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1 – 10 of over 4000Peter Söderholm and Per Norrbin
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe how a risk‐based dependability approach can be used to link maintenance performance measurement and management to overall…
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe how a risk‐based dependability approach can be used to link maintenance performance measurement and management to overall objectives within an organization. Design/methodology/approach – The applied study approach is a case study at Trafikverket (the Swedish Transport Administration). Qualitative data were collected through interviews, workshops and document studies, while quantitative data was collected through data bases. As a framework for analysis, international standards within the risk and dependability areas were applied. Finally, the conclusions of the study were verified by key informants. Findings – Through the proposed risk‐based dependability approach, critical availability goals are communicated with and involve top management. The approach also contributes to enhanced data and information quality by pinpointing critical data and information for dependability management activities. The proposed availability indicator can be used to monitor the effect of dependability management activities aimed at different indenture levels of the infrastructure and related to the responsibility of different hierarchical levels of the organization, e.g. different maintenance echelons. Practical implications – The proposed approach strengthens the internal control of an organization by supporting the achievement of: objectives that are aligned with and support the mission; operations with an effective and efficient use of resources; reliable operational and financial reporting; compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Originality/value – By integrating risk management in the work with availability goals included in the balanced scorecard, a more holistic and risk‐based dependability management practice is achieved.
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Svetislav B. Kostic and Vojislav Dj. Arandjelovic
The concept of dependability of a product has been successfullyapplied in the military and associated industries and also in thespecial high technology industries. Today, a need…
Abstract
The concept of dependability of a product has been successfully applied in the military and associated industries and also in the special high technology industries. Today, a need has been recognized for introducing this concept into other industrial branches together with the application of the IEC 300 and ISO 9000 series of standards. Introduces a generalized definition of dependability, based on: a set of attributes of a product; processes of appearance and removal of failures; and direct correlation with the concept of the quality of a product. Furthermore, gives a description of the IEC 300 series of standards on dependability and its correlation with the ISO 9000 series. Underlines the need for implementation of the existing documents of both series of standards and some desirable improvements of these documents.
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Peter Söderholm and Per Norrbin
The purpose of this paper is to describe an information logistic framework for continuous dependability improvement that is applied within Sweden to improve the operational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe an information logistic framework for continuous dependability improvement that is applied within Sweden to improve the operational availability performance of the railway system.
Design/methodology/approach
The applied study approach is a case study of the Swedish iron ore transports, described from the perspectives of the infrastructure manager and the operator of the rolling stock. Qualitative data were collected through interviews, workshops and document studies, while quantitative data were collected through databases. As a framework for analysis, international standards within the dependability area were applied. Finally, the conclusions of the study were verified by key informants.
Findings
Information logistics provides methodologies and technologies to support continuous dependability improvement through monitoring of the operational availability performance and its included aspects of reliability performance, maintainability performance and maintenance support performance.
Practical implications
The operational availability performance of technical systems is crucial to provide a quality of services that fulfils the requirements of stakeholders. Hence, continuous dependability improvement is necessary to keep pace with increasing stakeholder requirements and ongoing system degradation to enable stakeholder satisfaction. The framework is based on best practices and international standards.
Originality/value
The proposed framework includes an integration of methodologies and technologies from the information technology and dependability management areas that considers both railway infrastructure and rolling stock.
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Servant leaders focus on their direct reports to enable them to grow to be independent and autonomous leaders. The purpose of this paper is to understand the way personal values…
Abstract
Purpose
Servant leaders focus on their direct reports to enable them to grow to be independent and autonomous leaders. The purpose of this paper is to understand the way personal values and personality traits collectively influence this other-centered behavior. This will go a long way to unravel this unique style of leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
The study surveys managers and their direct reports. Leaders rated their personality trait and personal values, while their direct reports rated the leader’s servant leadership behaviors. Age, educational level, conscientiousness, extraversion and neuroticism of leaders were used as controls. The study also checked for endogeneity threats.
Findings
Using a sample of 81 leaders and 279 of their direct reports, the study finds that the personal value of benevolent dependability relates negatively to servant leadership behaviors. In addition, the personality traits of agreeableness and openness/intellect moderate the relationship between benevolent dependability and servant leadership behaviors.
Research limitations/implications
The findings shed important insights into what motivates servant leaders to engage in other-directed behaviors, thereby enabling future research into individual characteristics that define servant leaders.
Originality/value
Although studies have examined how values and personality traits influence leadership behaviors, no research has examined both types of individual differences in a single study. Studies examining the individual differences of servant leaders are few, and this study answers the call by Liden et al. (2014) to examine individual characteristics that are both personality based (traits) and malleable (values).
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Anil Aggarwal, Sanjeev Kumar and Vikram Singh
The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to compute RAMD indices to measure and improve the performance of skim milk powder production system of a dairy plant under real…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to compute RAMD indices to measure and improve the performance of skim milk powder production system of a dairy plant under real working conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
The present work is carried out by developing performance model based on Markov birth-death process. The skim milk powder production system consists of six units. The first order governing differential equations are derived using the mnemonic rule and further solved to calculate RAMD indices i.e. reliability, availability, maintainability, dependability, MTBF, MTTR and dependability ratio for each subsystem of the system.
Findings
The subsystem SS1 comprising of chiller and cream separator is the most critical from maintenance point of view, as the reliability, availability, maintainability, dependability, MTBF and dependability ratio indices are low as compared to those of other subsystems of skim milk powder production system of the dairy plant.
Originality/value
The RAMD indices of the present work is very useful for finding the critical subsystem and its effect on the performance of the system working under real working conditions. Further, based on findings the maintenance priorities for various subsystems can be decided.
