LOGISTICS PARTNERSHIPS AND SUPPLY CHAIN RESTRUCTURING: SURVEY RESULTS FROM THE U.S. COMPUTER INDUSTRY

This research investigates the interaction between formation of logistics partnerships and supply chain restructuring in the U.S. computer industry via a survey of 30 ongoing partnerships. Partnerships that have included restructuring are compared to those that have not. Examples of representative partnerships are presented. The survey results indicate that restructurers use partnerships to facilitate restructuring. Restructurers and non-restructurers form partnerships for different reasons and realize different types of benefits. Furthermore, restructurers realize greater benefits than do non-restructurers and view their partnerships as more successful. Restructurers report dramatic improvements in logistics cost (1l-30%) and order cycle time (62%). The research contributes to the existing literature by highlighting restructuring as an important aspect of logistics partnership formation and by presenting empirical data that shows how the two strategies are linked.     

DEVELOPMENT AND R&D CAPABILITY AT MANUFACTURING SITES: ELECTRONICS MULTINATIONALS IN SINGAPORE AND TAIWAN

In this paper we present the results of an empirical study of the manufacturing sites of foreign electronics companies in Singapore and Taiwan. The manufacturing and R&D capabilities at the sites are assessed. The way in which host government policies interact with R&D development at the sites and the speed of the R&D development are also considered. The results suggest that Singapore and Taiwan are now host to some advanced manufacturing and R&D operations. We show, however, that the product design work at the sites visited is never leading edge for the companies concerned. The speed at which product design responsibilities were designated to the sites is shown to be rapid when compared to an earlier study of foreign sites in the United Kingdom. We indicate areas in which national strategies in Singapore and Taiwan may have contributed to this faster development. In Singapore, we identify tax holidays and R&D grants as contributing to the pace of development.     

A FRAMEWORK AND MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENT FOR JUST-IN-TIME MANUFACTURING

While Just-in-Time (JIT) manufacturing has emerged as one of the major tools to enhance manufacturing competitiveness, no attempt has been made to develop a reliable and valid measurement instrument for empirical research in JIT. Without such an instrument, generalization beyond the immediate sample is difficult or misleading. We have proposed a JIT framework and developed a valid and reliable instrument with 16 summated scales for dimensions that capture essential aspects of JIT useful in assessing its impact in manufacturing environments. In addition, we discuss in detail the interactive nature of JIT practice. And, we propose a step-by-step approach to reliability and validity testing. Four JIT practices (equipment layout, pull system support, supplier quality level, and Kanban) are identified as major contributing factors to JIT performance.     

DEVELOPING POM FACULTIES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Having added total quality management (tqm), operations strategy, new product development, and many other topics to its repertoire over the past two decades, operations management is being pushed-by practitioners and students alike-to extend its reach both horizontally (to encompass the whole supply chain and the interface with other functions) and internationally. Moreover, the increasing sophistication of computer technology and the growth of the intemet are expanding the teaching and research methodologies that can be used to address these complex issues. Meeting the challenges posed by this ever-broadening conceptualization of our mission and the new tools available to us will require more than simply new knowledge and new courses. It also will require an influx of new people having very different backgrounds than in the past. We have to learn how to attract such people, how to prepare them to be effective teachers and researchers in production and operations management (pom), and how to work effectively with them. The locations of faculty, students, and potential partners in the learning experience also will be transformed, forcing us to reconsider how we organize to do our work and when and where we do it.     

