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Important evaluation criteria as they are perceived by quality managers in American and US‐based Japanese firms are examined. For this study, three different groups of companies contained within four industries were considered. They included American firms using a traditional approach to manufacturing management, Japanese firms operating in the United States, and American firms attempting a Japanese approach to manufacturing management. This study identified price, on‐time delivery, and the supplier′s product quality as the three major criteria for evaluating vendors. The attitudes of quality managers concerning the importance of these variables were counter to the impressions portrayed in the academic and managerial press. Also differing from the literature was how much the managers in these different types of firms linked the evaluation criteria and overall organisational performance.

This paper is a preliminary case study that examines a connected supply chain. The chain studied consists of the North American Appliance Division of the Whirlpool Corporation, the Stanley Engineered Components (SEC) division of Stanley Works, Inc. and SEC’s suppliers. Specifically the paper examines the two related questions: first, are there differences in quality definitions between levels of a supply chain? Second, does the higher level entity in the supply chain understand the quality requirements imposed on their suppliers? Examined and written from the point of view of SEC (the middle of the chain), the paper concludes that the definitions and implementation of these definitions differ markedly at each level. Lack of understanding about the effects of quality requirements between levels also prevails. The case also examines why these results occurred.

In treating both sewage and storm runoff, wastewater treatment plants are important to maintaining a healthy environment. If the plant operations managers do not respond correctly to plant conditions, environmental damage resulting in the deterioration of human health may be the result. Unfortunately, there are no formal models to help these managers; they rely upon their own intuition to manage the plants. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of various models, originally used for manufacturing, to detect process conditions in wastewater treatment facilities. We compare and contrast the performance of five statistical models and three neural network architectures. The data used in the research is 527 daily measurements of 38 sensor readings of the process state variables of an urban wastewater treatment plant.

The performance analysis of top 50 management institutions of India is conducted to understand their efficiency in utilizing available resources. The importance of different indicators is investigated to identify most preferred strategies of top management institutions in the country in order to meet the expectations of all stakeholders. Artificial neural networks models are applied for pattern recognition and classification purpose using self-organized map algorithms. A huge reservoir of young generation is being trained every year to meet the demand of business in different sectors of economies. It becomes a matter of concern to know the performance of the management institutes to ensure the overall national progress, which can be done by enabling organizations to improve their efficiency and effectiveness, provided the right information and skills are served. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and self-organizing maps are utilized together to take advantages of optimization and prediction capabilities inherent in each method, and they may be beneficial to assess institution’s competitive position and design their own strategies in order to improve. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The DEA is used to understand the utilization of resources by institutions on the bases of efficiency scores. Due to a greater flexibility and adaptability, neural technique, i.e. self-organized map, which is an artificial intelligence-based technique, a popular unsupervised learning model with a capability to capture patterns from data sets, is used. In this study, various parameters like qualification of faculty, research output of faculty members, expenditure made for functioning of the institution, etc., are considered. These academic and operational indicators are investigated in relation to the rank score and the efficiency score of top management institutions, and different strategies as a combination of input as well as output indicators are identified.

In the analysis, three types of strategies are identified. At present, the focus on salary packages of graduates seems the most utilized strategy. It is also observed that the strategy of having good performance, in terms of consultancy, peer and employer perception, has the highest success rate (in terms of score used for ranking). Results obtained using both techniques shows that due to high deviation and less explored research publications and sponsored research project is an opportunity that institutions can work upon to have maximum output. But to maintain consistency in terms of the high rank score and efficiency score, management institutions need to focus on consultancy, peer and employer perception.

This research identifies the different parameters categorized into various inputs and outputs for the management institutions in India for the benchmarking. It studies the importance of identified parameters in terms of success (rank score and efficiency score). Further investigation of relationship between parameters and success is conducted. Different strategies as a combination of parameters are identified. The current choice of top management institutions is revealed in terms of their preference and effectiveness of strategy. This research also provides some insight about long-term and short-term strategies, which may be beneficial to education managers or decision makers.

It is one of the rare papers in terms of performance measurement through data envelopment method and identification of strategy using artificial intelligence. This paper utilized a hybrid methodology that integrates these two data analytic methods to capture an innovative performance and strategies prediction in education system.