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Subhashini Kaul, Arvind Sahay and Abraham Koshy
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of “initial” store image in a new store. Existing research affords limited explanation of how shopper trust in store is formed…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of “initial” store image in a new store. Existing research affords limited explanation of how shopper trust in store is formed prior to store visits and regarding the impact of “initial” store image on shopper trust and patronage intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
Specifically, this paper operationalizes “trust‐image” of a new store as an antecedent to shopper trust; uses a multidimensional conceptualization for “trust‐image” which is similar to the existing tripartite view of “trustworthiness”; and examines the effect of store visit on perceived salience of trust‐image. The laboratory experiment has four scenarios that manipulate store image as positive/negative, and store visit by a “close friend” who is the source of trust‐image as none/one.
Findings
This is possibly the first empirical evidence supporting the significance of trust‐image in influencing shopper trust and patronage intentions of a new store. Contrary to existing theory, store “dependability” is not really significant for Indian apparel retail consumers at initial stages of store visits.
Research limitations/implications
Further research is needed to examine which image dimensions contribute to formation of trust‐image across different products, age groups, and gender.
Practical implications
Retailers planning a foray into India need to understand that store “trust‐image” needs significant attention for a new store and also that Indian shoppers evaluate stores differently.
Originality/value
While the association between store image and patronage is well known, there is limited knowledge of trust‐image formation in a new store. This paper explodes the existing belief that store dependability is the first stage evaluation by shoppers bringing to light that Indian shoppers are unique in their experience of trust.
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Robert J. Vokurka and Gene Fliedner
Historically, US firms have increased production volumes to gain economies of scale and operating efficiencies. Quality, dependability, and flexibility have more recently become…
Abstract
Historically, US firms have increased production volumes to gain economies of scale and operating efficiencies. Quality, dependability, and flexibility have more recently become competitive weapons. In today’s dynamic, global marketplace, some have suggested that the next competitive dimension will be agility. Current research suggests cumulative and lasting improvements of strategic capabilities can be achieved if they are developed in a specific sequence. This paper reviews the historical competitive environment and changes in strategic responses; reviews relevant research on competitive capabilities and suggested trade‐offs in these capabilities; and offers a model which suggests how firms may build cumulative and lasting improvements in strategic competitive capabilities including agility.
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Idriss El‐Thalji and Jayantha P. Liyanage
The purpose of this paper is to review the operation and maintenance practices within wind power applications and to clarify practical needs as gaps between researchers and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the operation and maintenance practices within wind power applications and to clarify practical needs as gaps between researchers and practitioners.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper collects, categorizes, and analyzes the published literature of both researchers and practitioners systematically.
Findings
The paper defines significant issues in operation and maintenance of wind energy related to: site and seasonal asset disturbances; stakeholders’ requirements trade‐off; dependability and asset deterioration challenges; diagnostic, prognostic and information and communication technologies (ICTs) applications; and maintenance optimization models. Within each category, the gaps and further research needs have been extracted with respect to both an academic and industrial perspective.
Practical implications
The use of wind energy is growing rapidly and the associated practices related to maintenance and asset management are still lacking. Therefore, the literature review of operation and maintenance is a necessity to uncover the holistic issues and interrelationships of what has so far been published as detailed and fragmented topics to specific issues. Wind energy assets represent modern renewable energy assets which are affected by environmental disturbances, rapid technological development, rapid scaling‐up processes, the stochastic and dynamic nature of operations and degradation, the integrity and interoperability of system‐to‐support.
Originality/value
The paper provides a comprehensive review of research contributions and industrial development efforts. That will be useful to the life cycle stakeholders in both academia and industry in understanding the maintenance problem and solution space within the wind energy context.
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Robert J. Vokurka, Gail M. Zank and Carl M. Lund
Supply chains can improve their performance by developing competitive priorities in a specified sequence: quality, reliability, flexibility, agility, and finally, cost efficiency…
Abstract
Supply chains can improve their performance by developing competitive priorities in a specified sequence: quality, reliability, flexibility, agility, and finally, cost efficiency. This paper extends Ferdows and De Meyer's (1990) sand cone model and Vokurka and Fliedner's (1998) sand cone model extension incorporating agility to supply chain management priorities. This work provides a framework for a cumulative and sustainable improvement process by which supply chains can build a strategic competitive advantage.
Hassana Mahfoud, El Barkany Abdellah and Ahmed El Biyaali
The purpose of this paper is to review maintenance strategies within the healthcare domain and to discuss practical needs as gaps between research and practice.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review maintenance strategies within the healthcare domain and to discuss practical needs as gaps between research and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper systematically categorizes the published literature on clinical maintenance optimization and then synthesizes it methodically.
Findings
This study highlights the significant issues relevant to the application of dependability analysis in healthcare maintenance, including the quantitative and qualitative criteria taken into account, data collection techniques and applied approaches to find the solution. Within each category, the gaps and further research needs have been discussed with respect to both an academic and industrial perspective.
Practical implications
It is worth mentioning that medical devices are becoming more and more numerous, various and complex. Although, they are often affected by environmental disturbances, sharp technological development, stochastic and uncertain nature of operations and degradation and the integrity and interoperability of the supportability system, the associated practices related to asset management and maintenance in healthcare are still lacking. Therefore, the literature review of applied based research on maintenance subject is necessary to reveal the holistic issues and interrelationships of what has been published as categorized specific topics.
Originality/value
The paper presents a comprehensive review that will be useful to understand the maintenance problem and solution space within the healthcare context.
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