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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of intellectual capital (IC) on the performance of Malaysian automotive manufacturing firms. It also examines the role of strategic thinking (ST) as a moderating variable in the relationship between IC and performance in these firms.

This study used a quantitative approach, with an initial sample of 228 firms in Malaysia. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the study hypotheses.

The results of the PLS-SEM analysis are as follows: Human capital (HC) and relational capital (RC) have significant effect on performance, but not structural capital (SC). ST has no moderating effect on the relationship between RC or SC and performance although it does moderate the relationship between performance and HC.

Together with the government, CEOs hold responsibility for ensuring that organizations practice effective ST and IC. With the assistance of government, CEOs should exert every effort to be leaders in this matter. In addition, CEOs of automotive manufacturing firm should reduce their emphasis on classical ways of managing organizations processes.

The findings offer guidance to automotive firms considering how to develop IC and ST to improve performance, especially in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

This is the first study to examine the moderating effect of ST on the relationship between IC and performance worldwide.

The purpose of this research is to identify the prevalent condition of productivity in the automotive manufacturing industry of Pakistan and to indicate the possible areas for enhancing productivity.

Secondary data for the last ten years were gathered. Total productivity and all partial productivities were computed using methodology proposed by Sumanth, and total factor productivity (TFP) was computed using Cobb‐Douglas production function. Regression analysis and Pearson correlations were run to determine labor elasticity and capital elasticity.

Results indicated very low levels of labor productivity and capital productivity, resulting in huge losses and stagnant growth of these firms. Increasing returns to scales (IRTS) with high values of labor elasticity and low and even negative value of capital elasticity were computed. Low values of TFP showed minimal utilization of technology in these firms.

One of the limitations of this research is that only two automotive manufacturing companies of Pakistan i.e. Honda Atlas and Indus Motors were targeted, which limits the generalizability of findings.

Findings of this research revealed that effective utilization of technology can enhance the productivity of Pakistani manufacturing firms significantly. IRTS with high values of labor elasticity and low value of capital elasticity depict the areas of productivity enhancement.

In Pakistan not enough effort has been put into measuring the productivity of manufacturing industry. The contribution of this paper is that it indicates the productivity blemishes in this industry and also the areas of focus for productivity enhancement.

A firm's inventions provide technical information for product planning and technical support for new product development (NPD). In the knowledge-based theory, inventing is regarded as a process of knowledge combination. This paper aims to classify the firm's inventive capabilities based on the combinatorial view and investigate the effects of inventive capabilities on NPD performance.

Four types of inventive capabilities are identified concerned with the knowledge used to combine in the inventive activities. By utilizing a dataset of 572 firms from China's automotive manufacturing industry, the roles of different inventive activities in the generation of new inventions are compared. Then the effects of different inventive capabilities on NPD performance are empirically examined by using negative binomial regression analysis.

The time series for the number of patented inventions derived from different types of combinations generally exhibits a steady upward trend, and the number of patents derived from recombination is much higher. The empirical results demonstrate that the inventive capabilities associated with reused recombination and creative recombination exhibit positive effects on NPD performance, and the inventive capabilities associated with novel combination and original combination exhibit non-linear effects on NPD performance.

The findings contribute to NPD literature by investigating the effects of different inventive capabilities on NPD performance. This study also provides guidelines for manufacturing managers to improve NPD performance by building appropriate inventive capabilities.

The purpose of this paper is to test a theoretical framework that examines the relationship of green human capital availability in the adoption of reverse logistics practices and remanufacturing operations performance.

The conceptual framework for this study is drawn upon contingent resource based view theory. The hypotheses are tested by drawing 250 samples from automotive manufacturing firms operating in an emerging economy (South Africa) using questionnaires designed for a single respondent. The path modelling is performed using WarpPLS software.

Availability of green human capital is found to positively influence reverse logistics adoption and remanufacturing operations performance. Top management commitment exerts a moderating effect on the path availability of green human capital and reverse logistics adoption while it shows no-moderating effect on the path availability of green human capital and remanufacturing operations performance. Sustainability culture exerts a moderating effect on the path availability of green human capital and reverse logistics adoption. It also exerts a moderating effect on the path availability of green human capital and remanufacturing operations performance. Reverse logistics adoption is found to positively influence remanufacturing operations performance.

