Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of process simplification on the relationship between process integration and upstream supply chain flexibility in Indian automotive organizations.

The three-step mediation analysis was performed using SPSS macro PROCESS to assess the mediating role of process simplification on the relationship between process integration constructs: top management commitment and supplier relationship; and upstream supply chain flexibility.

The results indicate a complete mediation effect of process simplification between supplier relationship and upstream supply chain flexibility, while partial mediation effect is noticed between top management commitment and upstream supply chain flexibility.

For Indian automotive managers, the study suggests that for improving the upstream supply chain flexibility, organizations must have a strategy towards improving the simplification of supply chain processes by upgrading technology and providing training to their suppliers. This understanding will help the automotive managers to simplify their upstream supply chain processes for gaining competitive positioning and maximizing the organizational profit.

This study has considered the mediating role of process simplification (a relatively less studied variable) specifically in the context of its impact on upstream supply chain flexibility. Also, the presented study explores this role in the Indian automotive domain which further enhances its value for both practitioners and researchers alike.

Many organizations struggle to achieve their desired levels of business process flexibility and support. However, these two capabilities conflict with each other and different tradeoffs have to be made. In this paper, the authors analyze different process conceptualizations and discuss their implications. The authors argue that the conceptualizations people adopt to think (conceptualize) about business processes affect the way they model them, which in turn result in different flexibility-support tradeoffs.

A set of properties is proposed to compare process conceptualizations: dominant concept, contract, and existential and representational properties. Using these properties, several process conceptualizations are analyzed and integrated in a comparison chart, which highlights different flexibility-support tradeoffs. The storytelling method is adopted to support the analytic process.

The authors show how different process conceptualizations result in different flexibility-support tradeoffs. The authors suggest that we need to intervene on a set of properties of process conceptualizations to achieve different flexibility-support tradeoffs.

This research contributes to understanding the relationships between process conceptualizations, process modeling, and the flexibility-support tradeoff. A comparison chart helps organizations analyze their desired levels of flexibility and support using a set of properties.

The extent of covered viewpoints makes this study unique in the process management field. Such effort provides a contribution towards a more multidisciplinary discussion of process models, which integrates different process conceptualizations.

The purpose of this paper is to measure the flexibility of business process models. The authors give the notions of flexible process distance, which corresponds to the number of change operations needed for transforming one process model into another, considering the different perspectives (functional, operational, behavioral, informational, and organizational).

The proposed approach is a quantitative-based approach to measure the flexibility of business process models. In this context, the authors presented a method to compute the distance between two process models. The authors measured the distance between a process model and a process variant in terms of the number of high-level change operations (e.g. to insert or delete actors) needed to transform the process model into the respective variant when a change occurred, considering the different perspectives and the flexible features.

To evaluate the flexibility-measurement approach, the authors performed a comprehensive simulation using an emergency care (EC) business process model and its variants. The authors used a real-world EC process and illustrated the possible changes faced in the emergency department (possible variants). Simulation results were promising because they fit the flexibility needs of the EC process users. This was validated using the authors’ previous work which consists in a guidance approach for business process flexibility.

The authors defined six different distances between business process models, which are summarized in the definition of total process distance. However, changes in one perspective may lead to changes in other perspectives. For instance, adding a new activity may lead to adding a new actor.

The results of this study would help companies to obtain important information about their processes and to compare the desired level of flexibility with their actual process flexibility.

This study is probably the first flexibility-measurement approach which incorporates features for capturing changes affecting the functional, operational, informational, organizational, and behavioral perspectives as well as elements related to approaches enhancing flexibility.

In today's very competitive, dynamic and unpredictable manufacturing environments it is critical to improve manufacturing performance in order to be able to compete. Responsiveness and agility become important characteristics of manufacturing systems and organizations. Manufacturing systems must be designed optimally by taking into account responsiveness and agility related measures in order to improve effectiveness and performance. One of the important enablers of performance improvement is flexibility. It is a known fact that flexibility has a positive effect on the manufacturing system performance if it is properly utilized by the control system (usually scheduling). However, the relationship between flexibility and manufacturing system performance through scheduling is not entirely explored in the previous literature. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of process plan and machine flexibilities on the scheduling performance of manufacturing job‐shops.

