s CSR and sustainability approach, defined in terms of a firm’s strategy (implemented issues, initiatives and activities) and organization (organizational structures and roles and managerial systems adopted). The “why” refers to the key determinants, both internal and external, of CSR and sustainability. Finally, how the firm’s CSR and sustainability approach evolves over time and the relation between CSR determinants in various stages of the CSR evolutionary path are also investigated. The research method is based on the longitudinal analysis of a case study concerning a large multinational company operating in the telecommunications industry in Europe. The analysis of the case study shows that sub-cultural differences in the approach to CSR and sustainability may occur across hierarchical levels and functional units. Moreover, embedding CSR and sustainability principles doesn’t follow a linear and continuous process, made by sequential stages. Indeed, it can be characterized by an up and down evolutionary path, based on different stages with a changing emphasis given to CSR and sustainability issues. Finally, we find that the firm CSR and sustainability approach is not an autonomous choice, but it is a consequence of the contingent role played by both the external and the internal drivers and by their relative importance during the company’s CSR history.     

An exploration of ‘sticky’ inventory management in the manufacturing industry

Traditional models examining relationships between firm resources and revenues assume that the many expenses and asset holdings change in proportion to changes in demand. However, research has found that for many costs and assets assumed to be variable, the magnitude of a change in a cost or asset in proportion to a change in revenue is smaller during periods when revenue decreases compared to the change in the cost or asset when revenue increases. Costs and assets which behave in this manner have been denoted as ‘sticky’ costs or assets. This study examines if inventory in the manufacturing industry is managed in a ‘sticky’ manner and what implications inventory stickiness has on firm performance. Utilising firm panel data over a 25-year time window we find that inventory stickiness does exist amongst manufacturers and that it has negative implications for firm performance.     

Early involvement in the design chain—a case study from the computer industry

This work presents a case study of how a design chain, with more than three tiers of organisations (customer, manufacturer, and supplier), can involve its members in the early stages of the design and development process to meet their needs more effectively. A vertical design chain model, consisting of strategy, process and information levels, is adopted to elucidate how a computer company can provide for different customers and use various suppliers to create synergy within the design chain. The results of this study demonstrate that the re-engineering of cross organisation product design flow, product data management software applications and the integration of information from various parties are critical to the early involvement in a vertical design chain. Based on this case study, the proposed early involvement model can shorten the time taken to develop new products and considerably reduce the number of engineering changes for various manufacturers.     

A pro-active and collaborative approach to reverse logistics—a case study

Reverse logistics is considered to be the key for re-manufacturing and sustainable development. It has gained increasing attention in the last decade and has been a new frontier of strategic management. One of the driving forces for firms to adopt the reverse logistics practice is cost saving from reverse logistics activities. Another motivation to put reverse logistics forward is probably due to environmental impacts on non-returnable materials. Reverse logistics, however, may require cooperation of more than one company and hence it is generally poorly managed due to self-interest of different companies. Therefore, a pro-active and collaborative approach to reverse logistics is demanded. This paper reports a case study of using returnable packaging materials between a manufacturer and an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) supplier. A cross-company team was established to pursue the goal of the reverse logistics project. Tangible and intangible benefits of reverse logistics from this case study are presented in this paper.     

Planning a cost-effective cellular manufacturing process—a case study

The drive key is one of the most important high-precision components of aircraft braking systems. In this paper, a cost-effective drive key manufacturing process is developed. This proposed manufacturing process makes use of near net shape manufacturing, CNC machining, and cellular manufacturing methods. To make the proposed process a reality, proper engineering changes of the parts along with group technology are applied to the product design, in conjunction with the pro posed manufacturing methods. In addition, a general spread sheet program is developed for each style of fixture module to assist in part program coding. Moreover, statistical process control (SPC) is implemented to verify product quality and accept the product at the point of manufacture. It is observed that the implementation of the proposed drive key cellular manufacturing process results in a tremendous improvement in quality, throughput and productivity as well as a drastic reduction in manufacturing operations, workholding fixtures, cutting tools, and inspection media.     

