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1 – 10 of over 1000K.A. Chatha and I. Butt
A literature review within the manufacturing strategy (MS) discipline with a focus on thematic developments is provided. Based on recent studies, a set of challenges posed to…
Abstract
Purpose
A literature review within the manufacturing strategy (MS) discipline with a focus on thematic developments is provided. Based on recent studies, a set of challenges posed to manufacturing enterprise of the future are summarized, and thematic areas are analyzed in relation to meeting those challenges. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a select set of 506 articles published in top-ranked refereed international journals in the discipline of operations management, major and subthemes are identified and the publication trends in these themes are provided with time and across geographical regions, namely: North America, Europe, and other parts of the world.
Findings
MS literature is predominantly focussed on the economic objectives of firms without a due focus on the social and environmental perspectives. MS literature covers 11 major thematic areas, namely: MS components and paradigms, manufacturing capabilities (MCs), strategic choices (SCs), best practices (BPs), the strategy process (SP), supply-chain management (SCM), performance measurement, transnational comparisons, global manufacturing, environmental/green manufacturing, and literature reviews. The research in two areas – SCs, and MCs – has been in decline, while the research in BPs, the SP, and transnational comparisons is growing (in absolute figures). Various research opportunities for future studies are identified.
Research limitations/implications
The literature review is limited in its selection of articles and journals, however, the identified trends clarify the state of research by the MS research community at large.
Practical implications
For researchers, multiple new research directions are identified in order to advance knowledge in the field of MS. The publication trends also highlight thematic areas where most of the MS body of knowledge is currently available and can be utilized by practitioners.
Originality/value
The paper’s novelty comes from: first, a broader and deeper review of thematic areas that has not been researched before, second, trends in thematic areas by time, across geographical regions, and including time-region dyads, and third, coverage provided by MS literature in meeting challenges posed to manufacturing enterprise of the future.
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Cinzia Sansone, Per Hilletofth and David Eriksson
The purpose of this paper is to investigate systematically the topic of operations capabilities within the operations strategy area. The output is a framework that will benefit…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate systematically the topic of operations capabilities within the operations strategy area. The output is a framework that will benefit researchers and firms to gain a more complete understanding of critical operations capabilities.
Design/methodology/approach
The research methodology is a systematic literature review. The aim of this study is to provide a snapshot of the diversity of studies being conducted in the field of operations capabilities, within the operations strategy area. In total, 157 papers were taken into consideration. Various operations capabilities were identified and synthesized in a conceptual framework.
Findings
The output of this paper is a conceptual framework of critical operations capabilities. Different operations capabilities and dimensions were identified in the literature. In total, seven dimensions were identified and included in the framework: cost, quality, delivery, flexibility, service, innovation, and environment.
Research limitations/implications
This research was conducted through a systematic literature review. The framework presented in this paper provides a summary of critical operations capabilities, and in addition theoretical support for managers and firms wishing to formulate an operations strategy.
Practical implications
In general, this research sets the basis for managers and practitioners concerning the formulation of successful operations strategies. In the long term, a deeper understanding and shared knowledge about competitive priorities and operations capabilities can positively influence the success of firms.
Originality/value
This paper extends the theory by providing researchers and managers with updated knowledge on operations capabilities.
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Ajith Tom James, O.P. Gandhi and S.G. Deshmukh
The purpose of this paper is to develop an ontological model of failure knowledge of automobile systems that will enhance the knowledge management of automobile system failures…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an ontological model of failure knowledge of automobile systems that will enhance the knowledge management of automobile system failures, which will help for design and maintenance of automobiles. Failure knowledge of automobile systems and components gained through maintenance and repair can mitigate future failures, if integrated in the design. This is an outcome of this paper.
Design/methodology/approach
A failure coding scheme is developed for assimilating various entities of automobile failure knowledge and an ontological model is developed for its systematic structuring and representation. The developed failure code is a combination of alphanumeric and numeric code that incorporates ingredients of the failure knowledge, which will help database management, with reduced data entry time and storage space.
Findings
The maintenance of automobiles not only brings back the systems into operating conditions but also convey a lot of information regarding the failures. This is a useful input to the designers in development of reliable and maintainable automobile systems. A knowledge base can be created for automobile systems/components failures from their maintenance and service experience.
Research limitations/implications
Developed ontological model of automobile failure knowledge gained through maintenance experience can be shared across automobile manufacturers and service providers. This would help in design improvements, with ease and efficient undertaking of maintenance activities. This paper proposes the conceptual ontology structure, which is populated with three cases of automobile maintenance.
