Approaches to the factory of the future. An empirical taxonomy

An empirical analysis of the patterns in which companies invest in advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) such as computer-aided design, computer-aided manufacturing, and flexible manufacturing systems is presented. Data for this analysis are gathered from 202 manufacturing plants chosen from industries generally considered to have relatively high investments in technology.Three general types of AMTs are identified from the literature: design, manufacturing, and administrative. Multiple item scales are developed to measure each type of AMT. These scales are shown to be reliable instruments, and are used to develop an empirical taxonomy which validates existing conceptual typologies of AMTs. A cluster analysis reveals four distinct groups of companies with respect to their approaches toward investing in AMTs. TRADITIONALISTS do not invest heavily in any of the three types of AMTs. GENERALISTS have moderate investments in each technology type. HIGH INVESTORS have the highest investment in each of the three technology types. The most interesting group may well be the DESIGNERS, which have low investments for manufacturing and administrative AMTs, but have the second highest investment in design-related AMTs.An analysis of the four technology groups reveals that while plants do differ in terms of plant size and integration, they do not differ significantly in terms of industry membership or performance. This suggests that successful firms can be found in each of the groups and that good strategies may be found that are consistent with each of these approaches. Therefore, the taxonomy is fairly robust, and further research must analyze companies within these groupings in order to identify the contingencies or other factors that may act in conjunction with technology to separate high and low performing firms. The data from our study clearly suggest that investments in technology alone are not a causal factor for performance improvement.     

ISO 9000 practices and financial performance: A technology coherence perspective

Attention to processes has increased, as thousands of organizations have adopted process-focused programs such as TQM and ISO 9000. Proponents of such programs stress the promise of improved efficiency and profitability. But research has not consistently borne out these prospects. Moreover, the expectation of universal benefits is not consistent with research highlighting the important role of firm-specific capabilities in sustaining competitive advantage. In this paper, we use longitudinal panel data on ISO 9000 practices for firms in the auto supplier industry to study two new issues related to the adoption of process management practices. First, we find that, as the majority of firms within an industry adopt ISO 9000, late adopters no longer gain financial benefits from these practices. Second, we explore how firms’ technological coherence moderates the performance advantages of ISO 9000 practices. We find that firms that have a very narrow or very broad technological focus have fewer opportunities for complementary interactions that arise from process management practices and thus benefit less than those with limited breadth in technologically related activities.     

A contingent view of e-collaboration and performance in manufacturing

Manufacturers are increasingly utilizing Internet-based tools to more readily conduct collaborative activities with key business customers. While the emerging conventional wisdom suggests that the greater the extent to which manufacturers engage in Internet-enabled commerce with downstream business customers the better the performance, we espouse an alternative view. Consistent with the relational view of competitive advantage and contingency theory, we develop a model and a series of hypotheses that specify how various product and market characteristics may influence the nature of the expected positive relationship between e-collaboration and performance.To test the model, we collected data from 50 manufacturers using a Web-based survey. Our partial least squares (PLS) analysis results do indeed support the notion that e-collaboration is related to better operational and business performance. However, we go on to show that the strength of the relationship between e-collaboration and operational performance diminishes as the level of environmental munificence increases. Notably, we found no such moderating effect with respect to the level of product complexity or market variability. Our findings contribute to the operations strategy literature on supply chain relationships in the e-business arena and offer managers a framework for understanding the conditions under which investments in e-collaboration may be more appropriate and therefore more beneficial.     

A meta-analysis model of manufacturing capabilities

Recent research in operations strategy has focused on showing the extent to which manufacturing's competence in developing and executing one or more competitive capabilities affects the organization's overall business performance. Several of those efforts have produced models, such as the ‘sand cone’, that suggest an ideal sequence in which manufacturing capabilities should be developed. However, efforts to empirically validate such sequential models, except for one recent study, have been inconclusive. This paper takes a different approach to examining the relationships among competitive capabilities. The existing cross-sectional studies of manufacturing capabilities are integrated to synthesize a proposed model of: (1) the relationships among manufacturing capabilities, and (2) the relationships between those capabilities and business performance. The proposed model is synthesized using data from previous studies, other models and theoretical arguments. Meta-analysis is used to identify aspects of the model that appear better supported by empirical research and those that require further study. The implications of this proposed model with regard to research, practice and future research in operations strategy are discussed.     

