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1 – 10 of over 40000Keith T. Phelan, Joshua David Summers, Mary E. Kurz, Crystal Wilson, Bryan Wayne Pearce, Joerg Schulte and Stephan Knackstedt
The purpose of this paper is to propose a three-staged approach to configuration change management that uses a combination of complexity analysis, data visualization, and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a three-staged approach to configuration change management that uses a combination of complexity analysis, data visualization, and algorithmic validation to assist in validating configuration changes.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to accomplish the above purpose, the authors conducted a review of existing configuration management practices. This was followed by an in-depth case study of the configuration management practices of a major automotive OEM. The primary means of data collection for the case study were interviews, ethnographic study, and document analysis. Based on the results of the case study, a set of support tools is proposed to assist in the configuration management process.
Findings
Through the case study, the authors identified that the OEM used a configuration management method that largely represented the rule-based reasoning methods identified in the literature review. In addition, many of the associated challenges are present, primarily, the difficulty in making changes to the rule system and evaluating the changes.
Research limitations/implications
The primary limitation is that the case study was based on a single OEM. However, the results are in line with other practices identified in the literature review. Therefore, it is expected that the findings and recommendations should hold true in other applications.
Practical implications
A set of configuration management tools and associated requirements are identified and defined that could be used to assist companies in the automotive industry, and perhaps others, in managing their option changes as they continue to move towards full mass customization of products.
Originality/value
The proposed approach for configuration management has not been seen in any other organization. The value of this paper is in the effectiveness of the proposed approach in assisting in the configuration change management process.
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Jaydeep Balakrishnan and Chun Hung Cheng
The purpose of this research paper is to discuss cellular manufacturing is discussed under conditions of changing product demand. Traditional cell formation procedures ignore any…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research paper is to discuss cellular manufacturing is discussed under conditions of changing product demand. Traditional cell formation procedures ignore any changes in demand over time from product redesign and other factors. However given that in today's business environment, product life cycles are short, a framework is proposed that creates a multi‐period cellular layout plan including cell redesign where appropriate.
Design/methodology/approach
The framework is illustrated using a two‐stage procedure based on the generalized machine assignment problem and dynamic programming. This framework is conceptually compared to virtual cell manufacturing, which is useful when there is uncertainty in demand rather than anticipated changes in demand. A case study is used to explain how the concept would work in practice.
Findings
One major characteristic of the proposed method is that it is flexible enough to incorporate existing cell formation procedures. It is shown through an example problem that the proposed two‐stage method is better than undergoing ad hoc layout changes or ignoring the demand changes when shifting or cell rearrangement costs exist. It also sheds some insight into cellular manufacturing under dynamic conditions.
Originality/value
This paper should be useful to both researchers and practitioners who deal with demand changes in cellular manufacturing.
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Kai‐Ingo Voigt, Michael Saatmann and Sascha Schorr
This research aims to analyze the potential of revenue management in the German car industry. The concept offers the chance for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to be more…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to analyze the potential of revenue management in the German car industry. The concept offers the chance for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to be more customer‐oriented to reduce costs and increase earnings. To implement revenue management, criteria are required to segment the customers. The car configuration changes and the delivery time look suitable in this context and this paper aims to analyze these.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey analysis was conducted with 2974 German buyers of new cars. The respondents recently bought a car or were in the planning process of doing so. A total of 803 data sets could be evaluated statistically using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics and mean test were utilized to test several hypotheses and find out distinctions between the respondents.
Findings
The results show that German car buyers could be segmented in to different groups according to the criteria: delivery time and configuration changes. This enables manufacturers to introduce revenue management and realize benefits in better customer orientation and improved supply chain planning.
Originality/value
This research shows that German OEMs, especially the premium OEMs overestimate the value of change flexibility and short delivery times for their customers. The implementation of revenue management could help to reduce complexity and offer each customer the appropriate degree of change flexibility and the optimal delivery time combined with a process‐ and effort‐adequate pricing.
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Raffaella Cagliano, Nuran Acur and Harry Boer
The paper aims to address the question of how and how often companies change their manufacturing strategy in the medium and long run, thus addressing a lack of evidence in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to address the question of how and how often companies change their manufacturing strategy in the medium and long run, thus addressing a lack of evidence in the literature.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper explores the movements made by companies among four manufacturing strategy configurations drawn from the literature (market‐based, product‐based, capability‐based and price‐based configuration). Analyses are based on three longitudinal samples from the International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS) database.
