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Due to technological and financial limitations, nominal dimension may not be able achievable during manufacturing process. Therefore, tolerance allocation is of significant importance for assembly. Conventional tolerance analysis methods are limited by the assumption of the part rigidity. Every mechanical assembly consists of at least one or more flexible parts which undergo significant deformation due to gravity, temperature change, etc. The deformation has to be considered during tolerance design of the mechanical assembly, in order to ensure that the product can function as intended under a wide range of operating conditions for the duration of its life. The purpose of this paper is to determine the deformation of components under inertia effect and temperature effect.

In this paper, finite element analysis of the assembly is carried out to determine the deformation of the components under inertia effect and temperature effect. Then the deformations are suitably incorporated in the assembly functions generated from vector loop models. Finally, the tolerance design problem is optimized with an evolutionary technique.

With the presented approach, the component tolerance values found are the most robust to with stand temperature variation during the product's application. Due to this, the tolerance requirements of the given assembly are relaxed to certain extent for critical components, resulting in reduced manufacturing cost and high product reliability. These benefits make it possible to create a high‐quality and cost‐effective tolerance design, commencing at the earliest stages of product development.

With the approach presented in the paper, the component tolerance values found were the most robust to withstand temperature variation during the product's application. Due to this, the tolerance requirements of the given assembly are relaxed to a certain extent for critical components, resulting in reduced manufacturing cost and high product reliability. These benefits make it possible to create a high‐quality and cost‐effective tolerance design, commencing at the earliest stages of product development.

The authors argue that organization design needs to play a more active role in the explanation of differential performance and outline a set of ideas for achieving this both in theoretical and empirical research. Firms are heterogeneous in terms of (1) how well they do things, capturing persistent productivity differences, and (2) how they do things – and both reflect firms’ organization design choices. Both types of heterogeneity can be persistent, and are interdependent, although they have typically been studied separately. The authors propose a simple formal framework – the “aggregation function framework” – that aligns organization design thinking with the emphasis on performance heterogeneity among firms that is characteristic of the strategy field. This framework allows for a more precise identification of how exactly organization design may contribute to persistent performance differences, and therefore what exactly are the assumptions that strategy and organization design scholars need to be attentive to.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine the various mechanisms that can be used to integrate new technology into existing products, and to determine some of the conditions under which specific integration mechanisms are most appropriate.

The paper adopted an exploratory theory‐building approach based on analysis of data from 12 case studies, each representing companies with varying levels of: technological maturity of the organization and technological advancement of their products. Informants were managers and engineers who had responsibility for, or a significant role in, the integration of software and hardware. At least three interviews were conducted in each company and all interviews were of at least two hours duration. In total, 41 interviews were conducted. The different approaches used for technology integration were examined and subsequently mapped using the twin dimensions outlined above.

Cross‐case pattern analysis indicates that for technologically mature organizations, mechanisms based on processes are most appropriate, while for less mature organizations an approach based on structural mechanisms may be more suitable. Similarly, in cases involving high levels of technology advancement in the products, integration mechanisms based on processes and culture are preferable, whereas for low technology products the mechanisms are clustered around resource‐based approaches.

Multiple cases do not permit as much depth as the classic single case study and tend to yield “modest” rather than “grand” theoretical development. The use of scaling to convert qualitative data into quantitative data, and the identification of patterns in cross‐case analysis are both based on interpretive judgements. Future research should examine the proposed model and its constructs in different settings and using alternative research methods. There is also an opportunity to explore the relationships between the integration mechanisms and the outcomes of integration projects, and finally, it would be useful to extend the work to service settings and to integration of process technology.

The findings provide guidance to managers in selecting alternative approaches to managing the process of technology integration in different contexts. Examples are given of practices associated with each integration mechanism, together with some of the tensions and challenges which arise during implementation.

The paper provides clear guidance on the approaches that can be used for technology integration for product development. It classifies these according to the level of maturity and experience in the organization and the level of advancement of the product offered by the technology.

The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review and analysis of existing research articles on new product development (NPD) published in the 12-year period starting from 1998 to 2009.

