Search results

Workplaces in Japan are well‐known for their cleanliness and orderliness. This results from the Japanese emphasis on training and discipline. The logic behind the 5‐S practice is that organization, neatness, cleanliness, standardization and discipline at the workplace are basic requirements for producing high quality products and services, with little or no waste, while maintaining high levels of productivity. Outlines results of an intensive questionnaire survey on about 3,000 companies in the UK and 200 leading companies in Japan with a response rate of about 12 per cent. Aims to determine whether the Japanese 5‐S practice has a significant contribution to the successful total quality management (TQM) implementation. The main finding from the 205 manufacturing and 106 services firms in the UK as well as 16 leading companies from Japan is that the 5‐S provides an essential total quality environment which is an important base for implementing TQM successfully. Inevitably, TQM training policy should incorporate the 5‐S practice guidelines.

Part 1 developed a model called LETQMEX standing for LEicester Business School TQM EXcellence Model based on sound total quality management (TQM) practices. An intensive questionnaire survey was conducted based on about 1,800 BS 5750 registered companies in the UK. The aim of the research is to validate the model against real‐life practices. This is done by determining whether there are any differences in the emphasis on quality improvement and which factors contribute to successful TQM practices. The main finding from the respondents of 110 manufacturing and 51 services firms is that TQM is an essential requirement for their business success, which can be achieved by good organization, working environment, operations management systems, quality circles practices, quality management system, and preventive maintenance measures. These are the basis for LETQMEX. Finally, the model can be of assistance to other companies contemplating the TQM goal.

In contemporary management in the 1990s, TQM is a proven approach for success in manufacturing, services and the public sector. Examines what is so special about TQM and develops an excellence model based on some proven approaches adopted by the Japanese. Looks at the current thinking and development of TQM. Establishes the rationale for developing an excellence model for TQM and explores the route to TQM. Discusses the relationships between continuous improvement and TQM. Develops a model, LETQMEX (Leicester Business School TQM EXcellence Model), for implementing TQM effectively and efficiently, based on well‐founded research.

We examine the citations from four international business (IB) journals over 2000‐2004 to show the areas, the journals, and the institutions that impact IB research. The leading works that influence IB research are primarily management journals, scholarly books, and IB journals. IB research is published in non‐IB journals, as well and this has influenced the recent research in IB journals. U.S. and non‐U.S. academic institutions and non‐academic organizations are among the top 100 institutions that impact IB research, indicating that this research is a truly global endeavor. Finally, recent IB research is influenced more by recent published research than by past research. Scholarly books have become less influential, while the economics, finance, and marketing journals show no change in the influence on IB research over time.

Rising production costs in coastal China have caused the popularity of the “China plus one” strategy, and the hike in oil prices favors near‐shore outsourcing to reduce transportation costs. Taking into consideration supply chain strategy, this paper aims to investigate the impacts of these major business environment changes on manufacturing outsourcing in China.

Considering costs and lead times, a bi‐objective integer programming model is developed to determine optimal supply chain configuration decisions under various business environment scenarios. A case study with a family of footwear products is used to illustrate model application and present detailed analyses.

Impacts of factors could be non‐intuitive. Partial relocation may be better than relocating all manufacturing steps to lower‐cost regions. Coastal China is still attractive for products with short order lead times, because of its formation of industrial clusters and efficient logistics services.

Only tangible factors including costs and lead times are evaluated; however, they offer valuable insight for the strategic decision of selecting outsourcing locations.

The analyses suggest differentiated outsourcing strategies depending on product and demand characteristics. The trend of moving manufacturing away from China is exaggerated. Coastal China has established industrial clusters and efficient logistics support to enable supply chain responsiveness; while inland China maintains a low cost comparable with competing Asian countries.

Existing studies on the research phenomenon focused on cost factors alone. This paper analyzes lead times as well. The study also introduces the network perspective into the research of offshore manufacturing outsourcing.

For central banks who study the use of cash, acceptance of card payments is an important factor. Surveys to measure levels of card acceptance and the costs of payments can be complicated and expensive. In this paper, we exploit a novel data set from Hungary to see the effect of stratified random sampling on estimates of payment card acceptance and usage. Using the Online Cashier Registry, a database linking the universe of merchant cash registers in Hungary, we create merchant and transaction level data sets. We compare county (geographic), industry and store size stratifications to simulate the usual stratification criteria for merchant surveys and see the effect on estimates of card acceptance for different sample sizes. Further, we estimate logistic regression models of card acceptance/usage to see how stratification biases estimates of key determinants of card acceptance/usage.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of relationship coordination on the performance of trade intermediaries.

This study uses a model of interfirm governance involving multiple members – customers, suppliers and a firm's internal members. In supply chains involving more than two members, the dyadic approach to studying business relationships is inadequate. Dyadic relationships are often influenced by other connected relationships. Thus, this study provides a broader understanding of relationship management in the supply chain.