Findings
Results show that while strategic configurations are rather stable, many companies do indeed change strategy and identifies which patterns of change prevail. Product‐based strategy is the most‐widely spread and most stable strategy. Capability‐based competition is the rising star. The market‐based strategy is struggling and price‐based competition is on its way out.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation is the small size of longitudinal samples, leading to tentative propositions for further testing.
Practical implications
No strategic configuration appears to be the final “maturity” target for manufacturers. Companies select their configurations according to life cycle of the organization and market competition.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to fill a lack of longitudinal evidence of strategic change and flexibility of manufacturing companies.
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The functionality and reliability of an overhauled aero-engine is determined by all configuration changes in the overhaul process. Identifying, recording, auditing, tracking and…
Abstract
Purpose
The functionality and reliability of an overhauled aero-engine is determined by all configuration changes in the overhaul process. Identifying, recording, auditing, tracking and tracing of configuration modifications are significant and meaningful. Considering the barriers to these goals, this paper aims to put forward an approach to configuration management in the aero-engine overhaul process.
Design/methodology/approach
The overhaul configuration management model is proposed to describe an aero-engine’s configuration evolution trajectory in the overhaul process. The controlling and auditing procedures are put forward to control and audit parts’ return-to-zero statuses and overproof statuses. And some searching algorithms are also designed to enable tracking and tracing of the configuration status along the time coordinate, or get a snapshot of an aero-engine’s configuration at a certain time. The above model, procedures and algorithms have been implemented and adopted to fulfill the configuration management requirements in the aero-engine overhaul process.
Findings
The approach is effective in identifying, recording, controlling, auditing, tracking and tracing configuration changes in the overhaul process.
Practical implications
The approach’s implementation and adoption present a practical example for aero-engines’ configuration management issue in the overhaul process.
Originality/value
The work proposes an original aero-engine configuration management solution for the overhaul process and enables a reliable and accurate configuration management mode.
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This paper aims to discuss the interplay between strategic management accounting (SMA) and three organizational change configurations: strategy, structure and restructuring. This…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the interplay between strategic management accounting (SMA) and three organizational change configurations: strategy, structure and restructuring. This explication occurs within a context that is characterized by organization restructuring and corporate strategy changes within Jordan Customs Organization (JCO).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a qualitative research approach and presents an interpretive case study of the JCO public sector organization. To collect data, it uses methodological triangulation, which includes interviews, historical and statistical analyses, documents and archival records. It is informed by the theoretical lens of configurational theory and strategic typologies to interpret the influences of organizational change configurations on SMA as it relates to the interplay of strategy, structure and restructuring.
Findings
The study findings agree with the related literature that SMA practices have developed management accounting from important operational transactions to gain a more strategic orientation through integrating customers, human resources, processes and financial departments. This paper concludes that specific SMA techniques have been used for strategizing by organizations in the public sector, providing a valuable counterpoint to the private sector adaptation that has dominated SMA research. This study finds that organizational restructuring has also contributed to decentralization and delegation, which has led to the distribution of tasks and specialization in accounting departments. It also concludes that SMA may facilitate or delay organizational change configurations in JCO. SMA can play a significant role in ensuring that the institution learns in response to organizational changes. On the contrary, this paper also concludes that organizational practices led to changes in SMA rules and routines.
Research limitations/implications
A general criticism of case-study methods is that they lack rigor and provide little basis for generalization. First, case studies tend to be specific and individual, posing significant issues regarding generalization. Therefore, several comparative case studies involving various organizations should be conducted to ascertain if these practices have become more commonplace, especially in the public sector. Second, considering the nature of a government entity and the sensitivity of the information that required confidentiality, certain strategizing imperatives could not be directly examined, such as meetings between top management to make important decisions of strategic significance. This paper has important implications because it highlights the shortcomings of a supercilious singular relationship between strategic choices and the design of SMA practices.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the growing literature by focusing on the relationship between SMA and three organizational change configurations: strategy, structure and restructuring. This paper is informed by the configuration theory perspective commonly used in accounting research. The empirical evidence in this study is provided in an SMA field, where empirical research is needed to be comparable with traditional accounting practices.