Configurations of low-contact services

This study uses a cluster analysis procedure to develop a classification model of low-contact services based on seven operations objectives. The effectiveness of the classification scheme is tested by demonstrating the link between the objectives, competitive priorities, and performance. This study also identifies eight underlying factors of competitive priorities in low-contact services. Furthermore, discriminant analysis on competitive priority dimensions shows that low-contact services consist of multiple groups and therefore should not be lumped into one group in any analysis scheme.     

Strategic operations management decisions and professional performance in U.S. HMOs

Professional service organizations are becoming an increasingly important segment of the service sector in the U.S. but little attention has been paid to the management of these organizations, particularly in relation to technical performance. This paper reports the findings of a survey of managers of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) which related operations management decisions about organization, workforce management, quality management and planning and control, to clinical process and outcome performance.This research demonstrates that managerial decisions do affect clinical performance in HMOs. These findings have implications for both researchers and practitioners. For researchers, the study provides a framework for future research on the important link between management decisions and technical performance in professional service organizations. For practitioners, this study suggests that technical performance will be enhanced when professional work is appropriately managed.     

Effects of simplicity and discipline on operational flexibility: An empirical reexamination of the rigid flexibility model

This study empirically tests the rigid flexibility model proposed by Collins and Schmenner [Collins, R.S., Schmenner, R.W., 1993. Achieving rigid flexibility: factory focus for the 1990s. European Management Journal 11 (4), 443–447]. It investigates relationships between flexibility performance and adoption of simplicity and discipline programs in manufacturing. The research replicates the study by Collins et al. [Collins, R.S., Cordon, C., Julien, D., 1998. An empirical test of the rigid flexibility model. Journal of Operations Management 16 (2–3), 133–146] with some modifications, including the use of a broader international database, the assessment of both technology and organizational programs, and the testing of the moderating role of dedicated line layout on the relationships between simplicity, discipline and flexibility. Analysis of data from 285 manufacturers of fabricated metal products, machinery, and equipment from 14 countries indicates that simplicity and discipline related positively to performance in product customization, volume flexibility, mix flexibility, and time to market, and that some of these relationships were more positive in high volume processes than in low volume processes. The results provide empirical validation to the rigid flexibility model in an international manufacturing context.     

Operational hedging against adverse circumstances

This paper investigates operational hedging against severe disruptions to normal operations. It offers a new method to evaluate the extent that operations policy serves as a hedge against adverse circumstances. We apply the proposed method to explore how supply chain characteristics affect the responses of airlines to the acute demand fall off after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Results indicate that operational hedging vehicles (fleet standardization, high-fleet utilization, an aircraft ownership policy rather than leasing, and international operations) are more powerful in protecting firms than using financial instruments. The study contributes in guiding managers as to how operations policy can serve as an imperative factor in mitigating exposures to low-end performance levels.     

Resource based theory in operations management research

Resource based theory (RBT) has become increasingly popular in operations management research. The development and current application of RBT to the study and understanding of operations management problems and phenomena are reviewed and articles in the recent six plus years across nine journals are evaluated. Based on this review and evaluation, we identify several issues in the overall research and highlight some exemplary research themes in the use of RBT in operations management. Our research suggests that further application of RBT can add richness in operations management research, and has the potential to produce multiple contributions for this field and adjacent fields.     

Using partial least squares in operations management research: A practical guideline and summary of past research

The partial least squares (PLS) approach to structural equation modeling (SEM) has been widely adopted in business research fields such as information systems, consumer behavior, and marketing. The use of PLS in the field of operations management is also growing. However, questions still exist among some operations management researchers regarding whether and how PLS should be used. To address these questions, our study provides a practical guideline for using PLS and uses examples from the operations management literature to demonstrate how the specific points in this guideline can be applied. In addition, our study reviews and summarizes the use of PLS in the recent operations management literature according to our guideline. The main contribution of this study is to present a practical guideline for evaluating and using PLS that is tailored to the operations management field.     