A major task of intermediaries is to facilitate the flow of materials, information and resource along the supply chain. Growth in outsourcing and competition between supply chains have created a need for intermediaries to manage relationships with other members in the supply chain. How should intermediaries manage these relationships for success? Are there positive linkages between supplier relationship management, customer relationship management, intermediary business processes and intermediary performance? The findings of this study will help intermediaries to improve overall performance and to contribute to global trade.

This preliminary study should prompt further investigations into how internal and external relationships can be integrated for superior performance in global trading operations.

The purpose of this paper is to uncover how buying companies use sourcing intermediaries to manage supply risks in global sourcing.

The authors carry out an explorative qualitative study of the clothing industry, interviewing key respondents who occupy different positions in the supply chain, including sourcing intermediaries, retailers, and brand marketers.

Sourcing intermediaries carry out a broad range of supply risk management functions, including design availability and support, and the operation of high risk markets. The authors identify different sourcing intermediary types, characterised by the set of functions they handle.

By analysing a limited set of in‐depth interviews in one industry the authors have traded off broader analytical generalization for in‐depth exploration and theory building. Therefore, future research should test the findings in other industries and across broader populations.

Sourcing intermediaries carry out valuable supply risk reducing functions in global sourcing and must be considered as alternatives to direct sourcing or international purchasing offices.

The paper contributes by identifying the supply risk management functions that sourcing intermediaries carry out for buying companies. The paper also contributes by uncovering different types of sourcing intermediaries, determined by the collection of functions handled.

The purpose of this paper is to review a sample of the literature relating to the integration and implementation of supply chain management practices from a strategic viewpoint.

The literature is examined from three perspectives. First, supply chain integration covers issues relating to integration of core processes across organizational boundaries through improved communication, partnerships, alliances and cooperation. Second, strategy and planning examines supply chain management as a strategic matter for trading partners, along with factors relating to the amount of planning required. Third, implementation issues concern factors critical for successful implementation, as well as issues specific to inter and intra‐organizational aspects of supply chain initiatives are contained in this sub‐group

An important emergent theme from the literature is the importance of taking a holistic view, and the systemic nature of interactions between the participants. At the same time, it is also apparent that this requirement to take such an holistic and systemic view of the supply chain acts as an impediment to more extensive implementation. The strategic nature of adopting a supply chain wide perspective, on the one hand provides significant potential benefit, and on the other requires trading partners to think and act strategically. This is easier said than done within a stand‐alone organization, let alone across a diverse and dispersed group of trading partners.

The scope of this review is by design limited to a cross‐section of the literature in this area. As such, it cannot, and does not, attempt to be an examination of the full range of the literature, but a sampling of important and influential works.

This review of the literature serves to highlight the inter‐dependence between integration (technologies, logistics, and partnerships), a strategic view of supply chain systems, and implementation approach. All three need to inform and underpin each other in order for management of supply chains to be able to deliver on the promise of benefits for all trading partners.

This study reviews a sample of recent and classic literature in this field, and in doing so provides some clear guidelines for the conduct of future research.

The purpose of this paper is to put forward a demand chain management (DCM) framework underpinned by the alignment theory and applies it to investigate the fashion apparel (FA) industry in China under the impacts of the latest economic transition.

An exploratory multiple case study methodology involving five Chinese FA firms, each with a different business model and ownership type, was employed. Semi-structured interviews, onsite observations and review of company documents were conducted to collect information for analysis.

Using a conceptual DCM framework as a guide for analysis, the study finds that companies with a higher level of alignment with the external market situation and among the three internal DCM dimensions, namely, market management, supply chain management (SCM), and organization management, appear to perform better under the rapidly changing economic conditions in China.

This study contributes to knowledge by reviewing thoroughly the literature on SCM evolution and develops a DCM framework based on alignment theory that represents the state of the art in this area. By extending the administration-integration-production-development (A-I-P-D) logic set adopted in the alignment theory, this study has also equipped the proposed framework with an empirical tool to measure alignment.

By applying the framework to examine the Chinese apparel industry under the impacts of the latest economic transition, this study provides practitioners in the industry with a framework to help formulate strategies and a tool to measure alignment. The findings of the case study also offer insights to the industry to thrive in the rapidly changing businesses environment with dynamic uncertainties.

This study extends the application of the A-I-P-D logic set under the alignment theory to the SCM field. This endeavor successfully transforms the proposed DCM framework from a theoretical concept to a practical tool to help evaluate empirically the alignment and strategic fit of a firm and potential relationship with firm performance. As the Chinese FA market has increasingly evolved under the impact of the globalization, the findings of this study not only assist the local FA companies in coping with the dynamic uncertainties but also shed light on the future developments of the global FA industry. Besides, the alignment measurement tool embedded in the proposed DCM framework can help enhance the chances of business success during implementation.