Environmental and economic assessment for the optimal configuration of a sustainable solid waste collection system: a ‘kerbside’ case study

The article presents a case study concerning the improvement of the ‘kerbside’ waste collection system, now increasingly implemented in many Italian municipalities, as an alternative to traditional bring collection, with the aim of increasing the quality of waste collection and the collection rate, in order to reduce the final impact on the environment. A planning model for an integrated waste management system based on kerbside collection is presented. A heuristic procedure is also applied in order to obtain some admissible solutions of the real problem in reasonable computational time. The economic and environmental impacts are considered as significant elements for the evaluation and validation of the obtained solutions. Five alternative configurations of kerbside system, diverging in number of sub-area, synchrony of vehicles and directionality of the arcs, are compared in an economic point of view. Finally, Life-Cycle Assessment is used as a tool to compare the overall potential environmental impacts of the alternative of kerbside collection systems and also to compare the kerbside system with the traditional bring one. The different scenarios of kerbside system are comparable in terms of damage on the impact categories, while the bring system is the worst one, in terms of damage on human health, in the consumption of resources and also for the total damage score.     

Improving the efficiency of IT help-desk service by Six Sigma management methodology (DMAIC) – a case study of C company

Six Sigma concept depicts a ‘Triangle Relationship’ that integrates three attributes such as customer quality, science manners and team work. By employing this concept with the required survey and data collection to carry out the continuous improvement, a company can truly take advantage of the minimum set of operational variables and the lowest cost procedures, and hence, result in an increasing competitive value for/to the company. This research is conducted based on the Six Sigma methodology, DMAIC (definition, measurement, analysis, improvement and control) principle, and it deals with project-related issues to improve the efficiency of information technology (IT) help-desk service through an eHelp-desk system. It is the authors’ belief that the use of eHelp-desk system can help case company to improve its service quality and efficiency. In addition, managerial implications and research limitations are discussed at the end of this article.     

Delistings and the costs of governance: a study of European stock exchanges 1996–2004

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in delistings from stock exchanges in the US and Europe, and this trend has been partly attributed to increasing administrative costs in listed companies. Has corporate governance regulation gone too far? We examine delistings from European stock exchanges 1996–2004 and find that standard corporate governance regulation—like investor protection and corporate governance codes—is associated with more delistings and in particularly going private transactions. In contrast, the tendency to go private is found to be lower, when the quality of overall governance is high. The results continue to hold when we take into consideration that governance policy may be endogenous.     

Introducing the expatriate ‘Entry-Mode’: an exploratory qualitative study of a missing link in global mobility and expatriate management research

ABSTRACT

This article introduces the novel concepts of expatriate ‘entry-modes’, ‘comb-patriates’, and ‘Fourth-Country Nationals’ (FCNs), emerging from an exploratory qualitative investigation of 51 Scandinavian expatriates in Hong Kong. Global mobility research has traditionally been overly focused on the characteristics and background variables of expatriates or accumulated experiences after arrival, and has neglected the phase and mode of entering the new host country. Unveiling new global mobility patterns is significant for multinational enterprises’ (MNE) global talent recruitment, and has implications for training and development. This is due to directing the focus towards the increasing numbers of those individuals who are not expatriating in the conventional linear fashion, such as between an MNE’s headquarter (HQ) and its subsidiaries overseas. The critical stance taken in this article is articulated through a theoretical lens comprising a social constructionist epistemology. Theoretical contributions, future research avenues, as well as managerial relevance and policy implications are also discussed.     

Looming threats to the intimate bond in hospice care? Economic and organizational pressures in the case study of a hospice

Hospice organizations are assailed by stiff competition, ever-rising costs, limited funding, and policy changes. Do such pressures stifle the high quality of care these organizations strive to provide? As a case-in-point, we draw from the mid-1990s accounts of caregivers at a nonprofit hospice in a Midwestern city in the United States. We maintain that economic pressures drive organizational restructuring, which then weakens working conditions and, thereby, weakens the staff-client relationship. We discuss effects upon worker behaviors, the worker-client relationship, and client care. This ethnographic case study signals the need to closely examine the threats that current economic and organizational pressures in the United States may pose to the quality of hospice care.     

