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Considers the recent development of time‐based management as a way of enhancing the competitive position of a manufacturing organization. Based on a review of literature related to time‐based management, several possible relationships between the use of time‐based competition and its benefits in attaining stated business goals are defined. Results of empirical investigation using the manufacturing firms in the State of Indiana are discussed and some preliminary conclusions about the use of time‐based competition strategies among manufacturing organizations are drawn. The results of this study suggest that a full‐scale study of international scope will be beneficial to judge the use of time as a competitive weapon among manufacturing firms.

The implementation of marketing among bank executives has been late and slow. In recent years, deregulation, and resultantly, a more competitive environment have motivated the retail banking industry to be exceedingly market oriented and to implement marketing more thoroughly. This study explores the implementation of marketing by various sized Indiana banks and its relation with net income levels of banks after two succeeding deregulation waves. Implications of findings for both public policy makers and bank executives are discussed.

This paper examines the benefit of incorporating a group of employees that exhibit dynamic service rates into scheduling tours in a service operation. The service operation that is examined includes a fully productive core (full‐time) workforce along with a contingent (full‐ and part‐time) workforce that experiences the learning effect. Two methods that account for the learning effect are analyzed along with two methods that do not consider learning effects. The schedules generated by each method are tested in a simulation of the service environment. The results of a full‐factorial experiment indicate that methods that account for learning effects will yield superior solutions over a variety of operating conditions when compared to alternative methods that do not consider learning effects. The performance improvement of schedules generated with the most precise learning curve method was substantially and significantly better than the other methods. The conditions in which the learning curve methods provide the most benefit are explored.