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Teamwork and customer focus are important aspects of total quality. The research described in the paper investigated change agents and activities that affect development of these areas. Effects of human motivation and work attitude factors on teamwork and customer focus were investigated using questionnaires and structured interviews involving more that 150 companies. Companies were differentiated into TQ‐practising and non‐TQ‐practising organisations. Preliminary findings indicated poor levels of teamwork and an inability to achieve a breakthrough in customer focus. An analysis of results led to the determination of the vital change agents enabling development in the two areas. A framework involving a description of change activities was developed to assist companies in the development of customer focus and teamwork.

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/14635779810226207. When citing the article, please cite: Robin Mann, Oludotun Adebanjo, Dennis Kehoe, (1998), “Best practices in the food and drinks industry”, Benchmarking for Quality Management & Technology, Vol. 5 Iss: 3, pp. 184 - 199.

Reports on the development of system engineering methods specifically for use in the manufacturing environment. Discusses a three stage method, involving: analysis of current methods, definition of requirements, and evaluation of solutions, as well as a framework based on the method. States that these developments are directed towards the production of a modular specification method for manufacturing method systems and further research will address the issue of manufacturing integration.

Information systems are often developed to introduce new technology or to overcome severe maintenance problems rather than to improve fundamental business practice. In today′s manufacturing environment, any attempt to develop effective information systems must benefit the organization as a whole and reflect the strategic needs of the business. The goal is the development of systems that help produce constructive change in business operations to achieve a competitive edge. For most organizations, this means defining a strategy or plan for moving from their current position to the desired goal. Emphasizes the importance of effective information systems planning, details its requirements in today′s manufacturing environment and outlines a planning methodology that helps identify and rank opportunities to develop information systems to meet business needs.

Today the Internet provides a real opportunity for demand data and supply capacity data to be visible to all companies within a manufacturing supply chain. Consequently there is a need for manufacturing organisations to explore alternative mechanisms for the management of their operations network, in particular the role of manufacturing planning and control systems. This paper describes current research which examines the classification of manufacturing supply chains and positions Internet‐based applications in order to identify the operations management challenges for the next generation of manufacturing planning and control systems.

This paper provides an empirical illustration of the potential of a cross‐supply chain information system (CSCIS) in an automotive industry setting. Whilst dramatic reductions in downstream finished goods, work‐in‐progress and raw materials inventories have taken place in many automotive supply chains, this paper looks at how demand information can be made more transparent in order to improve the efficiency of upstream operations. The paper concentrates on the findings from a case study that used a prototype Internet‐based system to convert original equipment manufacturer (OEM) demand into second and third‐tier component requirements. A computer‐based value analysis illustrates how this information might be used to significantly improve supply chain synchronisation in the lower tiers. The research demonstrates how information systems can be used to improve supply chain performance and provides further motivation for the development of more holistic supply chain planning information systems.

Although cultural change is recognised as important to total quality improvement, many manufacturing companies fail to achieve the level of change desired. One primary reason for this is the inability to fully understand where their problems lie and the nature of these problems. Research was undertaken into seven elements of quality culture ‐ senior management leadership, employee involvement and empowerment, supplier partnership, customer focus, teamwork, effect of chief executive and open corporate culture. Questionnaires and structured interviews in 166 UK manufacturing companies provided the required information on cultural change problems. An evaluation of cultural problems and the targeting of areas for change was better understood from the survey results.

The importance of tailoring TQM to the specific needs of organizations is well known. Shows the findings of a research programme that investigated which organizational factors are important to consider when implementing TQM. Questionnaires and structured interviews, involving the participation of over 200 companies, were used as the main tools for the investigation. Identifies as a result, seven prime factors affecting the implementation of TQM: process factors, type of employees, shared values, management style, organizational structure, number of employees and industrial relations. Recommends that organizations should give these factors special consideration when developing their TQM approaches, and provides a guideline to show how these factors are likely to affect the implementation of TQM.

For both ISO 9000 and TQM concepts there have been many research programmes and publications. However, the coincidence of these topics and/or the ambiguity about their relationship has emerged in a number of discussions. This paper examines this relationship and provides a framework to assist manufacturing organisations to move beyond the requirements of ISO 9000 towards total quality. The research methodology adopted was based on extracting a conceptual model from the review of literature on ISO 9000, TQM, performance measurement and strategy. The conceptual model, provided the basis for the final framework, which was divided into two parts, “formulation” and “implementation”, as stages of post‐ISO 9000 quality development. The research empirically examined these stages by surveying over 200 industrial companies including 18 detailed case studies which produced a number of findings. The research findings have been integrated to form the post‐ISO 9000 quality development framework.