Response Rate in Academic Studies — A Comparative Analysis

A study was conducted to explore what could andshould be a reasonable response rate in academicstudies. One hundred and forty-one papers which included175 different studies were examined. They were published in the Academy of Management Journal, HumanRelations, Journal of Applied Psychology, OrganizationalBehavior and Human Decision Processes , and Journal ofInternational Business Studies in the years 1975, 1985, and 1995, covering about 200,000respondents. The average response rate was 55.6 with astandard deviation of 19.7. Variations among thejournals such as the year of publication and othervariables were discussed. Most notable is the declinethrough the years (average 48.4, standard deviation of20.1, in 1995), the lower level found in studiesinvolving top management or organizationalrepresentatives (average 36.1, standard deviation of 13.3), andthe predominance of North American studies. It issuggested that the average and standard deviation foundin this study should be used as a norm for future studies, bearing in mind the specific referencegroup. It is also recommended that a distinction is madebetween surveys directed at individual participants andthose targeting organizationalrepresentatives.     

CONSTITUENCIES OF JOURNALS IN PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT: IMPLICATIONS ON REACH AND QUALITY*

I analyzed the contributions made by members of the following constituencies in terms of the number of articles published in the Journal of Operations Management (JOM), Manufacturing and Service Operations Management (M&SOM), and Production and Operations Management (POM): the top 20 U.S. business schools and the top 7 non‐U.S. business schools as ranked by Business Week or U.S. News and World Report, business and government organizations, U.S. business schools ranked between 21 and 50, non‐U.S. business schools not included above, and U.S. business schools not included above. I also analyzed the contributions made by U.S. business schools with top 10 programs in production and operations management; 9 of which are also in the list of top 20 U.S. business schools. Authors from the schools with top 10 programs in production and operations management contributed 20.2% of the articles published in POM and 3.5% of the articles published in JOM during 1997‐2001. They contributed 24.6% of the articles in the eight issues (from July 2000 through June 2002) of M&SOM. During these periods, authors from the top 27 schools contributed 29.3% of the articles published in POM, 9.4% of the articles published in JOM, and 37.4% of the articles to the eight issues of M&SOM. Also during the same periods, authors from business and government organizations contributed 6.6% of the articles published in POM, 1.9% of the articles published in JOM, and 5.8% of the articles published in the eight issues of M&SOM. The findings reported in this paper reflect the reach of the three journals and the perceptions of various constituencies regarding journal quality. The findings about POM and JOM have a very high degree of validity because both journals are more than 10 years old and have well‐established constituencies. The conclusions about the M&SOM constituencies are tentative because it is about 3 years old, and it is still developing its constituencies.     

A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF A SERVICE GUARANTEE ON SERVICE QUALITY

This paper develops a theoretical framework that relates a service guarantee to service quality. The framework hypothesizes that a service guarantee can positively affect service quality through its positive effect on both learning through service failure and employee motivation and vision. A longitudinal, empirical study was conducted to test these hypotheses. Surprisingly, the service guarantee was not found to have a direct effect on learning through service failure. However, the service guarantee clearly had a positive effect on service quality primarily through its positive effect on employee motivation and vision. The research strongly supports using a service guarantee to improve service quality.     

DIAGNOSING ORDER PLANNING PERFORMANCE AT A NAVY MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR ORGANIZATION,USING LOGISTIC REGRESSION

We present a tool to diagnose the behavior of planners in complex production processes and to establish improvement potential for the delivery performance by changing the planning behavior. Scientific literature on production control offers valuable knowledge, but the complexity of real‐life processes makes it impossible to directly apply this knowledge in real‐life. The presented tool identifies possible deficiencies in the current way of managing the business processes, by matching the scientific knowledge on order planning with data reflecting the real‐life processes via logistic regression. A case study at a maintenance organization illustrates the diagnosis tool.     

PRACTICE‐FOCUSED RESEARCH ISSUES FOR SCHEDULING SYSTEMS*

Scheduling research has had relatively little impact on manufacturing practice, yet within the last several years, there has been an explosive growth in the development and implementation of computer‐based scheduling systems in industry. Changes in the environment have increased the stakes and the opportunities for the results of scheduling research to influence manufacturing competitiveness. This paper draws on field‐related experiences with the development and implementation of scheduling systems to propose high‐impact research topics.     

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.