Originality/value
This research work is a first attempt to develop an ontological model for automobile failures from their maintenance and service experience. The novelty of the work is in its explicit consideration of all knowledge related to failures and maintenance of automobile systems, with their coding and structuring.
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The purpose of this paper is to assess the implications of organizational knowledge, source of information and functional orientation, resource-based view of the manufacturing and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the implications of organizational knowledge, source of information and functional orientation, resource-based view of the manufacturing and global orientation, on manufacturing practices which include advanced manufacturing strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical study approach has been used to assess the implications of advanced manufacturing strategies on firm performance.
Findings
This paper provides a framework for managers to: assess competitive priorities of the industry; identify order winners for the industry; identify key decision areas or practices for improvements; and to assess the role of implications of organizational knowledge on the manufacturing practices.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations are as follows: the issue of organizational knowledge and learning is assessed from manufacturing view point only; plants located all over India are considered for study; and considers plants employing different manufacturing systems and products.
Practical implications
Saturated with the conventional manufacturing technologies, a growing number of small- and medium-scale industries began to explore advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs). Investment in AMTs remains a promising but potentially risky venture. This paper helps the small- and medium-scale industries to adopt viable AMTs and business performance strategies and then provides guidelines for enhancing their competitiveness.
Social implications
This paper may help all the stakeholders of small- and medium-scale industry.
Originality/value
This paper is based on one of the few studies conducted to assess the implications of advanced manufacturing strategies on firm performance in Indian scenario.
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C. Muralidharan, N. Anantharaman and S.G. Deshmukh
Vendor rating is a process having strategic implications for managing a supply chain. Vendor rating can be done using analytic hierarchy process either by a single decision maker…
Abstract
Vendor rating is a process having strategic implications for managing a supply chain. Vendor rating can be done using analytic hierarchy process either by a single decision maker or by a group of decision makers. This approach may suffer from some drawbacks including bias in estimation process. A methodology is proposed in this paper which makes use of estimation of the rating by a group on an individual basis following the principle of anonymity. A statistical analysis is carried out to determine the confidence intervals for the estimates of the composite rating of the vendors. The procedure presented here helps in identifying those members whose opinions may significantly deviate from that of the group. Emphasis is placed on establishment of confidence limits in group decision‐making. Participants in group decision making, whose opinions fall outside the group’s confidence limit, are further studied to understand the source of variation. Implementation guidelines have also been provided to account for the dynamic nature of the vendor evaluation process and to take appropriate actions in managing the vendor rating process in the overall supply chain.
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Suresh K. Goyal and S.G. Deshmukh
Gives a critical review of the existing literature on just‐in‐timemanufacturing. Suggests a relevant literature classification scheme,followed by subsections on each class and…
Abstract
Gives a critical review of the existing literature on just‐in‐time manufacturing. Suggests a relevant literature classification scheme, followed by subsections on each class and offers critical comments. Also identifies the possible research portfolios after an explanation of the gap existing between theory and practice.
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G.S. Dangayach and S.G. Deshmukh
Manufacturing strategy has attracted serious research attention in the recent past. In this paper, an attempt is made to review the status of literature in manufacturing strategy…
Abstract
Manufacturing strategy has attracted serious research attention in the recent past. In this paper, an attempt is made to review the status of literature in manufacturing strategy. A literature classification scheme is suggested. A total of 260 articles from 31 referred journals and international conferences are classified into content (manufacturing capabilities, strategic choices, best practices, trans‐national comparison, literature survey, and performance measurement) and process‐related issues. We have categorized the methodology used in the literature into conceptual, descriptive, empirical, exploratory cross‐sectional and exploratory longitudinal approaches. Based on this, some possible research issues are also identified, viz., resource‐based operations strategy, sector specific manufacturing strategy, relevance of manufacturing strategy to small and medium enterprises, manufacturing strategy in the context of green manufacturing, effect of organizational culture on formulation of manufacturing strategy, and performance measurement.
