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The purpose of this paper is to show that Hoshin Kanri has the potential to integrate the operations strategy literature into a coherent structure. Hoshin Kanri’s planning process is typically described as a top-down cascading of goals, starting with the senior management’s goals and moving to the lowest organizational level. The authors argue that this misrepresents a firm’s actual cognitive processes in practice because it implies reasoning from the effects to the cause, and assumes a direct causal relationship between what the customer wants and what is realizable by the system.

This study is conceptual, based on abductive reasoning and the literature.

The actual strategic thought process executed in an organization consists of three iterative processes: (i) a translation process that derives the desired customer attributes from customer/stakeholder data, (ii) a process of causal inference that predicts realizable customer attributes from a possible system design and (iii) an integrative process of strategic choices whereby (i) and (ii) are aligned. Each element relies on different cognitive processes (logical relation, causal relation and choice).

By aligning the thought and planning processes, the competing concepts of manufacturing strategy are integrated into a coherent structure.

Different techniques have to be applied for each of the three elements. As each element relies on different cognitive processes (logical relation, causal relation and choice), the use of unifying tools (e.g. in the form of matrices, as often presented in the literature) is inappropriate.

This is the first study to focus on the thought processes underpinning manufacturing strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strategy used by German Mittelstand companies to achieve a profitable business in China. It explores how those firms seek to reduce their risk of entry into this market.

Survey data were gathered over the phone from individuals in the companies who were identified as knowledgeable contacts. Their responses were then analyzed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling.

German Mittelstand firms that hire Chinese nationals in China obtain market knowledge and a higher return on investment than others. German managers’ efforts to understand the Chinese cultural norms increased the firm’s unwillingness to share information with others. This was probably because their concern about protecting their competitive secrets increased, so they shared less information with suppliers, which decreased their return on investment.

First, the small sample size limited the analysis. Second, there was low inter-rater reliability on multiple items, so these responses could not be analyzed. There is a need to further validate the survey, and obtain a larger sample to analyze alternative models.

This suggests to the practitioner that while it may be relatively easy to start a manufacturing business in China, it requires great effort to manage their risk of losing corporate secrets to their competitors in China.

This paper provides a unique set of data from practicing managers about the risks and gains from doing business in China. This data can be of use to both researchers and to practitioners and it provides a foundation to examine how the risk of losing proprietary knowledge to Chinese competitors affects business.

This study aims to examine the effects of leadership behaviors on quality management (QM) practices and their effects on quality performance of manufacturing companies in Thailand. The hypotheses were that leadership leads to infrastructure practices, which in turn support quality practices. These quality practices improve quality performance. This was tested using a structural equation model. In general, the model was supported although all of the individual practices examined here were not statistically significant.

A survey of quality managers of firms located within Thailand was conducted and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to determine how leadership affected quality practices which in turn affected quality performance. The interactions of leadership with infrastructure and core variables were tested and found to be insignificant.

The SEM established that leadership behaviors supported one infrastructure practice – human resource management, which in turn supported one core QM practice – statistical process control. While six dimensions of transformational and two dimensions of transactional analysis were tested, only two dimensions of transformational and one dimension of transactional leadership were retained. However, these did load onto one leadership second‐order factor. The interactions of leadership with infrastructure and core practices were not significant. The core practices significantly affected three quality performance measures – product returns, product rework and scrap levels.

Further investigation is needed to understand how the Thai culture affects the use of quality practices. Since there was only one respondent per company, the study needs additional validation. Further investigation of the transformational and transactional leadership constructs is necessary.

This suggests to international managers that many of the quality techniques are useful in both developing countries and developed countries. It also suggests that transactional leadership was more effective than prior literature expected it be.

This paper demonstrates that leadership in Thailand is important to the implementation of quality practices. The findings indicate that leadership is an important component of QM and affects infrastructure practices which in turn affect core quality practices. Finally, these core practices affect quality performance. This confirms prior QM models. A major finding is the importance of the contingent punishment dimension of transactional leadership. The confirmatory factor analysis suggests that the individual dimensions of transformational and transactional leadership are not reliable as currently operationalized and further work is needed to develop reliable leadership scales.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the state of small manufacturing companies in Brazil. The paper seeks to identify their competitive priorities based on their recent developments and their anticipated opportunities and challenges.

This is an exploratory study based on semi‐structured telephone interviews. The interview guide contained around 30, mainly open‐ended questions.

The research both confirms and refutes previous research. It refutes the “traditional view” that small firms are driven by cost, quality, flexibility and delivery only; it supports recent research which has argued that there has been a shift in terms of what competitive priorities are being pursued. More specifically, innovativeness was identified as an important new competitive priority, but there was little evidence in support of other recently proposed priorities like security and sustainability.

This study is restricted to one area of Brazil (São Carlos). Further research is therefore necessary to confirm the relevance of the findings to other small firms in other regions, e.g. through a large‐scale survey.

Much of the available literature focuses on large firms in developed economies, and it assumes operations strategy is built on four “traditional” broad competitive priorities. This study provides insight into the state of small manufacturers in an emerging economy. It identifies innovativeness as a fifth key priority and argues that firms must compete on a blend of outcomes; this adds to the complexity of managerial tasks.

This paper develops a model that allows consideration of not only the total maintenance costs but also the overall probability of a system breakdown when determining the time intervals between preventive maintenance activities. Using the model, which assumes that component failures follow a Weibull distribution, managers can determine the required preventive maintenance interval to achieve a desired probability of system failure, and they can calculate the total expected costs of both breakdowns and maintenance actions. The model’s application is illustrated using the impact of four different maintenance policies. The model assures top management that the unavailable system time due to equipment breakdown will be within a specified limit.