First, it is important that managers must focus on increasing the availability of green human capital in the organisation. Second, focus is required on reverse logistics adoption process. Third, focus must be given towards cleaner remanufacturing production methods. Fourth, senior management must exhibit commitment towards green projects. Finally, managers must focus on creating sustainability culture in the organisation.

The results provide further understanding of human resource management in managing reverse logistics adoption and remanufacturing operations.

Today, proficient practices are required to stimulate along various boundaries of the supply chain (SC) to exploit manufacturing resources economically, effectually and gracefully for retaining operational excellence. Accordingly, varieties of paramount practices, i.e. Lean, Agile, Resilient and Green practices, are integrated in present study with the objective to develop a Decision Support Framework (DSF) to select robust supplier under the extent of Lean-Agile-Resilient-Green (LARG) practices for a manufacturing firm. The framework is developed and validated in the Indian automotive sector, where the primary data is collected based on perceptions of the respondents working in an automotive company.

LARG metrics can ponder ecological balance, customer satisfaction, associations, effectiveness and sustainability and thus, the study consolidated LARG practices in one umbrella to develop a DSF. The analytical approach under DSF is developed by the integration AHP, DEMATEL, ANP, Extended MOORA and SAW techniques in present study to evaluate a robust supplier under the aegis of LARG practices in SC. DSF is developed by scrutinizing and categorizing LARG characteristics, where the selected LARG characteristics are handled by fuzzy sets theory to deal with the impreciseness and uncertainty in decision making.

The study has identified 63 measures (15 for Lean, 15 for Agile, 14 for resilient and 19 for Green) to support the robust supplier selection process for manufacturing firms. The findings of study explicate “Internal communication agility”, “Interchangeability to personnel resources”, “Manufacturing flexibility”, “degree of online solution”, “Quickness to resource up-gradation”, “Manageability to demand and supply change”, “Overstocking inventory practices” as significant metrics in ranking order. Additionally, “Transparency to share information”, “Internal communication agility”, “Manufacturing Flexibility”, “Green product (outgoing)” are found as influential metrics under LARG practices respectively.

A technical DSF to utilize by the managers is developed, which is connected with knowledge-based theory and a case of an automobile manufacturing firm is presented to illustrate its implementation. The companies can utilize presented DSF to impose service excellence, societal performance, agility and green surroundings in SC for achieving sustainable outcomes to be welcomed by the legislations, society and rivals. The framework represents an important decision support tool to enable managers to overcome imprecise SC information sources.

The study presented a proficient platform to review the most significant LARG alternative in the SC. The study suggested a cluster of LARG metrics to support operational improvement in manufacturing firms for shifting gear toward sustainable SC practices. The present study embraces its existence in enrolling a high extent of collaboration amongst clients, project teams and LARG practices to virtually eradicate the likelihood of absolute project failure.

Employees’ personalities towards occupational outcomes have significantly gained academic attention. Personality traits (PTs) of employees as the determinant of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) outcomes research domain is emerging. This paper aims to assess extraversion PT activation for CE outcome under the problem-solving conflict handling style (CHS) situational cue.

The survey was conducted in automotive manufacturing firms in Pakistan for cross-sectional data collection. Structural equation modelling was used to assess the hypothesised theoretical model from 376 employees.

Results revealed a positive and significant impact of extraversion on CE. Also, employees with high extraversion traits were found to prefer the problem-solving style in managing workplace conflicts. The extraversion trait was also found to be activated under the situational cue of the problem-solving style.

The present study draws implications on person-job fit conceptions at the workplace while hiring, promoting and appointing employees. Personality assessment at the workplace is still in infancy in developing countries. The benefits of employees’ personalities can positively impact organisational performance measures like CE.

