Search results

The purpose of this paper is to examine the propagation of benchmarking concepts among Indian manufacturing companies after liberalization of Indian economy.

To determine the propagation of benchmarking concepts in the Indian manufacturing sector, first, a postal survey was conducted on 500 Indian manufacturing companies. Only 97 companies participated in the survey. Subsequently, interviews with 20 managers of six manufacturing companies were undertaken.

Research showed that benchmarking in Indian manufacturing sector is still in the nascent stage, but there is a positive attitude towards adoption of benchmarking concepts. The industry sectors, which typically show above average levels of benchmarking activity, are motor vehicle, electric and electronic industries. By contrast, it is the process sectors, which record the lowest incidences of benchmarking. Identification of suitable benchmarking partner was considered to be the most important problem among Indian manufacturing companies.

A limitation of research is the number of respondents, which precludes the generalization of findings.

The study can help managers of manufacturing companies understand the problems and inhibitors to successful benchmarking.

The paper provides an attempt to find out propagation of benchmarking concepts in Indian context. The paper should be of interest to those researching or managing in the Indian manufacturing sector. This is one of the first studies on dissemination of benchmarking in developing countries and should encourage further research in these countries.

The aim of this paper is to propose a benchmarking model of supplier development (SD) for an Indian gear manufacturing company for its successful adoption and improvement in a continuous basis.

Thirteen SD critical success factors (CSFs) are identified and classified into four categories through extensive literature review and discussion held with managers/senior engineers in different Indian manufacturing companies. The four categories are primary CSFs related to supplier, secondary CSFs related to supplier, CSFs related to manufacturer and CSFs related to both manufacturer and supplier. The interpretative structural modeling (ISM) approach is applied to the Indian gear manufacturing company for developing and analyzing structural framework of CSFs to propose a benchmarking model for SD.

It is concluded that SD adoption should be carried out in four phases sequentially for the Indian gear manufacturing company. The first, second, third and fourth phase should sequentially focus on primary CSFs related to supplier; secondary CSFs related to supplier; CSFs related to manufacturer; and CSFs related to both manufacturer and supplier, respectively. The proposed benchmarking model has four phases (i.e. plan, analyze, implement and measure) and bifurcated into 12 steps to enhance the performance of CSFs.

This paper provides a useful benchmarking model for successful adoption of SD in manufacturing organizations.

This is one of the few studies to develop the relationship of CSFs for SD in general and its application to an Indian gear manufacturing company in particular. A benchmarking model for SD is also proposed having five phases and 12 steps. The findings of the proposed structural framework and benchmarking model for the Indian gear manufacturing company are discussed in detail and will serve as a guideline for successful adoption of SD in manufacturing environment.

The purpose of this paper is to identify a classification scheme which represents the variation in business and supply chain performance of supply chains in Indian manufacturing industry. Classification is done by presenting an empirical taxonomy of clusters representing supply chains in Indian manufacturing industry based on variation in supply chain excellence index (SCEI) and business performance index (BPI).

The clustering of supply chains in Indian manufacturing industry is done by considering BPI and SCEI as clustering variables, which were found by using survey responses and results of a prior empirical study which was carried out in Indian manufacturing industry. The cluster analysis is performed by using Ward’s agglomerative hierarchical clustering followed by using K-means clustering algorithm to establish final set of clusters.

It was found that supply chains in Indian manufacturing industries can be clustered in four major clusters which are named as strategic, celebrity, capable and undeveloped cluster. The characteristics of these clusters reveal some major characteristics of supply chains in Indian manufacturing industry.

The research work presented in this paper takes a novel way to introduce the clusters of supply chains in Indian manufacturing industry. The researchers who are seeking patterns in large data sets of manufacturing companies of Indian industry will be benefitted by using the proposed clusters. While practitioners who are seeking to move their supply chain one step ahead will also reap the benefits of the paper by seeking the characteristics of particular cluster.

This paper aims to explore the state of strategic fit between “competitive strategy” (CS) and “supply chain strategy” (SCS) in the Indian manufacturing industry by investigating the mediating role of supply chain strategy between competitive strategy and performance of company/supply chain.