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R.P. Mohanty and S.G. Deshmukh
Productivity is concerned with the effective and efficient transformation of resources into desired outputs. Manufacturing, traditionally, has paid great attention to this…
Abstract
Productivity is concerned with the effective and efficient transformation of resources into desired outputs. Manufacturing, traditionally, has paid great attention to this conversion in terms of its effect on organisational profit but not on its harmful environmental effects. As pressures rise to establish “green manufacturing” processes, the issue becomes one of both being seen as socially responsible, and as conforming to increasing legislative and regulatory frameworks. “Green manufacturing” implies the minimisation of (especially harmful) waste. Introduces a particular approach to addressing the concept of “wastivity” (a variation on productivity that involves the identification of both “structural” and operational waste) and describes a case study in an Indian manufacturing organisation at which the approach was used.
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The purpose of this paper is to reveal the limitations of h-index in assessing research performance through citation analysis and suggest two new indexes called prime index…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reveal the limitations of h-index in assessing research performance through citation analysis and suggest two new indexes called prime index (P-index) and value added index (V-index), which are simpler to compute than g-index and more informative. For more serious research performance evaluation, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology is proposed.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology adopted is to compare existing indexes for citation-based research assessment and identify their limitations, particularly the h-index, which is most commonly employed. It gives advantages of g-index over h-index and then proposes P-index which is simpler to compute than g-index but is more powerful in information content than g-index. Another V-index is proposed on a similar philosophy as P-index by considering total number of citations/author. For serious evaluation of finite candidates for awards/recognitions, a seven-criteria-based AHP is proposed. All new approaches have been illustrated by drawing raw data from Google scholar-powered website H-POP.
Findings
This paper demonstrates over-hype about use of h-index over g-index. However, it shows that newly proposed P-index is much simpler in computation than g but better than g-index. V-index is a quick way to ascertain the value added by a research scientist in multiple-authored research papers. P-index gives a value 3–4 percent higher than g and it is holistic index as it uses complete data of citations. AHP is a very powerful multi-criteria approach and it also shows g-index to be a more important factor, whereas h-index is the least important but frequently used approach. It is hoped that the findings of this paper will help in rectifying the misplaced emphasis on h-index alone.
Research limitations/implications
The research focus has been to suggest new faster, better methods of research assessment. However, a detailed comparison of all existing approaches with the new approaches will call for testing these over a large number of data sets. Its limitation is that it has tested the approaches on 5 academics for illustrating AHP and 20 researchers for comparing new indexes with some of the existing indexes. All existing indexes are also not covered.
Practical implications
The outcomes of this research may have major practical applications for research assessment of academics/researchers and rectify the imbalance in assessment by reducing over-hype on h-index. For more serious evaluation of research performance of academics, the seven-criteria AHP approach will be more comprehensive and holistic in comparison with a single criterion citation metric. One hopes that the findings of this paper will receive much attention/debate.
Social implications
Research assessment based on proposed approaches is likely to lead to greater satisfaction among those evaluated and higher confidence in the evaluation criteria.
Originality/value
P- and V-indexes are original. Application of AHP for multi-criteria assessment of research through citation analysis is also a new idea.
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Manjeet Kharub, Rahul S. Mor and Sudhir Rana
This paper examines the mediating role of manufacturing strategies in the relationship between competitive strategies and firm performance.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the mediating role of manufacturing strategies in the relationship between competitive strategies and firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study gathered 250 responses from firms in a developing country's key manufacturing sectors, including mechanical, electronics, automotive, textile and food. First, descriptive statistics were applied to fix outliers like respondent biases, missing values and normality issues. Second, exploratory factors analysis (EFA) ensured data adequacy and homogeneity through Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett tests. Finally, confirmatory factors analysis (CFA) was used to identify the interactions (direct, indirect and total effects) between latent variables representing manufacturing strategies (quality, cost, delivery and flexibility), competitive strategies (cost-leadership and differentiation) and firms' performance (sales growth and profitability). In total, two structural equation modelling (SEM) models (SEM-I, SEM-II) were created to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Of the 40 items identified by the literature review, four were outliers, and three could not satisfy the EFA criteria (eigenvalue >1). Only 33 items could therefore reach CFA. SEM–I and SEM-II study results found no direct relationship between competitive strategies and firm performance (−0.03 = β = 0.08; p > 0.05). However, the findings revealed that cost-leadership could be an appropriate strategic choice and improved firms' performance if the quality and delivery are focussed (0.20 = β = 0.87; p < 0.001). While competitive strategies impact manufacturing strategies positively, the latter is only a mediator between the cost-leadership strategy and the firms' performance.
Originality/value
This research shows that the cost-leadership approach currently seems viable; however, flexibility and cost requirements were not satisfied due to infeasible product differentiation. These results will be beneficial to executives interested in investing in India's industries.
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