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In a manufacturing context, the management of the conversion process takes place in a largely controlled environment which facilitates the measurement and control of quality. In a service organisation the generic differences result in these two aspects being more complex. After briefly reviewing these generic differences, and the difficulties facing the service sector, some of the more specific problems facing airlines in delivering a quality service are considered. Case material is presented to illustrate the steps being taken by some organisations to overcome these difficulties. Areas for further research are identified.

Presents work that addresses the issue of decision support for the operational management of subcontract manufacture. Theoretical study has been combined with empirical research and practical industrial investigation with regard to distributed manufacturing systems which incorporate subcontract manufacturing arrangements. There has been a particular focus on the study of resource planning and scheduling for subcontract manufacture in SMEs in the UK electronics assembly industry. This work led to the analysis, modelling, implementation and test of an object‐oriented advisory system to assist with scheduling for this domain which demonstrated the utility of a proposed concept of captivity‐based scheduling. Contemporary research in this area and existing commercial decision support solutions for manufacturing planning, scheduling and control in SMEs have been explored. Concludes that current commercial software systems for subcontract manufacture are underdeveloped. Further argues that software development tools and platforms are increasingly available to facilitate the creation of practical decision support systems for distributed organizational forms of manufacture.

The ability of manufacturing companies to adapt to their changing environment is frequently a key to long‐term success. As a consequence the strategic flexibility of manufacturing operations has become an increasingly important issue for organisations. There have been much theoretical work and some case studies in this domain. This paper reports part of a major study in the area. A key stage in this work has been an empirical study of UK manufacturing to investigate a broad range of issues surrounding manufacturing operations and strategic flexibility. In part this has been carried out through a questionnaire survey. This paper summarises some of the principal findings. These include respondents’ descriptions of their business strategies, the part played by manufacturing, the interfaces with customers, and the role of the information system and its contribution to manufacturing. This is complemented by a summary of 32 interviews/case histories which allow these issues to be explored further and which provide the input to the subsequent stages of the overall project.

Presents a historical overview of the political and economic changes in Hungary. Emphasizes the implications for production/manufacturing management and corporate strategy. Discusses the current situation in Hungarian manufacturing industry and identifies the more strategic issues within the economic environment. Examines current production management practice, with case histories, and concludes with an assessment of the possibilities of introducing aspects of world‐class manufacturing into Hungarian industry.

Nach 1953 ist die Internationale Vereinigung wissen‐schaftlicher Fremdenverkehrsexperten zum zweiten Mal in Wien zum jährlichen Kongress versammelt. Damals nach Kriegsende ging es darum, einem langsam wiedererstarkten Tourismus eine solide wissenschaftliche Basis zu geben. Es waren auch die Tourismuswissenschafter der klassischen Fremdenverkehrsländer Italien, Spanien, Österreich und der Schweiz, welche sich 1949 erstmals in der Schweiz trafen, um diesem Vorhaben eine konkrete Struktur zu geben. Prof. Paul Bernecker, als einer dieser Promotoren — genannt seien hier die andern: Prof. Walter Hunziker (bis 1973 Präsident), Prof. Kurt Krapf (erster Generalsekretär) und Prof. Angelo Mariotti — übernahm es, den Wiener Kongress zu organisieren. Er war dem Thema “Marktforschung und Werbung im Fremdenverkehr” gewidmet, übrigens ein nach wie vor aktuelles Thema, auch wenn die Terminologie heute in Marketing bzw. Marktbearbeitung oder Kommunikationspolitik erweitert wurde.

Although there currently exists an unprecedented level of interest in business processes, focusing on their analysis, evaluation and reengineering, many business process reengineering (BPR) initiatives have yielded disappointing results. This paper suggests that one of the reasons for this might be the difficulty of intuitively grasping the full dynamic complexity of the processes and systems encountered. It is therefore proposed that current developments in systems thinking and continuous system simulation, when applied within the context of an operations management framework, may offer the prospect of improved success ratios in such BPR projects. The issue of supply chain dynamics and associated control problems is presented as an example in order to illustrate the potential power of this approach in the design of supplier interactions. A framework is also presented based on the classic “5Ps” model of operations management, adapted with feedback loops and inertia elements to produce the basis of a part generic, high level, dynamic model from which specific BPR simulation studies may be constructed.