This aim is accomplished by using a survey questionnaire that was answered by 185 respondents from various sectors of Indian manufacturing industry. These sectors included automobile, electrical and electronics, process, machinery, textile, food, aviation and footwear sectors. The state of strategic fit is explored based on research framework of “matrix of strategic fit”.

The major findings revealed existence of a causal relationship between CS and SCS with CS as independent variable and SCS as dependent variable. It was also found that choice of CS and SCS affects business and supply chain performance. The other finding was establishment of the existence of strategic fit in Indian manufacturing industry, which was explained by analyzing the interaction effect between CS and SCS. It was also found that a major hurdle in implementing SCM practices in Indian manufacturing industry is “overcoming traditional practices”.

Indian manufacturing industry is growing by leaps and bounds, but to date there is no study that has explored the mediation effect of supply chain strategy between competitive strategy and performance in India. This paper provides a research framework to study and assess these dimensions of strategy on “matrix of strategic fit”.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a scale measurement of supply chain operations reference (SCOR)-related performance indicators and proposed constructs, SCOR-related performance indicators as practices within the Indian manufacturing sector.

A literature-based model on SCOR processes with five constructs and respective performance indicators was empirically validated by using a structured questionnaire. A total of 155 respondents among Indian manufacturing sector participated in this research, and the returned questionnaires were analyzed by using structural equation modeling.

The study established a relationship among the SCOR-related performance indicators and overall supply chain performance indicators (OSCPI). The moderation effect of demographic characteristics, namely, employee size, company age and type of company showed significant differences between SCOR-related performance indicators and overall supply chain indicators.

The scope of the study is limited to specific Indian manufacturing firms. The survey could not represent whole population of manufacturing sector.

The findings assist managers/supply chain practitioners in improving the performance measures identified using the standard framework, i.e., SCOR processes, overall supply chain performance measures as standard practices for Indian manufacturing sector for a profitable and sustainable business growth in global environment.

This research holds a value for suggested practices under SCOR processes and the proposed model for OSCPI, a path finder/performance measurement tool for supply chain professionals in the Indian context.

In the current global manufacturing scenario, all most all major players are now in a position to commit themselves to sustainability in all their operational initiatives and each of them follow their own methodology to attain their goal of sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to assess the sustainable manufacturing practice (SMP) in Indian manufacturing sector. This paper is also focused on the how lean practice leads to the sustainable manufacturing (SM).

A survey methodology is used for this research. The SMPs are identified for the literature review and survey questionnaire was framed. In all, 345 usable responses from four sectors namely automobile, electrical and electronics, machinery and process were collected through Google survey.

This research is focused on the SMPs. From this research it is found that sustainable product and process design (SPPD), lean practices (LP), agile practice and customization, sustainable supply operation and distribution and product recovery and return practices lead to the SM.

This study has some limitations, which future researchers could consider. The large industries of Indian manufacturing across four sectors have been considered, the study can be further taken up to the micro, small and medium enterprises of the Indian manufacturing scenario. The questionnaire can be further developed as that it can be used for a global survey across various sectors and then comparison can be made between the Indian companies and their global counterpart. In future longitudinal studies can be conducted by considering the other SMPs like mass customization, smart manufacturing practices, etc.

The present research helps the stakeholders to develop strong regulatory norms/policies to promote the SMPs in Indian manufacturing industries. This research may help production/manufacturing managers/practitioners to understand various issues related to SM and how they can be used gainfully to improve their practices and performances towards sustainable development.

This study enriches the corporate social responsibility in the organization. Corporate social responsibilities activities to be undertaken by the company shall include poverty and malnutrition, promoting health care including preventive health care and sanitation including contribution to the Swachh Bharat Kosh set-up by the Government of India for the promotion of sanitation and making available safe drinking water. This reinforces the company broader aim through its business activities to contribute to the wellbeing and sustainable development.

This study offers evidence of the implementation of SMPs namely SPPD, LP, agile practices and customization, sustainable supply operation and distribution and product recovery and return practices in Indian manufacturing organization. The authors propose a conceptual framework for SMPs and empirically tested.