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Federico Paolo Zasa and Tommaso Buganza
This study aims to investigate how configurations of boundary objects (BOs) support innovation teams in developing innovative product concepts. Specifically, it explores the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how configurations of boundary objects (BOs) support innovation teams in developing innovative product concepts. Specifically, it explores the effectiveness of different artefact configurations in facilitating collaboration and bridging knowledge boundaries during the concept development process.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on data from ten undergraduate innovation teams working with an industry partner in a creative industry. Six categories of BOs are identified, which serve as tools for collaboration. The study applies fsQCA (fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis) to analyse the configurations employed by the teams to bridge knowledge boundaries and support the development of innovative product concepts.
Findings
The findings of the study reveal two distinct groups of configurations: product envisioning and product design. The configurations within the “product envisioning” group support the activities of visioning and pivoting, enabling teams to innovate the product concept by altering the product vision. On the other hand, the configurations within the “product design” group facilitate experimenting, modelling and prototyping, allowing teams to design the attributes of the innovative product concept while maintaining the product vision.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the field of innovation by providing insights into the role of BOs and their configurations in supporting innovation teams during concept development. The results suggest that configurations of “product envisioning” support bridging semantic knowledge boundaries, while configurations within “product design” bridge pragmatic knowledge boundaries. This understanding contributes to the broader field of knowledge integration and innovation in design contexts.
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Tonglin Liu, Chengdong Wu, Bin Li, Shugen Ma and Jinguo Liu
The purpose of this paper is to describe a shape‐shifting robot with diverse configurations, named “AMOEBA‐I”, which has been developed for search and rescue operations. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe a shape‐shifting robot with diverse configurations, named “AMOEBA‐I”, which has been developed for search and rescue operations. The accessibility of this robot to unstructured environment is efficiently enhanced by changing its configuration. So the shape and reconfiguration of the robot should be considered in AMOEBA‐I path planning to improve work ability of the robot in complex environment. The unique accessibility of AMOEBA‐I is thus fully displayed.
Design/methodology/approach
An auto‐adapted path‐planning method is presented for AMOEBA‐I by introducing the reconfigurable ability of the robot into the modified potential field method. The modified potential field method solves the local minimum problem and goal‐unreachable with nearby obstacles (GUWNO) effectively. A method of the shape‐shifting robot's passing through the narrow space is studied by combining the corner detection with the modified potential field method.
Findings
The ability of the robot to automatically change configuration to pass through a narrow space is proven through the experiment. Simulation results show that the robot can change its own configurations to perform auto‐adapted path planning corresponding to the environmental variation. Therefore, the proposed method can improve the probability of completing the path planning. As a result, this method will shorten the path length and complete the rescue operation more effectively.
Originality/value
The paper presents an effective auto‐adapted path‐planning method that integrates the reconfigurable ability of the robot into the modified potential field method in order to realize the auto‐adapted path planning.
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This study aims to examine how changes in power disparity shape in-groups and upper-level management conflict are associated with intragroup relationship and task conflict…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how changes in power disparity shape in-groups and upper-level management conflict are associated with intragroup relationship and task conflict variations. It also examines how workplace conflicts relate to focal employees’ perceptions of coworker support.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 3,343 respondents for nine years, comprising measurements taken on six occasions in 47 departments and stores of a Canadian retailer. The relationships between, within and across levels were tested using multilevel structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results showed that higher levels of power concentration vested by a few members or a single person are associated wih higher levels of intragroup conflict than usual. Furthermore, higher levels of task and relationship conflicts at upper management levels are associated with higher-than-usual task and relationship conflicts between nonhierarchical employees. Additionally, a higher-than-usual intragroup task conflict level was associated with lower-than-usual coworker support, supporting the proposed multilevel dynamic model.
Research limitations/implications
An important limitation of this study is that all variables are self-reported despite using the six-wave repeated measurements, thereby increasing the possibility of inflating some observed relationships. Future research should examine the emergence of a larger spectrum of power dispersion configurations and their role on process conflict.
Practical implications
Retail managers should legitimize why a high-power concentration occurs when the equal distribution of power is not possible and find ways to minimize the trickle-down effects of conflicts at upper levels on their subordinates.
Originality/value
This study examines the effect of variability on power configurations and conflict in upper management ranks on conflict dynamic. The findings show that a high-power concentration elicits increasing conflicts, and that there is no empirical evidence that intragroup conflict is associated with positive outcomes.
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