上市公司自愿性披露信息影响因素研究——基于沪、深上市公司的实证检验

本文在文献综述和理论研究的基础上,运用多元回归建立模型,对上市公司自愿性披露信息影响因子进行了实证分析。结果发现,上市公司自愿性披露信息与盈利能力、发行股票类型、会计师事务所规模、公司规模和资产负债率等因素成显著正相关,而与股权集中度及行业类型没有显著相关关系,并对结论进行了相关分析。     

Assessing the impact of JIT using economic theory

This paper combines ideas that are well founded in the production and inventory management literature, with analytical approaches that have been long established in the economic theory literature, to reveal and explore production-function characteristic differences between JIT producers and non-JIT producers among electronic firms in Ontario, Canada. The methodology employed is the estimation of the CES-TL total cost system. Our primary conclusion is that JIT firms are more cost-efficient and appear to be distinct from the non-JIT group. This conclusion is supported by: (1) the fact that, in most cases, the elasticities calculated from the two groups of firms are significantly different; (2) the fact that the cost elasticity with respect to output is lower for the JIT firms than for the non-JIT firms, indicating that the former are better able to capture economies of scale and density; (3) the difference between the elasticities of factor productivity, with respect to output changes, shows the JIT firms as being more labor- and materials-saving than the non-JIT firms.     

Demand chain management in manufacturing and services: web-based integration, drivers and performance

This paper investigated the relationship between Internet-enabled supply chain integration strategies and performance in manufacturing and services. It summarizes the literature on demand and supply integration and describes four web-based strategies. A stratified random sample was collected from UK manufacturers and services, and there was strong evidence that demand chain management (DCM) led to the highest performance in manufacturing, but few signs of DCM in services. Manufacturers and services relying on only web-based demand or supply integration outperformed their low integration counterparts, but lagged DCM in manufacturing. The study also investigated DCM adoption drivers and found that rational efficiency and bandwagon effects drove change. The findings have some important implications for theory as well as for manufacturing and service companies interested in improving their performance.     

Strategic supply management,quality initiatives,and organizational performance

Researchers in supply chain management have found over the past two decades that supply management should be not merely a purchasing function but a strategic tool for supply chain integration. Supply management, the cornerstone of the integration of industrial supply chains, has evolved as a key research area. Based on quantitative and qualitative investigations of 225 electronics manufacturing firms, we examine the organizational impacts of strategic supply management (SSM) and the contexts of company size, process type, ISO 9000 certification, and quality management (QM) implementation that facilitate such an endeavor. We reveal that SSM is essentially a quality management initiative that requires bilateral efforts for continuous improvement and thus is not associated with the basic requirements of ISO 9000. We find that SSM improves on-time shipments, reduces operational costs, and leads to customer satisfaction and improved business performance. Developed based on contemporary premises in supply chain and QM, this research refines our understanding of the relationships among quality initiatives, SSM, and organizational performance.     

Linking performance drivers in production planning and inventory control to process choice

This study investigates how process choice relates to production planning and inventory control decisions. We empirically examine the validity of deductively derived patterns about these types of decisions. More importantly, we look for normative insights by exploring how production planning and inventory control decisions affect operations performance. Our findings show that production line and continuous flow plants use more of a level production strategy, and carry less raw material and work-in-process inventory. The performance drivers for these plants, through which the operations function excels, are effective utilization of equipment, reduced finished goods inventory, and reduced setup down time. To gain forward demand visibility and batching economies, job and batch shops rely much more on backlogs in their planning process. These plants use more of a production chase strategy and position inventory lower in the bills of materials. Four performance drivers for top-performing job and batch shops are to find ways that better anticipate customers' orders, have a more responsive chase strategy, carry less raw material or purchased inventory, and shorten production planning horizon, partly through less reliance on backlogs. It is intriguing that top-performing plants not only do the expected things, given their choice of process, but also excel in selected dimensions—some of which fit the profile normally associated with a different process choice. To monitor and continuously improve operations, evaluation ‘scorecards’ should pay particular attention to performance drivers, which change depending on the plant's process choice.     

