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It has been over a decade since the publication of Michael Hardt and Antoni Negri's widely read Empire, a book that claimed humanity had entered a qualitatively new era in the organization of power. How do critical sociological studies that also theorize global capitalism depart from or share affinities with Hardt and Negri's Foucauldian-inspired notion of empire? The two most important shared insights is the notion of a new epoch in the history of world capitalism and the conceptualization of a global system that moves beyond the idea of U.S. imperialism solely as behind its fundamental structure. However, overpowering Hardt and Negri's framework are some fundamental problems: the vague and nondialectical idea of multitude, the lack of the role of the state, their confusing and contradictory idea of constitutionalism, and a misapprehension of immaterial labor.

The purpose of this paper is to present a solution strategy for the analysis of cable networks which includes an extension to the force density method (FDM) in an attempt to support cable elements when they become slack. The ability to handle slack cable elements in the analysis is particularly important especially in cases where the original cable lengths are predefined, i.e. the cable structure has already been constructed, and there is a need for further analysis to account for additional loading such as wind. The solution strategy is implemented in a software application.

The development of the software required the implementation of the FDM for the analysis of cable networks and its extension to handle constraints. The implemented constraints included the ability to preserve the length in the stressed or the unstressed state of predefined cable elements. In addition, cable statics are incorporated with the development of the cable equation and its modification to be able to be handled by the FDM .

The implementation of the solution strategy is presented through examples using the software which has been developed for these purposes.

The results suggest that for cable networks spanning large distances or cable elements with considerable self-weight the neglect of the cable slackening effects is not always conservative.

As few studies have explored the causal relationship between both the triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability and the lean practices in higher education institutions (HEIs), the purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships between lean practices and sustainable practices in Brazilian HEIs.

A survey was conducted with 454 public and private HEIs workers in Brazil. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations modeling were used for data analysis.

The results support the hypotheses of the study that HEI lean practices are positively related to environmental, economic and social practices in HEIs.

HEI managers must evaluate the use of lean practices in the organizational processes, to identify their weaknesses and to improve the aspects that influence a balanced TBL of sustainability practices.

The findings highlight the importance of leadership as a support for the workers, as a continuous improvement practice on a daily basis and a focus on the student as a basic principle of HEI success.

This article provides new measurement and structural models to analyze Lean thinking practices as the predictors of sustainability practices. The work could assist any HEI in prioritizing its strategies and actions and to contribute to excellence in decision-making. This study could contribute as a source of empirical data for transferability in other contexts for HEIs.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the evolution of total quality management (TQM) models, frameworks, and tools and techniques in higher education (HE) over the last thirty years from 1991 till 2020, based on a literature review

30 articles from 52 journals were used to perform this detailed literature review. For the detailed analysis, the focus was only on articles related to TQM in higher education and specifically related to models, frameworks and tools and techniques. The study has investigated the growth of research articles, research streams, research methodologies, models and frameworks in the higher education sector and tools and techniques related to those.

This review addresses the progress and gaps in the application of TQM in HE, including the shift in global research in this area from the USA and Europe to Asia in recent years. The articles have been classified into four research methodologies and two research streams which have been reviewed in detail. The findings include reasons for multiple models/frameworks in HE proposed by researchers over the years and the importance of tools and techniques used in TQM implementation.

This study, which tries to bring a perspective to the main trends in TQM application to higher education wrt models, frameworks, tools and techniques over the last thirty years, is expected to add to the body of knowledge in this area and help future researchers to focus on the relevant areas identified in this paper.

This paper gives the background to the ISO 18404:2015 standard and explains its rationale. It aims to rebut the Oudrhiri et al. (2022) paper. Furthermore, this paper adds further evidence of the misplacement and unfitness for use of the standard, as evidenced in the previous work by Antony et al. (2021, 2022).

A point-counterpoint methods approach with a literature review of studies available on ISO 18404:2015 to respond to the Oudrhiri et al. (2022) study.

The findings indicate that Oudrhiri et al.'s (2022) work is not open minded in relation to ISO18404. Each point raised in the Oudrhiri et al. (2020) study has been answered and counter argued.

Other than Antony et al.'s three studies (2021 and 2022) and Oudrhiri et al.’s (2022) study empirical studies looking into the impact of the ISO 18404 standard in the literature were limited. As the literature has shown, many companies are not utilising the standard given its current format; hence, a lack of information relating to the practical implementation is sparse.

The findings indicate that Oudrhiri et al.'s (2022) work can be answered and counter argued.

This study consolidates and strengthens the findings from the three studies by Antony et al. (2021 and 2022) and acts as a rebuttal to the Oudrhiri et al. (2022) study.