To explore the articles related to NPD, four key words namely new product, product design, product development and product innovation were used in combination of title or abstract or keyword of the articles through several knowledge databases. The abstracts of journal papers were read and a decision as to whether article belongs to any NPD research issue or not was made. In total, 1,127 research articles were categorized systematically and then analyzed on various principal NPD information groups.

Analysis of selected articles led to a certain level of dispersion in the publication of NPD research in different journals. It is found that more attention needs to be on knowledge and creativity management, communication and information transfer in any NPD process.

By observing extended literature from authors reviewing articles from various journals, growth in research, and variety of topics covered in NPD, a broad systematic multi journal review of NPD literature is clearly overdue. The authors have developed a comprehensive listing of publications on NPD where they have classified the surveyed papers according to various principal NPD information groups like: published year, NPD research stream, type of organization studied (industrial/consumer/service), level of innovation (high/moderate/low), NPD focus on frameworks, performance perspective (success, failure or both), NPD research design (conceptual/empirical and qualitative/quantitative) and NPD relevant best practice element. Based on the classification scheme, the issues were analyzed from the system's perspective and their implications to NPD research.

Based on mental accounting theory, this study explored whether the comparability of missed and subsequent promotional formats/frames affects inaction inertia.

Four experiments with imaginary and incentive-compatible designs were conducted to test the hypotheses.

Consumers are more likely to express inaction inertia after having missed a comparable promotion than after having missed a noncomparable promotion. Devaluation of the promoted target mediates the impact of comparability on inaction inertia, while referent others' actions do not moderate the comparability effect. Finally, when consumers accept a subsequent inferior promotion, they prefer using a different payment format because it reduces comparability of the two promotions.

Companies should use different promotional formats/frames to reduce comparability and inaction inertia when a new promotion is relatively inferior to a recent previous one. Companies should offer different payment options to help customers actively avoid comparing a current promotion with a missed promotion.

This study provides a more comprehensive conceptual structure for understanding the relationship between psychological comparability and inaction inertia. It provides insights into what actions companies should take to reduce inaction inertia. Furthermore, this study empirically tests the influence of multiple comparison referents, which provides a reference point for future studies on the factors affecting inaction inertia. A new method to examine whether consumers actively avoid comparisons is used, which clarifies the internal mechanism of inaction inertia.

This paper aims to examine the antecedents of customer inertia (i.e. knowledge, confusion, perceptions of competitor similarity and switching costs) and their relationship to customer satisfaction, service providers’ switching intentions and actual switching behavior. Customer inertia is said to reduce the incidence of service provider switching; however, little is known about the antecedent drivers of inertia.

The conceptual model was tested by a longitudinal/discontinuous panel design using an online survey research of 1055 adult (i.e. +18 years old) subscribers to cell phone services. Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling was used to simultaneously estimate both the measurement and structural components of the model to determine the nature of the relationships between the variables.

Findings of the PLS structural model provide support for the direct relationship between customer inertia and its antecedents (i.e. knowledge, confusion, perceptions of competitor similarity and switching costs). The results show that customer inertia has a moderate negative effect on the intention to change service providers but had no measurable effect on the actual behavior of changing service providers, other than indirectly, by influencing the perception of difficulty in switching some 11 months later. Further results from an analysis of indirect pathways of the antecedents to inertia show that switching costs are the only variable which indirectly reduce intentions to change service providers. The results also show that the effect of satisfaction on switching service providers is partially moderated by inertia. Importantly, these relationships are reasonably robust given past switching behavior and contract status of consumers.

The authors find evidence which explains some of the causes of inertia, and show that it has both direct and moderating effects on service provider switching intentions, though not necessarily the behavior of changing service providers. However, support was found for its indirect role through intent as an influence on switching behavior. Importantly, the authors find that inertia has lingering effects, in that it influences the perception of switching difficulties and, hence, behavior up to 11 months in the future.

Managerial implications are that service firms can profit from customer inertia through a reduction in churn. However, high levels of customer inertia over the longer term may increase the level of customer vulnerability to competitor offers and marketing activities, as satisfaction with the provider does not in itself explain switching intentions or behavior.

