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Provides a comprehensive review of various modelling approaches related to Just‐in‐Time (JIT) manufacturing. JIT is essentially a philosophy for reducing lead time as well as excessive work‐in‐progress inventories. Based on this concept a number of techniques have been developed for the design, planning, scheduling and control of JIT manufacturing systems. Reports on a comparative study of these approaches for JIT manufacturing along with the conventional manufacturing approaches and alternative systems for JIT manufacture. Explores future research areas.

Examines Just‐in‐Time (JIT) from its evolution as a Japanese concept through to a review of its philosophy and implementation. Cites several techniques of implementation. Includes a review of the early work of various researchers and practitioners. Concludes that JIT is a very effective manufacturing philosophy which is universal in nature encompassing all aspects of manufacturing. Suggests a few deficiencies in current literature.

Many widespread managerial concepts are expressed as abbreviations of two or three letters. In addition, they have often been introduced and treated as new‐to‐the‐world by both scholars and practitioners. For example, just‐In‐time (JIT) is a managerial concept that has been heavily promoted in the world‐wide automotive industry. Its underlying principles have been implemented by most car manufacturers or car assemblers for many decades. JIT, as a phenomenon, has been named differently at different times during the last century. Therefore, the newness of JIT and its underlying principles is questioned in the article. The article describes parts of the historic evolution of JIT during the twentieth century in literature. It is concluded that JIT is just a reincarnation of past theory and practice.

The reason for this research originates from the time‐ and functional dependencies between firms’ activities and resources in supply chains. These dependencies cause vulnerability. The principal objective of this research is to conceptualize the construct of vulnerability in firms’ inbound and outbound logistics flows. The vulnerability construct of this research consists of two components: disturbance and the negative consequence of disturbance. This research is based upon a two‐phase process utilizing sequential triangulation. It is proposed that the vulnerability in the inbound logistics flows from sub‐contractors, and the vulnerability in the outbound logistics flows to customers, may be measured and evaluated by four principal dimensions, namely: service level, deviation, consequence and trend. In addition, a model of inbound and outbound vulnerability scenarios in supply chains is introduced for teaching and training purposes, as well as to position and compare the outcome of replication studies of vulnerability in firms’ inbound and outbound logistics flows.

Just‐in‐time (JIT) systems were originally designed for deterministic production environments such as constant processing times and smooth and stable demand. However, once implemented, JIT is fraught with numerous types of uncertainties, including variations in processing time and demand, planned interruptions such as preventive maintenance and unplanned interruptions such as equipment failure. These uncertainties lead to lowered production throughput, decreased machine utilization, increased order completion time and greater backlogs and overtime requirements. In this paper, we introduce a newly developed system, which we refer to as the flexible kanban system (FKS), to cope with uncertainties and planned/unplanned interruptions. We demonstrate the superiority of the new system by considering four case examples covering various uncertainties, conducting numerous studies and comparing the overall performances of the FKS with that of the traditional JIT system. In all the cases considered, the performance of the FKS was, indeed, superior to that of the traditional JIT system.

Originates from the time‐ and relationship‐dependencies between companies’ activities and resources in marketing channels which cause vulnerability. The construct of vulnerability is still fairly unexplored in marketing channel research. Therefore, the principal objective of this research is to conceptualise the construct of vulnerability. Bases the conceptualisation on generic time‐ and relationship‐dependencies between companies’ business activities in marketing channels. This research is based on a mail survey in three different industries in Sweden. Develops and describes a typology of vulnerability scenarios based on a set of generic dimensions of time‐ and relationship‐dependencies between companies’ business activities in these industries. Uses a minor selection of broad items that empirically underpin the introduced typology. Further research has to be carried through in order to explore the validity and reliability of the empirical findings of this research note. Nevertheless, the contribution of this research is a tentative typology of vulnerability scenarios based upon time‐ and relationship‐dependencies between companies’ business activities in marketing channels.

A theory of local rules was developed using Kauffman and Holland’s work on fitness landscapes. Local rules are used by individuals to increase their chances of survival on a fitness landscape. This paper reports on results from a simulation model of the local rules used by managers in the operation of a kanban system. In this case, local rules were used to optimise chances of survival by deflecting senior management criticism of potential stockouts in the system. The local rules used by the managers were modelled and their success and unintended consequences were reported. Some tentative conclusions about the effectiveness of local rules were advanced.

The success of a JIT system depends on the effective implementation of all its components, including JIT purchasing. Even after following all prescribed implementation procedures of the JIT purchasing system, many companies are frustrated owing to delayed or early delivery of materials to the work centres because of limited unloading facilities. Identifies this problem, develops a mathematical formulation and provides a methodology for obtaining optimal delivery schedules for JIT purchases by applying operations research techniques. An algorithm‐based decision support system is developed which gives optimal unloading schedules very quickly, making it suitable for daily JIT purchases delivery planning.

There is growing evidence that health behaviour change interventions are associated with mental health and wellbeing improvements. This paper aims to examine the effect of healthy lifestyle interventions on mental wellbeing.

Six databases (Medline, Evidence Based Medicine Cochrane Registered Controlled Trials, Evidence Based Medicine Full Text Reviews, British Nursing Index, Embase, PsycINFO) were searched from database commencement up to April 2013. A broad focus on lifestyle interventions and mental health and wellbeing outcomes was chosen. Papers were systematically extracted by title then abstract according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria: any individual population (non-couple/family); any health behaviour change interventions; mental health and wellbeing outcomes; and a one-two level of evidence. Interventions aimed at workers were excluded, as were articles assessing cognitive functioning rather than mental health or wellbeing, or those using medications in interventions.

Two authors reviewed 95 full papers. In total, 29 papers met inclusion criteria, representing a range of interventions spanning physical activity, diet, alcohol intake, drug use and smoking. A range of measures were used. The majority (n=25) of studies demonstrated improvements on at least one indicator of mental health and wellbeing. Limitations include the broad range of outcome measures used, varied follow-up times and the lack of detail in reporting interventions.

Health behaviour change interventions targeting physical outcomes appear to have benefits to mental health and wellbeing spanning healthy populations and those with physical or mental health problems. Evidence is strongest for interventions targeting exercise and diet, particularly in combination and the actual lifestyle changes made and adherence appear to be important. However, it is not clear from this review which specific components are necessary or essential for improvements in mental health and wellbeing.

The purpose of this paper is to identify student clusters based on patterns of behavioural, cognitive, emotional, collaborative and social engagement in virtual classrooms, within the context of higher education. The study also attempts to explore the differences amongst the student clusters with respect to various motivating and demotivating teaching behaviours.

The study relies on the self-determination theory to describe the dynamics related to various motivating and demotivating teaching behaviours and five different dimensions of student engagement in virtual classrooms. The data were collected from a convenience sample of 831 students from higher educational institutions in the Delhi – National Capital Region of India. Cluster analysis was performed to classify students into mutually exclusive groups based on five student engagement dimensions.

The findings revealed three student clusters: ‘fully-engaged’, ‘externally-engaged’ and ‘individually-engaged’ students. The findings also provided insights into varied correlations between specific dimensions of motivating/demotivating teaching behaviours and student engagement.

Considering the multi-dimensionality of student engagement as well as teaching behaviours, the study adopts a person-centred approach to understand different clusters of students in virtual classrooms and investigate the relationship between teaching behaviours and student engagement dimensions.