Towards an holistic understanding of disruptions in Operations Management

The paper reviews the literature on maintenance management, integrates key dimensions of maintenance within a taxonomy of maintenance configurations, and explores the impact of differing configurations on contextual factors and operational performance. “Prevention”, “hard maintenance integration” and “soft maintenance integration” were identified as key maintenance variables. Data were collected from 253 Swedish manufacturing companies, and three distinct clusters were identified. “Proactive Maintainers” emphasized preventive maintenance policies. “IT Maintainers” relied on computerized and company-wide integrated information systems for maintenance. “Maintenance Laggers” emphasized all maintenance dimensions to lesser extent than the others. The importance of maintenance prevention and integration differ between contexts. There were subtle performance differences across identified configurations, but preventive and integrated maintenance were more important for companies seeking competitive process control and flexibility. There existed no group with any great emphasis on all three maintenance dimensions, but attaining truly high performance may require a rare mix of the three dimensions. This mix of variables could constitute a hypothesized “World Class Maintenance” group.     

Unlocking the business outsourcing process model

Outsourcing has emerged as a prevalent business practice that is having a transformational impact on how many organizations manage their global supply chains. Despite this prominence, anecdotal reports from multiple reputable organizations suggest that many businesses fail to realize the benefits anticipated from their outsourcing initiatives. Motivated by these observations, this study investigates those management practices during the outsourcing process that are key drivers of outsourcing performance. Specifically, detailed data from 198 sourcing executives and managers responsible for outsourcing initiatives are used to investigate the influence that strategic evaluation, contractual completeness, and relationship management practices have on achieving projected outsourcing results. The results offer strong empirical evidence that outsourcing performance is significantly influenced by extensive strategic evaluation and proactive relationship management practices. Moreover, the impact strategic evaluation has on outsourcing performance is not direct, but rather is partially mediated by the relationship between the parties. Finally, the results show that contractual completeness does not distinguish between successful and unsuccessful outsourcing efforts, and can be considered qualifying activity.     

The effect of performance measurement systems on firm performance: A cross-sectional and a longitudinal study

Performance measurement (PM) systems have been popularized over the last 20 years and the operations management literature is replete with discussion of metrics and measurement systems. Yet, a comprehensive nomological network relating types of PM system uses to organizational capabilities and performance is lacking. Furthermore, there is scant empirical evidence attesting to the explanatory efficacy of PM systems as it relates to organizational performance. We view PM system uses through the lenses of the Resource Orchestration Theory (ROT) and explore specific relationships of underlying variables by relying on the Organizational Information Processing Theory (OIPT). Resting on the extant literature, we identify two types of uses which include Diagnostic Use (the review of critical performance variables in order to maintain, alter, or justify patterns in an organizational activity) and interactive use (a forward-looking activity exemplified by active and frequent involvement of top management envisioning new ways to orchestrate organizational resources for competitive advantage) and relate them along with their interaction (i.e., dynamic tension) to organizational capabilities. We further link capabilities to target performance, which subsequently impacts organizational performance (operationalized through both perceptual and objective financial performance measures). The nomological network is tested via a cross sectional study (386 Italian firms) while the efficacy of PM systems to explain organizational performance is examined by using longitudinal panel data approaches over a 10 year period. There is sufficient evidence to suggest that the use of PM systems leads to improved capabilities, which then impact performance. Contrary to the extant literature, however, we discovered that Diagnostic Use appears to be the most constructive explanatory variable for capabilities. On the other hand, in light of a longitudinal study, we also uncovered that Diagnostic Use experienced depreciating returns as far as objective financial measures are concerned. Also, when high levels of Diagnostic Use were coupled with low levels of Interactive Use, they produced the lowest levels of organizational capabilities. Conversely, high levels of both types of PM system use generated extraordinary high levels of capabilities. There is sufficient evidence to suggest that organizations cannot rely merely on Diagnostic Use of PM systems. We also learned that the effects of PM systems (measured via adaptation) fade unless high learning rates are applied. We offer detailed recommendations for future research which have theoretical as well as empirical implications.     

The link between supply chain fit and financial performance of the firm

The bottom-line financial impact of supply chain management has been of continuing interest. Building on the operations strategy literature, Fisher's (1997) conceptual framework, a survey of 259 U.S. and European manufacturing firms, and secondary financial data, we investigate the relationship between supply chain fit (i.e., strategic consistencies between the products’ supply and demand uncertainty and the underlying supply chain design) and the financial performance of the firm. The findings indicate that the higher the supply chain fit, the higher the Return on Assets (ROA) of the firm, and that firms with a negative misfit show a lower performance than firms with a positive misfit.