This study is the first study to contribute to an understanding of the antecedent drivers of customer inertia with respect to service provider switching and to empirically evaluate a variety of antecedent factors that potentially affect switching intentions. Importantly, the long lasting latent effect of inertia in indirectly influencing service switching behavior was found to persist some 11 months later.

Amidst compounding crises and increasing global population’s nutritional needs, food supply chains are called to address the “diet–environment–health” trilemma in a sustainable and resilient manner. However, food system stakeholders are reluctant to act upon established protein sources such as meat to avoid potential public and industry-driven repercussions. To this effect, this study aims to understand the meat supply chain (SC) through systems thinking and propose innovative interventions to break this “cycle of inertia”.

This research uses an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the meat supply network system. Data was gathered through a critical literature synthesis, domain-expert interviews and a focus group engagement to understand the system’s underlying structure and inspire innovative interventions for sustainability.

The analysis revealed that six main sub-systems dictate the “cycle of inertia” in the meat food SC system, namely: (i) cultural, (ii) social, (iii) institutional, (iv) economic, (v) value chain and (vi) environmental. The Internet of Things and innovative strategies help promote sustainability and resilience across all the sub-systems.

The study findings demystify the structure of the meat food SC system and unveil the root causes of the “cycle of inertia” to suggest pertinent, innovative intervention strategies.

This research contributes to the SC management field by capitalising on interdisciplinary scientific evidence to address a food system challenge with significant socioeconomic and environmental implications.

This study aims to investigate the direct effect of intellectual capital on the organizational performance of Indonesian state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and their subsidiaries. Furthermore, it also examines whether the relationship is mediated by open innovation and moderated by organizational inertia.

This study is designed as quantitative research. A survey method is employed to collect data by distributing questionnaires to the upper-level managers of the SOEs and their subsidiaries. A total of 293 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents, and 97 responses were obtained for further analysis. The partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is used to test the hypotheses. A mediation-moderation research framework is employed.

The results show that intellectual capital has a positive effect on organizational performance. Further results also demonstrate that open innovation mediates the intellectual capital–organizational performance relationship and organizational inertia moderates the intellectual capital–organizational performance relationship. Theoretically, the findings contribute to the resource-based view (RBV) and knowledge-based view (KBV) by providing empirical evidence of the importance of distinctive internal resources in achieving superior organizational performance. Practically, the findings provide strategic information for managers that they should properly manage intellectual capital, open innovation and organizational inertia because of their effects on organizational performance.

First, this study addresses the previous research gaps by confirming that intellectual capital has a positive effect on organizational performance in the research setting of an emerging market. Second, by using a mediation research framework, this study shows that open innovation mediates the relationship between intellectual capital and organizational performance. Third, by using a moderating research framework, this study also reveals that organizational inertia weakens the relationship between intellectual capital and organizational performance. Those associations are rarely researched.

The purpose of this paper is to deploy an alternative way, drawing upon research in service innovation, to predict service delivery innovation from the extents of market and technology orientations and innovative competence.

Five hypotheses were proposed. A two-part questionnaire was developed. One part of the questionnaire was completed by the sales manager and the other part by the marketing manager of select companies. The questionnaires were distributed to 533 information technology companies in Taiwan. Of the 533 questionnaires returned, 160 questionnaires were deemed usable. This study uses the partial least square analysis to test the hypotheses.

Proactive market orientation and technology orientation affect exploratory and exploitative innovative competences; but, only exploitative innovation competence affects service delivery innovation.

The findings indicate that managers need to understand the market trends and the technology availability and be able to customize corresponding service/product features which can further lead to stimulate exploitative innovative competence and facilitate service delivery innovation.

The paper is among the first attempts to examine how market and technology orientations affect innovative competence and service delivery innovation. In addition, this study provides the explanatory variance missing in the literature that has not examined the black box relationship between market and technology orientations and service delivery innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to present a psychoanalytical approach to dealing with organizational inertia.

The concept of organizational inertia is defined and factors contributing to insight inertia and action inertia are delineated.

It was found that applying psychoanalytically informed theory provides alternative insight into dealing with organizational inertia.

The paper illustrates how human nature influences the workplace in general and contributes to organizational inertia in particular.