Presents findings from a study that investigated the propagation of quality management practices among Indian manufacturing companies over a period of 16 years from 1980 to 1996. Reports the findings of a mail questionnaire survey conducted on 500 selected companies from 14 manufacturing sectors. The extent to which quality management practices have been implemented is reported and the obstacles to adoption are identified. The spread of quality initiatives in various functional areas is analysed and discussed. The paper will be of particular interest to practicing managers as it identifies a number of policies that governments may use to stimulate the adoption of quality management concepts in developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the importance and performance of managerial training in India among different industrial sectors in the light of asynchronous industrial growth in last two decades which has unevenly touched various business organizations.

For the purpose of analysis organizations are divided at two levels. At the first level, they are divided between multinational and Indian origin category and at the second level between service and manufacturing category. A 2×2 full factorial design with unequal numbers is used to analyze main as well as interaction impacts. A sample size of 542 is taken which comprises training professionals, top/general managers and trainee employees.

Study concludes that Indian origin organizations fall short in terms of importance given and performance of training function compared to multinational companies. Further, it is found that service companies have an edge over manufacturing companies in terms of importance and performance of training.

Study is mainly focussed on large organizations in India and may not be representative of small organizations. The major implication is that Indian origin organizations as well as manufacturing organizations have to devote more time and financial resources to training to compete in the era of globalization.

It is implied from the findings that a concerted effort by training professionals in Indian and manufacturing companies is required to improve the content as well as image of the training function to get the due attention and resources within the organization.

The paper presents an original perspective on situation of training function in Indian organizations and will be of importance to training professionals and other stakeholders.

The purpose of this paper is to identify, analyze, assess and manage the risks issues involved in an Indian manufacturing supply chain. The paper also shows the direction to use the proposed comprehensive risk management framework in different manufacturing supply chain.

The various risks for an Indian manufacturing company are identified through brainstorming session held with managers and engineers. The risks are categorized (i.e. delivery performance; process capability; demand and supply fluctuation at supplier end; rework; and business practices) and the domain (i.e. supplier, manufacturer and customer) of each risk is also identified for further analysis. A Failure Mode and Effect Analysis is used to rank the impact of all the relevant risks associated with various risk categories and the action plans are suggested by proposing a risk treatment process.

The degree of impact of each relevant risk is determined and is used for deriving managerial insights. Through Pareto analysis, it is concluded that top 20 percent risk factors are coming from supplier and organization domain. It is interesting to note that no relevant risk related to customer domain is appearing in top 20 percent. It is also found that 54 percent risk is coming from supplier-related risk domain and 46 percent risk exists in the organization-related risk domain among top 20 percent risk.

This study is restricted to only one Indian manufacturing company. Therefore, the outcomes of the study should not be generalized. Further studies may be carried out for several Indian manufacturing industries to get more generalized impact of risks, its validity and their variation across the different manufacturing companies.

The simplicity and clarity of the proposed framework provides step-by-step approach for identifying, categorizing and managing risks involved in the supply chain. It also provides the guidelines for a manager to benchmark and update risk handling in a specific manufacturing environment with its own priority considerations.

Although many literatures are available related to supply chain risk management, the proposed approach provides a better practical generic platform to understand, manage, reduce and mitigate the risks involved along the manufacturing supply chain.

The main aim of this paper is to examine the claim that economic value added (EVA) advocates its superiority over the traditional accounting-based financial performance measures, i.e. profit after tax (PAT), earnings per share (EPS), return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and return on investment (ROI) in the Indian manufacturing sector and at the same time, give empirical facts. It also tests and examines the information content of various performance measures and their relationship with stock returns.

The paper uses the sample of 534 Indian manufacturing companies from the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) during the period 2000–2018. Multiple regression models are applied to examine the information content of EVA and traditional performance measures in explaining shareholders’ returns.

Relative information content tests revealed that traditional accounting-based measures such as EPS, ROE and ROA performed better than EVA in explaining the returns of Indian manufacturing companies. Incremental information content of EVA adds little contribution to information content above traditional performance measures. The claim of superiority of EVA over accounting-based measures in association with shareholder returns is proved invalid in Indian manufacturing companies.

This study concludes that EVA has no superiority over traditional accounting-based financial performance measures in explaining stock returns of Indian manufacturing companies. To achieve heftiness in outcomes, panel data are tested by using Breusch–Pagan–Godfrey (BPG) test for heteroskedasticity, Hausman’s test for fixed and random effect, variance inflation factor (VIF) test for multicollinearity and Durbin–Watson test for autocorrelation.