Multilocation plant sizing and timing problem: a study of spatial—temporal decomposition procedure

An attempt has been made to develop a spatial-temporal decomposition procedure to solve the multilocation plant sizing and timing problem (MLPSTP). MLPSTP involves the determination of site, location, timing and utilization of the plants to meet the demands of geographically distributed customers. These decisions are assumed to interact through a common objective of minimizing the net present value (NPV) of capital costs and streams of operating and transportation costs. A solution procedure for MLPSTP is proposed using aggregation and disaggregation methodology. In the aggregation phase, MLPSTP is considered to be a single-period problem. This problem is decomposed over different geographical areas to obtain a set of feasible sites and projects. These projects are then sequenced over a finite planning horizon in the disaggregation phase. A multiple criteria based evaluation of spatial decomposition, temporal decomposition, and spatial-temporal decomposition is provided.     

Risk assessment based on a STPA–FMEA method: A case study of a sweeping robot

Despite rapid developments in the quality and safety of consumer products, the rise of intelligent household appliances, such as sweeping robots, has introduced new safety concerns. Considering “person–product–environment” elements and the complex systems of emerging consumer products, this study presents a new method of risk assessment for consumer products: systems theoretic process analysis (STPA)–failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA). As a case study, this method is applied to the safety control of a sweeping robot. The results suggest that this method can identify all the possible failure modes and injury scenarios among the product components, and the safety constraints in the hierarchical control structure of the interactive system. Moreover, the STPA–FMEA method combines user and environmental factors with the value of product risk events, based on the risk priority number (RPN). This provides an accurate and orderly system to reduce or eliminate the root causes of accidents and injuries. Finally, analysis of unsafe control behavior and its causes can be used to suggest improved safety constraints, which can effectively reduce the risk of some injury scenarios. This paper presents a new method of risk assessment for consumer products and a general five-level complex index system.     

Planning at gulf— A case study: Part I—Early developments of planning models

In this first part of the case study the authors introduced the background to the development of the planning models used by the Gulf Company. Both the Linear Programming model and the Sensitivity model are described, with discussion regarding the inter-relationship of these models and the discrete and mutual objectives behind their use.     

From knowledge to decision – a case study of sales and operations planning in health care

One of the most important challenges in health care management is balancing resources with fluctuating and uncertain demand. This study examines whether introducing a standardised process for sales and operations planning at a large university hospital improved specialty department managers’ knowledge of planning conditions and if so, whether decisions were made based on this knowledge. Using responses from a survey of 30 specialty department managers at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden, the analyses indicate that operational knowledge strengthens insights about the needs for strategic decisions, and vice versa. Moreover, knowledge is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for making decisions at the department level. An overall planning and decision structure is required and should be implemented first at the hospital level to effectively allocate resources.     

Fibonacci index and stability number of graphs: a polyhedral study

The Fibonacci index of a graph is the number of its stable sets. This parameter is widely studied and has applications in chemical graph theory. In this paper, we establish tight upper bounds for the Fibonacci index in terms of the stability number and the order of general graphs and connected graphs. Turán graphs frequently appear in extremal graph theory. We show that Turán graphs and a connected variant of them are also extremal for these particular problems. We also make a polyhedral study by establishing all the optimal linear inequalities for the stability number and the Fibonacci index, inside the classes of general and connected graphs of order n.     

Triaging overflow: A case study of the ‘Gateway Assessment’ in the UK Citizens Advice Service

This article explores the impact upon the work of the UK Citizens Advice Service of the ‘Gateway Assessment’ system, a ‘triage device’ rolled out across Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales from 2007 onwards designed to deal with an overflow of client needs.The paper addresses the history of ‘triage’ as a method for dealing with an excess of problematic bodies, before describing how a demonstrable need for systems to organise an overflow of advice needs within Citizens Advice Bureaux led to the emergence of triage as a ‘technique of government’ that would re-shape the advice process. Yet, as an attempt to regulate ‘from above’ the front-line of the Citizens Advice service, it met forms of resistance as existing practices of advice work and local situations fell into conflict with the inflexibility of the Gateway Assessment Process. The paper describes how implementation of the Gateway Assessment involved acts of compliance and acts of resistance, followed by a jostling between actors and a reshaping of the spaces of regulation, resulting in the ‘Gateway Plus’ model in which triage can slip into advice where necessary. We argue that this process displayed a conflict between a framing of overflow as an excess of countable bodies and one of problem-bearing subjects, the latter being derived from the relational and voluntary practice of advice.