The purpose of this global study is to investigate the critical failure factors (CFFs) in the deployment of operational excellence (OPEX) programs as well as the key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be used to measure OPEX failures. The study also empirically analyzes various OPEX methodologies adopted by various organizations at a global level.

This global study utilized an online survey to collect data. The questionnaire was sent to 800 senior managers, resulting in 249 useful responses.

The study results suggest that Six Sigma is the most widely utilized across the OPEX methodologies, followed by Lean Six Sigma and Lean. Agile manufacturing is the least utilized OPEX methodology. The top four CFFs were poor project selection and prioritization, poor leadership, a lack of proper communication and resistance to change issues.

This study extends the current body of knowledge on OPEX by first delineating the CFFs for OPEX and identifying the differing effects of these CFFs across various organizational settings. Senior managers and OPEX professionals can use the findings to take remedial actions and improve the sustainability of OPEX initiatives in their respective organizations.

This study uniquely identifies critical factors leading to OPEX initiative failures, providing practical insights for industry professionals and academia and fostering a deeper understanding of potential pitfalls. The research highlights a distinctive focus on social and environmental performance metrics, urging a paradigm shift for sustained OPEX success and differentiating itself in addressing broader sustainability concerns. By recognizing the interconnectedness of 12 CFFs, the study offers a pioneering foundation for future research and the development of a comprehensive management theory on OPEX failures.

Operational excellence (OPEX) initiatives such as Lean, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma and Agile have some common characteristics that can be understood through their adoption in organizations. The objective of this research is to present the results of an online survey highlighting the most critical reasons for failure of OPEX initiatives.

This study presents the results of a survey from 106 experts from different countries who have been involved in OPEX implementation. The experts were Six Sigma Master Black Belts, Black Belts and Champions from different manufacturing and service organizations. The developed questionnaire was initially tested with the help of seven experts to ensure their technical validity and soundness.

The study found 15% of companies surveyed have not adopted any form of OPEX methodology. The top three reasons for non-adoption of OPEX were also found. In terms of the use of various OPEX methodologies, more than 75% of companies were employing Six Sigma and less than 50% were engaged in Lean initiatives. Another surprising result was that less than 5% of the companies were utilizing Kaizen and other continuous improvement methodologies for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of organizational processes. The study further finds top five failure factors for sustaining OPEX initiatives in manufacturing, service, large and small organizations.

The study reports the outcomes based on an online survey with limited sample size. Moreover, the number of samples from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was less than 25, and therefore it was difficult to make any robust conclusions in the comparison of failure factors between large enterprises and SMEs.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study that has attempted to explore the reasons for failure of OPEX initiatives. The authors argue that a greater understanding of the reasons for failure of OPEX initiatives can provide an input to develop a framework that can mitigate the failures and costs associated with such failures.

This research aims to establish the applicability of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 18404 standard to the service sector, identify any required amendments and identify the critical success factors and barriers to deploying the standard within the service sector.

The study used a qualitative approach by interviewing operational excellence (OPEX) professionals who work in the service sector.

The findings indicate a significant lack of knowledge about the existence of the standard and a general scepticism regarding the applicability of the current ISO 18404 standard to the service sector.

Limited examples of the application of ISO 18404 in organisations exist, as only a few organisations have adopted the standard. Therefore, the research focussed on the challenges and obstacles that experienced OPEX professionals perceived could be an issue.

The study will aid service sector organisations in understanding the standard and, subsequently, determine whether to pursue it as part of an OPEX programme. This research is the first study on the application of ISO 18404 to the service sector.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma through an empirical study. Six Sigma is one of the most powerful business process improvement strategies used by numerous World Class corporations for over three decades. A handful of existing publications address some limitations and potential trends of Six Sigma, yet there are no empirical studies investigating the fundamental limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma.

The authors developed an online survey instrument based on the existing literature addressing the above. In this study, 61 Six Sigma Master Black Belts and Black Belts from large manufacturing companies and 25 academics who are familiar with the Six Sigma topic participated and contributed to the research.

The study reports the top 5 limitations and emerging trends of Six Sigma from the viewpoints of both academics and experts from large manufacturing companies. These are: integration of Six Sigma with Big Data, use of Six Sigma in small medium and micro enterprises, over emphasis of Six Sigma on variability reduction, poor implementation of Six Sigma and its negative impact on employee satisfaction and non-exploitation of integration of Six Sigma with Industry 4.0.

In order to sustain Six Sigma initiatives, it is imperative that limitations and fundamental gaps are understood, and strategies developed to address them. The authors argue that leading academic scholars have a vital role to play in working with industry practitioners to overcome the limitations and emerging trends addressed above.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical study looking into the limitations, research gaps and emerging trends of Six Sigma.