Lean remains popular in a wide range of private and public sectors and continues to attract a significant amount of research. However, most of this research is not grounded in theory. This paper presents and discusses different expert viewpoints on the role of theory in lean research and practice and provides guidelines for future research.

Seven experienced lean authors independently provide their views to the question “is Lean a theory?” before Rachna Shah summarizes the viewpoints and provides a holistic outlook for lean research.

Authors agree, disagree and sometimes agree to disagree. However, a close look reveals agreement on several key points. The paper concludes that Lean is not a theory but has plenty of theoretical underpinnings. Many lean-related theories provide promising opportunities for future research.

As researchers, we are asked to justify our research drawing on “theory,” but what does that mean for a practice-driven phenomenon such as lean? This paper provides answers and directions for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to determine how a small country's military force and a small country's non‐governmental organization (NGO) plan for and set up equipment maintenance, spare parts inventories in connection with man‐made humanitarian disasters. Additionally, it seeks to determine how the physical context, organizational structure and governance affect the planning and set‐up.

A research model that combines organizational theory with spare parts inventory theory is developed. Case study research methodology is used and observations and findings are discussed within the research model in order to answer predefined hypotheses.

Regarding planning procedures, as well as how the maintenance concept and spare parts inventory are set up, the research concludes that the organizational structure and governance of the organization contributing to the humanitarian operation in question are more important than physical context of the operation itself. Further it is concluded that the maturity level, when it comes to inventory control issues, is different for the two cases in question. None of the cases, however, utilize modern optimization methods and tools.

Qualitative data from the two case studies give the possibility for in depth analysis of the case study findings. Lack of quantitative data means that it has not been possible to statistically reject or accept the hypotheses. More research is needed to present a template and/or processes based on the findings in the research.

By applying the research model developed in this study, organizations that contribute to humanitarian disasters could more easily assess their own possibility for effective maintenance and spare parts inventory planning and set up.

The study of the planning and set up of maintenance and spare parts inventories for both military and NGO players in connection with a man‐made humanitarian disaster is new. Further, the development of spare parts inventory theory into organizational theory is relatively new. Limited research is available within this field. The paper should be of interest to both practitioners and researchers within the field of maintenance and spare parts inventories in general, and in connection with humanitarian disasters in particular.

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and to present an overview of TPM implementation practices adopted by the manufacturing organizations. It also seeks to highlight appropriate enablers and success factors for eliminating barriers in successful TPM implementation.

The paper systematically categorizes the published literature and then analyzes and reviews it methodically.

The paper reveals the important issues in Total Productive Maintenance ranging from maintenance techniques, framework of TPM, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), TPM implementation practices, barriers and success factors in TPM implementation, etc. The contributions of strategic TPM programmes towards improving manufacturing competencies of the organizations have also been highlighted here.

The literature on classification of Total Productive Maintenance has so far been very limited. The paper reviews a large number of papers in this field and presents the overview of various TPM implementation practices demonstrated by manufacturing organizations globally. It also highlights the approaches suggested by various researchers and practitioners and critically evaluates the reasons behind failure of TPM programmes in the organizations. Further, the enablers and success factors for TPM implementation have also been highlighted for ensuring smooth and effective TPM implementation in the organizations.

The paper contains a comprehensive listing of publications on the field in question and their classification according to various attributes. It will be useful to researchers, maintenance professionals and others concerned with maintenance to understand the significance of TPM.

The issue of capacity constraint resources (CCR) or bottlenecks wandering in product mix decision by applying Theory of Constraints (TOC) management philosophy has been mentioned and demonstrated in several papers. In this study, the effect for prolonging the planning period (PPP) so as to stabilize the CCR is investigated. The results show that the effect for PPP alternative will be positive or negative which is depending on the environment condition. However, a majority cases which have positive effect for PPP alternative can be recognized prior knowing the marketing demand, which is significant in the real application.

The aim of this paper is to investigate which integrative planning and control practices are used in hospitals and what their effects are on patient flow.

The study is based on a three‐hospital multi‐case study carried out in The Netherlands. The main findings are based on over 40 in‐depth interviews and the analysis of detailed patient flow data. The analysis of the flow data is used to explore the effects of integrative practices on lead times and patient flow.

Based on the various patient groups examined in the different hospitals, four integrative practices stand out: sharing waiting list information, sharing planning information, cross‐departmental planning, and combining appointments. In line with earlier studies, the overall level of integration in hospitals was found to be low. However, patient flow performance is significantly better in those hospitals that employ more of the above‐mentioned integrative practices.

The study was limited to three major patient groups within the orthopedic supply chain. The deliberate choice for these patients groups was based on the expectations that integration in hospitals is relatively low and that the highest levels of integration would be found in high volume – low variety patient groups. Further research should include patient groups with less favorable characteristics such as lower volumes and/or greater variety.

This study provides clear support for the value of integration initiatives in healthcare operations. The performance of hospitals, in terms of patient flows, benefits from cooperation between the various members of an internal supply chain. Hospital administrators and medical professionals could learn from these results and attempt to abandon their silo mentality and start integrating for and their patients' and their own benefit.

Despite the importance of integration in hospitals, little is known about the integrative practices hospitals actually employ. Most existing studies on patient flows are confined to a single stage in the care process. In this study, the effects of integration in the internal supply chain from the first visit to the end of treatment are examined.