Editorial

Citation

Heap, T.F.B.a.J. (2014), "Editorial", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 63 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-02-2014-0032

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Volume 63, Issue 4

In this fourth issue of volume 63 we have six standard papers and one reflective practice paper. The content of these papers demonstrate a key point about the journal that we are proud to emphasise on a regular basis, namely, the variety of interests that it caters for. The topics in this issue range from such as SMEs to large companies, public sector to private sector, manufacturing to service, and from conceptual pieces to practice-focused ones. The paper contexts include Australia, India, Korea, Saudi Arabia, UK, and USA. We hope you find something of interest in this eclectic mix!

Over recent decades continuous improvement initiatives have become the way for companies to achieve higher productivity. Various types of initiatives have become established, many of them originating from Japan. Two particular initiatives are the focus of the first paper, specifically Kaizen and Quality Circles. Interestingly, these two initiatives have been differentially adopted in Korea and the USA. Kaizen, although widespread in the USA, is not as prevalent in Korea whereas Quality Circles are the Korean improvement "weapon"� of choice. In this paper the authors, Jin and Doolen, report on three comparative case studies; each case comprising two manufacturers with one from each of the two countries. They come to the conclusion that the two improvement approaches are more similar than different. This suggests that we are dealing with path-dependent social processes that have led to this differential adoption rather than any real difference in effectiveness of the techniques.

Many acknowledge that climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing our world. Scientists implicate the rise in greenhouse gases as a major factor in global warming. In the UK, road freight movement is one of the main sources of carbon (CO2) emission. In our second paper, Frizelle and Casali-Duarte explore novel methods for measuring the amount of waste in the road haulage element of supply chains. They construct a group of measures and use field data to test out the measures. Their conclusions are that the novel measurement approach holds out the potential to render road transportation more environmentally friendly - something that we must applaud wholeheartedly.

In the third paper Yadav and Sushil examine the factors that determine the performance of the India telecommunications service providers. They use a logical approach to determine how the factors are connected in a causal model constructed from data obtained from interviews with 11 senior managers and 43 customers. The concepts in the causal model are based on an approach titled Flexible Strategy Game Card while the process of constructing the causal connections between concepts is termed Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM). An interesting combination of novel methods helps them arrive at some useful insights in to this important industry.

Although we cover performance in the public sector, many of the topics represented in the journal are often related to the performance of private companies. What we have in this next paper by Alolah, Stewart, Panuwatwanich, and Mohamed is an application that must attract some commendation because of its moral focus. Improving the performance of systems that ensure the safety of pupils in school must be recognised as a very laudable objective. An initial qualitative study involving the elicitation of views from 18 experienced users and experts helped shape the main questionnaire study where 200 responses were obtained from informed personnel in the Saudi educational system. Five major constructs were identified and validated via multivariate analysis of the data. This analysis resulted in a framework that can be used to evaluate safety performance in Saudi schools. We wish the authors well in implementing this framework.

The importance of small medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to most, if not all, economies is widely accepted. However, in the next paper Ahmad and Alaskari argue that SMEs have been poorly served by current performance measurement approaches which are, on the whole, developed for and applied in large companies. They set out to develop an approach that is relevant and feasible for SMEs. They trial their approach by applying it to three manufacturing SMEs using a method that focuses on opportunities and benefits, and that identifies performance gaps that can then be pursued. The results look promising and the authors call for wider application of their approach to secure more experience and hence develop it further. Given the number of SMEs, successful uptake of their approach could render it very popular!

The squeeze on the availability of public funds has meant that mechanisms such as public-private partnerships (PPSs) have been created and increasingly applied. However, the performance of PPSs continues to be controversial. In the sixth paper Liu, Love, Smith, Regan and Sutrisna review the literature related to performance measurement and evaluation in PPSs. They argue that the literature demonstrates that existing methods of evaluating PPPs are insufficient and are, in general, not fit for purpose. They outline a direction for the development of more adequate performance evaluation systems. It appears that our performance systems have not yet caught up with the innovations that have occurred in financing and delivering public projects. Isn't it time that they should catch up?

We end this issue with a reflective practice paper where Antony, Sivanathan and Gijo explore the application of the Design of Experiments (DoE) technique. They argue that typically DoE is misconceived as something that is only relevant to the manufacturing environment. The authors describe an application to a university setting as an antidote to this misconception; and they argue for more use of DoE in the service environment to aid performance improvement. Let's hope that their message is heard.

T.F. Burgess and John Heap