The present study has proposed the theoretical model based on Trait Activation Theory (TAT) and contributed theoretically through empirically testing the theoretical model by investigating the employees’ CHS role in activating their PTs towards the CE outcomes. Theoretically, using TAT conceptualisations in entrepreneurship and CE is novel as previous knowledge on PTs activation towards CE outcomes is non-existent. CHS as situational cues will attract social science researchers towards studying its role in various predictor outcome links across multiple work settings.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors influencing manufacturing flexibility adoption and simultaneously explores some of the key issues prevailing in manufacturing flexibility adoption in Indian context. The study also stratifies critical factors for successful manufacturing flexibility adoption.

Using exploratory sequential design, a series of focus group interviews were conducted with Indian manufacturing professionals and these interviews were supplemented by 127 follow-up structured questionnaires.

Two major themes emerged from the first phase of the study – role played by some of the unexplored antecedents of manufacturing flexibility and key issues in manufacturing flexibility adoption. In the second phase, a list of factors was categorized based on their degree of importance in manufacturing flexibility adoption.

Being qualitative in nature, the study suffers from inherent risk of subjectivity associated with manufacturing practitioners. A large-scale survey and rigorous quantitative analysis would be helpful to further validate the list of factors and underlying relationships among proposed factors.

The identified list of factors and some of the key issues in manufacturing flexibility adoption can be of great help to practitioners. The stratified list of factors can be further used by academicians to develop an instrument for manufacturing flexibility adoption.

The paper identifies a set of factors that affects manufacturing flexibility adoption. It offers a basis for instrument development for manufacturing flexibility adoption and provides direction for future quantitative research in manufacturing flexibility area.

The implementation of the risk management in the development of new car models can contribute to the improvement of the project management performance and project success. The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence about whether project risk management (PRM) and green supply chain management (GSCM) are positively related to project management performance and the project success.

Data were collected from 145 project managers in the Malaysian automobile manufacturing industry and analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The results found that PRM and the GSCM had a positive association with project management performance and the project success.

The effective implementation of GSCM and risk mitigation strategy is strategic solutions to manage sustainable project performance and successful implementation of a project.

The study aims to describe the development of a structural measurement model using structural equation modeling technique to validate the association that exists between Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and sustainable manufacturing strategies.

Both LSS and sustainable manufacturing aim at improving the firm’s business competitiveness which forms a strategic link that benefits the manufacturing organizations. The study aims to investigate the relationship among constructs that leads to operational excellence while deploying LSS and sustainable manufacturing strategies in organizations.

Empirical data needed for the study are collected from experts belonging to various industries that are implementing both LSS and sustainable manufacturing practices. Later statistical estimates (hypotheses) are being formulated to confirm the developed measurement model. Based on the obtained results after analysis of the structural model, the statistical estimate is either being accepted or rejected. Results of this study reveal that there exists a strong correlation between LSS and sustainable manufacturing factors that leads to organizational performance.

Additional indicators could be included to deal with technological advancements in sustainable manufacturing.

The study has been done with regard to Indian automotive component manufacturing organizations scenario. Hence, the inferences derived have practical relevance.

The development of structural model for the Lean Six Sigma system with sustainability considerations is the original contribution of the authors.

The purpose of this paper is to understand and describe the conditions that compel and underscore global supply chain (SC) adaptations.

Insights from contingency theory, Porter's economic cluster theory and international factory mapping are used to analyze the SC adaptations that follow when an automotive firm moves from a domestic to a global SC.

An automotive global SC adaptation includes market entry considerations, the establishment of a three‐stage flexible time‐ and production‐based supplier network plan, and the integration of logistics partners.

SC adaptations are an important consideration for any manufacturing expansion effort, especially international ones. Varying production levels impact supplier relationships and decisions and may result in varied supplier perspectives. Government regulations influence entry and routine decisions, while logistics issues and costs play an integral role in supplier perceptions and reactions.

With the rapid expansion of the Chinese auto market, entering manufacturing firms need more information about how to strategically locate, and develop and support supplier networks. A stepped supplier network establishment approach optimizes benefits for both manufacturing firm and suppliers. Evaluating and integrating logistics issues also sets the stage for future expansion efforts at optimal cost and supplier support.

The internationalization of the automotive SC involves adaptations that can only be successful through advance planning, strategic supplier networking, and systematic logistics integration.