The purpose of this paper is to show how the quality practices such as leadership and strategic quality planning, supplier relationship management, customer focus, quality data and reporting, process management and human resource management are as relevant to supply chains as they are to an individual firm.

Based on the review of relevant literature, propositions have been framed to stimulate future research. In order to evaluate the quality management (QM) practices in Pakistani supply chains, three cases have been presented. These cases provide information about QM practices of the case companies with respect to the supply chains they represent. Based on the case comparisons, common themes regarding the state of QM in Pakistani supply chains have been identified.

The current study shows that the state of QM in the supply chain context is at a primitive level in Pakistan. Most organizations have instituted quality departments and devised quality policy and planning inspired by ISO 9000 standards. However, quality culture that promotes bottom‐up improvement throughout the organization is nonexistent. Compared with the proposed framework of total supply chain quality management (TSCQM), Pakistani organizations have a long way to go before any significant integration can be achieved in the quality functions at the supply chain level.

Building upon the current literature in the field of supply chain and QM, the current study proposes a new, more comprehensive framework TSCQM.

The purpose of this article is to focus on dyadic buyer‐supplier relationship as part of supply chain management (SCM) and to relate implementation of supplier management practices to intra‐firm implementation of quality management (QM) practices. The aim is to identify possible relationships between the two sets of management practices.

A survey was conducted in the Greek manufacturing industry, with the use of questionnaires, examining the relationship between supplier management in the SCM context and intra‐firm QM implementation.

Research findings, which represent buyers' point‐of‐view, reveal a positive correlation between supplier management practices and QM practices, providing an empirical support to the basic research hypothesis.

There was only one respondent in each buyer company. Also, only a mail survey was used as a research technique and only buyers' perspective was reflected in the data. Future research can be based on both buyers' and suppliers' perspective, asking more than one person and using case studies and phone or face‐to‐face interviews.

The study aims to encourage firms to adopt a QM philosophy and implement QM practices in their way to SCM implementation. Quality practices are widely accepted to result in intra‐firm coordination and integration. Given that internal integration is a prerequisite for thorough SCM implementation, QM can serve as a strong base for SCM implementation.

The research verifies that intra‐firm adoption of the quality philosophy can lead firms to better supplier management in the SCM context. Managers should focus on QM in their way to SCM implementation.

Previous research has not addressed the problem of developing a master production schedule (MPS) for production systems with minimum batch‐size production restrictions. Proposes a weighted integer goal‐programming model for the development of a rolling horizon master production schedule, under conditions of demand certainty, for a process industry environment with multiple production lines and minimum batch‐size production restrictions. The presence of multiple and often conflicting goals prevalent in production planning and scheduling is explicitly incorporated in the model. The model can easily be implemented on a microcomputer and the master production schedule developed is in spreadsheet format and can easily be understood by a practitioner. Uses a case study conducted for a paint company to illustrate and validate the model. Results show that the MPS developed using the proposed model is superior in terms of total cost when compared with actual company performance.

Quality management practices have recently flourished across the globe. In this research we review and integrate the literature by identifying and organizing significant research findings, and develop a conceptual model of the relationships between international environmental conditions (e.g. socio‐cultural, political‐legal, economic, and educational factors) and dimensions of quality management (e.g. strategic quality planning, customer focus and satisfaction, human resource development and management, information and analysis, management of process quality, and quality and operational results). The model developed here helps us move beyond examining the differences in quality practices across countries to an understanding of why such differences occur, and helps practitioners gain a better perspective on how quality management techniques can be adopted in different regions around the world.

The paper seeks to examine the impact of operational quality management practices within the supply chain.

Regression analysis is used to identify relationships between a firm's internal and external (customer and supplier focused) operational quality practices and measures of product quality and customer service.

Not only do both internally and externally focused quality management practices impact performance, but externally focused efforts have a greater impact on performance and are perceived by managers to be of greater importance.

The study does not suggest how specifically quality management practices impact performance, how the efforts of individual supply chain members contribute to overall success, or how performance gains should be shared by the various chain members.

The study provides managers with guidance on how to leverage relationships with suppliers and customers to improve product quality and customer service.

The study provides a supply chain as opposed to a firm‐level perspective on managing a firm's quality.