Effects of process plan and machine flexibilities on the scheduling performance of manufacturing job‐shops are analyzed at different flexibility levels by using the grammar‐based flexible job shop scheduling system that is developed by Baykasoğlu et al.. Three different flexibility levels are defined for process plans and machines. Four different problem sizes are evaluated according to “makespan” “machine load balance” and “mean waiting times of jobs”. Performance differences among “process plan” and “machine flexibility” levels are determined and statistically analyzed through Taguchi experimental design methodology.

It is found out after detailed analysis that the effect of machine flexibility on job shop performance is higher than the process plan flexibility. It is also figured out that after a certain level of machine flexibility, the speed of scheduling performance improvement decreases considerably.

The paper presents the interaction between flexibility and scheduling performance of manufacturing job‐shops. The findings should be taken into account while designing scheduling systems for job shops that have flexible processing capabilities.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a procedure to enable organizations to establish a competitive capability to manufacture flexibly.

A survey of manufacturing businesses and two case studies in separate plants of an international manufacturing company led to the design of a process to improve manufacturing flexibility. The proposed process was subsequently tested and refined in workshops and interviews in additional collaborating companies.

Insight gained from the combination of case study and survey research has identified key steps in a process to improve manufacturing flexibility, which have not been emphasised previously. In addition a framework is proposed which matches operational capabilities with desired dimensions of flexibility; mix and/or volume.

Further trials of the proposed process in a range of manufacturing operations are required to establish its robustness and generic value.

A new conceptual framework has been developed to improve manufacturing flexibility. The results of an initial trial of this framework are reported.

This study aims to extend ambidexterity theory from the perspective of organisational learning and examine how process ambidexterity, which comprises operational flexibility and operational routine, responds to environmental uncertainty and ultimately reduces organisational risks.

This study tests the hypotheses by analysing 464 annual reports of 115 listed companies in the Chinese agricultural and food industry using content and secondary data analyses. Four case studies are also provided.

The results show that (1) environmental uncertainty has a positive effect on either operational flexibility or operational routine; (2) both operational flexibility and operational routine have negative effects on organisational risks, supporting the view that process ambidexterity mediates the relationship between environmental uncertainty and organisational risks; and (3) organisational slack plays the role of “double-edged sword” by negatively moderating the effect of environmental uncertainty on operational flexibility and positively moderating the effect of environmental uncertainty on operational routine.

In an uncertain environment, companies are exposed to greater risk. This study contributes to risk management in three ways: first, it extends ambidexterity theory to process management and proposes how process ambidexterity balances operational flexibility and routines. Second, it distinguishes between the different conditions under which flexibility or routines are superior. Third, it explains the mechanisms related to how organisations can resolve environmental uncertainty into risk through process ambidexterity.

Flexibility is one enabler of efficient use of resources and is therefore an antecedent to sustainability. The purpose of this article is to identify supplier flexibility variables in, and related to, the order-to-delivery (OTD) process and categorize them into a framework, followed by empirically exploring the framework.

A perception-based survey was sent to Swedish purchasing managers. 289 responses were received. After descriptive gap analysis, exploratory factor analysis was applied to structure the responses into factors. This formed the basis for hierarchical linear regression analysis, explaining supplier flexibility.

A conceptual framework, specifying supplier flexibility into volume, delivery and information exchange dimensions and relating these dimensions to the OTD process, was developed. Significant negative gaps between actual and demanded volume flexibility and delivery flexibility were identified, while positive gaps were found for information exchange flexibility. The factor analysis revealed three factors. The regression analysis verified that OTD-related information exchange flexibility and OTD-related volume and delivery flexibility explain the variation in OTD-specific flexibility and are important antecedents for supplier flexibility in the OTD process.

