Search results

Cumulative capability models are dominating frameworks explaining how manufacturing organizations gain their performance capabilities, such as quality, delivery, flexibility and cost. When innovation capabilities are excluded from the framework, the models are incapable of explaining how companies sustain substantive capabilities in a changing environment. Responding to this gap, the purpose of this paper is to propose and test a “sand cone” cumulative capability model that includes the innovation competitive performance alongside the competitive performance of quality, delivery flexibility and cost.

Two competing cumulative models were proposed. The extended cumulative capability model hypothesizes the development of innovation in sequence with other competitive performance dimensions. The affected with innovation cumulative model hypothesizes innovation performance as a predecessor of other performance dimensions. The models were tested using a multimethod approach on a representative sample of 500 manufacturing companies. An analysis of correlations among competitive performance, frequencies of plants following prescribed sequences, fit statistics of covariance-based structural equation modeling and analysis of strength and statistical significance of path coefficients enabled us to select a model that best represents the collected data.

The findings reveal that innovation competitive performance operates as a predecessor of quality, delivery, flexibility and cost and is developed in relation to these performance dimensions. The modified model also provides a theoretical explanation of how innovation performance helps to sustain reliable production systems that can perform consistently over time within a tolerable range of quality, delivery, flexibility and cost performance.

The results are significant for practitioners, especially for companies that are operating in volatile environments because the results provide insight on how to develop innovation competitive performance in relation to quality, delivery, flexibility and cost performance.

This study extends the cumulative capability models with innovation competitive performance. It advances the contingency approach on cumulative capability models.

Numerous of today's public sector organisations (PSOs) can be characterised as hybrids. Hybridity is caused by different (at times conflicting) demands that stem from the institutional environment, which is likely to affect performance measurement in these organisations. This paper focuses on the relationship between hybridity and organisational performance, which has so far not been studied in detail.

Based on a literature review (final sample of 56 articles), the authors systematise performance dimensions alongside the pillars “economy”, “efficiency”, “effectiveness” and “(social) equity”. The article summarises results in a framework for measuring performance in hybrid PSOs. The authors outline strategies as to how public managers can tailor frameworks to the requirements and idiosyncrasies of organisations.

Since hybrid PSOs combine logics from different administrative models (Weberian bureaucracy, market-capitalism and democracy), so need their organisational performance measurement systems. Potential synergies from and frictions between the different performance dimensions related to the four pillars are discussed.

This is the first literature review on performance dimensions and their application in hybrid PSOs. The distilled “hybrid performance measurement framework” can be scrutinised and further refined in future research.

The objective of this research is to provide practitioners with inter-industry applicable rules and guidelines for the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project definition phase. This research resulted in 13 inter-industry generic project definitions that are divided by four performance dimensions: quality, dependability, speed and cost efficiency.

A total of 312 previously executed LSS improvement projects in a broad variety of industries at black belt or master black belt level are analyzed. All these projects have followed the LSS methodology and are characterized by the use of critical to quality (CTQ) measurements and the structured improvement method of define, measure, analyse, improve and control for operations improvement.

This research resulted in 13 inter-industry generic project definitions that are divided by four performance dimensions: quality, dependability, speed and cost efficiency. Three factors that have stood out in this research are; the difficulty to capture the performance dimension flexibility in LSS project definitions, the strong focus on internal organizational benefits in defining CTQs for LSS project definitions and the unclear alignment of LSS project definitions to existing strategic objectives of the company.

This research established useable generic LSS project definitions including generic CTQ’s measures, applicable to multiple industries. These generic LSS project definitions provide useful guidance in the initial LSS project phase, helping to decompose strategic focal points into clear and measurable project objectives.

This study aims to explore how lean and lean dimensions are perceived by senior managers in New Zealand (NZ). The authors use Searcy’s (2004) framework to establish how lean performance dimensions differ in importance in terms of sector, size and users of lean, thus, revealing the motivations and benefits of lean from the view of lean organisations.