A contribution to research is the framework – with defined, related and empirically validated flexibility types.

The study proposes a perception-based way to capture supplier flexibility in the OTD process, which is of practical relevance when evaluating suppliers.

Identifying, conceptualizing and capturing types of supplier flexibility in the OTD process is new related to academic literature. Also the wide empirical study mapping supplier flexibility gaps is unique in its focus.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how decisions regarding organisational flexibility can be improved through targeted resource allocation, by focusing on the supply chain's level of uncertainty exposure. Specifically, the issue of where and in what ways flexibility has been incorporated across the organisation's supply chain is addressed.

A two-phase methodology design based on literature review and case study was used. Using 83 journal articles in the areas of uncertainty and flexibility an analytical process for assessing uncertainty-flexibility mismatches was developed. Furthermore, results from ten interviews with senior/middle managers within the Australian manufacturing sector were used to provide preliminary insights on the usefulness and importance of the analytical process and its relationship with organisational practice.

The paper emphasises the importance of having a systematic and encompassing view of uncertainty-flexibility mismatches across the supply chain, as well as the significance of socio-technical engagement. The paper both conceptually and empirically illustrates how, using a structured analytical process, flexibility requirements across the supply, process, control and demand segments of a supply chain might be assessed. A four-step analytical process was accordingly developed and, its application, usefulness and importance discussed using empirical data.

The analytical process presented in this paper can assist managers to obtain a comprehensive overview of supply chain flexibility when dealing with situations involving uncertainty. This can facilitate and improve their decision-making with respect to prioritising attention on identified flexibility gaps in order to ensure stability of their performance.

The paper presents a supply chain-wide discussion on the difficulties that uncertainty brings to organisations, and how organisational flexibility might serve to moderate those challenges for supply chain management. It discusses how to identify the flexibility gap and proposes an original analytical process for systematic assessment of uncertainty-flexibility mismatches.

Strategic flexibility is largely considered a source of competitive advantage, yet strategic flexibility in relation to organizational resources and knowledge management (KM) process capability is not well studied. To address this gap, this study aims to assesses the relationship of organizational resources (technical and social resources) and strategic flexibility through KM process capability.

This paper is built on the assumptions of the resource-based view and the dynamic capability perspective of firm. Two types of organizational resources – technical and social – were identified from relevant literature. Data were collected from 23 small- and medium-sized firms (family owned firms) using a 37-item questionnaire. In addition to descriptive statistics, multiple hierarchical regressions and bootstrapping were used to test the study hypotheses.

Findings suggest that organizational resources are positively and significantly related with strategic flexibility, and KM process capability partially mediates these relationships.

The paper adds to strategic flexibility literature by exploring and assessing the linkage of organizational resources with strategic flexibility through KM process capability.

Findings of this research may help organizations and practitioners in enhancing strategic flexibility of firm.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of a strategic approach (contingency planning) to minimize risk exposure to a supply chain disruption. Specifically, the relationship between several attributes of a contingency planning process and flexibility are examined.

This effort develops a model that will provide both researchers and practitioners a means of determining the attributes with the highest relationship to flexibility. The model is then tested using multiple regression techniques.

Based on the sample used in this survey, top management support, resource alignment, information technology usage, and external collaboration provide the largest contributions to flexibility. Flexibility has been shown to enhance the ability to minimize risk exposure in the event of a supply chain disruption.

In this research effort, the multiple regression results produced an R² of 0.45, indicating that additional variables of interest may need to be identified and investigated. Furthermore, a wider range of respondents could make the results more generalizable.

This effort will help to allow managers at multiple levels to understand the primary planning attributes to use to increase flexibility.

The paper develops a model that can be used to identify the specific areas that can lead to improved flexibility. Based on the model, managers, and planners can develop appropriate strategies for minimizing risk exposure in the event of a supply chain disruption.