Data were primarily sourced using an online survey tool. A thematic approach was used to establish an understanding of lean by NZ senior managers. An analytical hierarchy process model was used to determine if the relative importance of the lean performance dimensions is perceived differently between manufacturing and service organisations, large firms and small- and medium-sized enterprises and adopters and non-adopters of lean. The results are informed by Searcy’s (2004) framework.

The study reveals efficiency, elimination of waste, cost reduction and meeting customer demands based on secondary sources, to be the current prevalent dimensions of lean in NZ. Managers are yet to realise the importance of customer value and product quality, and the former is at the heart of the successful diffusion of lean dimensions. Customer value is beyond satisfying customer demands and needs; the focus is on how the authors can understand the customers.

The sample size limits the generalisability of the results.

The study suggests that practitioners, including managers, need to incorporate customer demand and satisfaction into their lean performance dimensions to improve effectiveness. This group of actors should be instrumental in taking the lean philosophy, tools and techniques to NZ firms by hosting in-house training and seminars at regional and national levels. Furthermore, academics should incorporate lean studies as a programme/course in their respective tertiary institutions so that graduates can take this phenomenon to their workplace.

This study contributes to the understanding of lean within a NZ business context and provides evidence that NZ corporate managers need to incorporate customer value and product quality aspects when adopting lean.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of lean criteria on leanness as well as prioritize them, taking the relationships between dimensions into consideration for manufacturing enterprises.

This study considers leanness over quality, cost, delivery and innovation (QCDI) performance dimensions. Twenty eight criteria related with these dimensions were determined that are focused on manufacturing organizations and then fuzzy analytic network process (ANP) approach was used to determine the influence value of each criterion on leanness.

The existing literature shows a lack of studies on systematically measuring the impact of lean criteria on leanness. To fill the gap, this paper presents a fuzzy ANP approach. Firstly interactions between the performance dimensions were configured. Then, according to the relationship, weights were obtained while taking the network structure that allows dynamic multidirectional relationships for interdependencies among performance dimensions into consideration. This provides a more accurate approach for determining the impact value on leanness performance in real-life decision-making environments.

The limitation of this study is that only manufacturing enterprises have been considered. Different criteria may need to be developed for service organizations.

This study gives a real insight to lean practitioners in the manufacturing system. Due to the fact it is difficult to achieve all the criteria at the same time for a company, this study is significant for manufacturers, indicating which criteria should primarily be focused on in order to achieve leanness.

Applying fuzzy ANP on interrelated QCDI performance dimensions to evaluate the impact of lean criteria on leanness is the novelty of this study in the related literature. The fuzzy ANP approach is thought to be a more suitable approach to obtain more realistic and accurate results with the power to cope with ambiguity. This study provides a systematic measurement of the influence of lean criteria, also considering interdependencies between performance dimensions. Another contribution of this study is adding innovation to the performance dimensions that are commonly known as quality, cost and delivery to assess leanness in a comprehensive manner.

Peer evaluations of performance increasingly are being used to make organizational decisions and to provide individuals with performance related feedback. Using Kenny’s social relations model (SRM), data from 14 teams of undergraduate students who completed performance ratings of themselves and other team members were analyzed. Results indicated a significant target variance effect for the majority of performance dimensions and a significant perceiver variance effect for all performance dimensions. Results further indicated that, in general, how individuals see themselves is not congruent with how others see them, how individuals see themselves is congruent with how they see others, how individuals are seen on a particular dimension is related to how they are seen on other performance dimensions, and, how a person is seen by others does not relate to how that individual sees others. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research using the SRM are discussed.

The purpose of the paper is to explore the impact of total quality management (TQM) factors on performance dimensions of service companies.

A research project was designed in the Spanish services sector. Companies that had already participated in activities with regard to business excellence were randomly selected and approached through a structured questionnaire, yielding a sample of 151 responding companies. By analyzing TQM implementation and company performance through the exploratory factor analysis, specific TQM factors and performance dimensions are extracted. The TQM factors that significantly influence the performance dimensions are determined through multiple linear regression analyses.

According to the findings, the factors describing TQM implementation in service companies concern quality practices of top management, employee quality management, process management, employee knowledge and education and customer focus. Similarly, the performance dimensions revealed concern financial performance, operational performance, customer satisfaction and product/service quality performance. The TQM factors concerning customers, employees and top management significantly affect the performance dimensions.

The subjective data were collected from quality managers of a small-sized sample of companies operating in a European Union country and belonging to different services sub-sectors. Based on these limitations, future research studies are recommended.

By focussing on specific TQM factors, a service company can improve its performance dimensions. In doing so, it can lay the foundations not only to survive but to be competitive in the current global scenario that is characterized by an economic downturn.

This paper describes a reliable TQM model that can be implemented in the services sector and a means by which a service company can improve its performance.

Although research on multisource ratings indicates that different rater sources provide different information, little research has investigated how ratees attend to such information. Understanding how ratees attend to feedback information from different rater sources is important because such attention likely impacts subsequent behavior. Using a policy‐capturing design, managers (n = 213) completed scenarios in which supervisor, peer, and subordinate ratings were varied across different performance dimensions. Results indicated that ratees attended to all three rater sources, with supervisor ratings being attended to more than peer or subordinate ratings. Further, results indicated a significant interaction between rater source and performance dimension such that some rater sources were attended to more, for certain dimensions, than for others.

The purpose of this paper is to validate and assess the performance dimensions reflecting ISO 9001 benefits in service companies and to determine their relationships.

A research study was carried out in 198 ISO 9001:2008 certified Greek service companies. Data were obtained through a structured questionnaire and have been analyzed with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses.

Four performance dimensions reflecting ISO 9001 benefits are extracted and validated, namely, product/service quality, operational, market and financial performance.

The research sample is limited to small and medium-sized enterprises operating in a specific European country. Further research may confirm the findings of this study to other countries as well.

By determining and evaluating the performance dimensions and their inter-relationships, the ISO 9001 certified service companies are assisted to select an appropriate strategy to further improve their performance and competitiveness. The suggested model can be also used as a self-assessment and benchmarking tool for managers and practitioners alike.

The present study provides a comprehensive model of performance dimensions reflecting ISO 9001 benefits in service companies.

Most studies on small and medium scale enterprises lump both small-scale and medium-scale businesses together as entirely similar phenomenon, thus creating an oversight of the degree of performance recorded by medium-scale businesses. In line with investigating medium-scale firms' performance, this study examines the role of quality management in the performance of medium-scale firms to evolve research-based recommendation for better performance.

Cross-sectional survey design and random sampling were employed. Analysis was based on 915 responses obtained via questionnaire copy distribution from employees within the supply chain, production, operations, and marketing/sales department of selected firms. Hypotheses testing was done using the structural equation model.

A positive significant relationship between quality management and operational performance, employee performance, and quality performance dimensions was identified. An insignificant relationship between quality management and financial and innovation performance dimensions was discovered. However, when mediated by employee focus and process management, significant relationships were observed among all performance dimensions.

The study reveals that employee focus and process management have the greatest mediating impact on the relationship between quality management and the organisational performance of medium-scale manufacturing firms. This study charts the course for other studies to investigate the mediating role of quality management practices on the relationship between quality management and the organisational performance of medium-scale firms in other developing nations. The manufacturing sector has thirteen industries, but only six were captured in this study. This poses a limitation to the generalisation of the findings of this study. Further studies could strive for a representation of every manufacturing industry to aid generalisation purposes.

Managers of medium-scale manufacturing firms must understand that it might be impossible to get a one size fits all approach to improving performance dimensions. Managers are advised to choose one or two performance dimensions as the goal, then focus on achieving them. This will help clarify which path is best to get the desired results and maximise their quality management system.

This study examines the impact of quality management practices on an integrated performance model of medium-scale firms. The study also uniquely examines the mediating impact of exclusive quality management practices on the relationship between quality management and an integrated performance model.