A conceptual framework for platform-based design of non-assembled products

In this study, the use of platform-based product family design of assembled products has been reconceptualised into a framework of platform-based design of non-assembled products for the process industries. As a point of departure, platform-based design is defined as shared logic in a company's activities, and a “function-based” leveraging strategy is employed to identify non-assembled products with similar characteristics and commonalities among product families, related production processes and raw materials. It is proposed that a production platform philosophy and platform-based design of non-assembled products should rely on Product platforms, Process platforms and Raw-material platforms that are well-integrated into common Production platforms, in an end-to-end perspective. However, platform-based design of non-assembled products may differ depending on whether company production relies solely on a captive raw material base or on purchased raw materials on the open market, or on both. The congruence of the development of Production platforms with the QFD methodology and House of Quality was noted in this study, as well as the simplicity of using the methodology on homogeneous products compared to multi-level hierarchical assembled products. It is argued that the proposed conceptual framework can be used in internal company discussions and reviews whether and how such an approach in product innovation can be a fruitful avenue to explore and adapt.     

现代农资配送模式研究

农业生产资料供应工作是保障农业生产稳定发展的重要基础和前提条件。因此,优化农资流通资源配置,创新农资配送方式,建立健全现代农资配送模式,确保对农业生产和农民需求的供应,是推进农资流通现代化迫切需要解决的问题。主要分析了农资生产企业自营配送、+邮政农资配送、农资连锁经营配送等模式的优劣势。     

THE NORMALIZED CES PRODUCTION FUNCTION: THEORY AND EMPIRICS

Abstract The elasticity of substitution between capital and labor and, in turn, the direction of technical change are critical parameters in many fields of economics. Until recently, though, the application of production functions with specifically non‐unitary substitution elasticities (i.e., non‐Cobb–Douglas) was hampered by empirical and theoretical uncertainties. As recently revealed, ‘normalization’ of production‐technology systems holds out the promise of resolving many of those uncertainties. We survey and assess the intrinsic links between production (as conceptualized in a production function), factor substitution (as made most explicit in Constant Elasticity of Substitution functions) and normalization (defined by the fixing of baseline values for relevant variables). First, we recall how the normalized Constant Elasticity of Substitution function came into existence and what normalization implies for its formal properties. Then we deal with the key role of normalization in recent advances in the theory of business cycles and of economic growth. Next, we discuss the benefits normalization brings for empirical estimation and empirical growth research. Finally, we identify promising areas of future research.     

Reconceptualizing the effects of lean on production costs with evidence from the F-22 program

A central tenet in the theory of lean production is that the implementation of lean practices will reduce waste and thereby decrease costs. However, not all lean implementations have produced such results. Apparently, this effect is moderated by several factors, potentially even to the point of reversal. It is important to increase our understanding of how this might occur. In this paper, we explore how novelty, complexity, instability, and buffering affect the relationship between lean implementation and production costs. An interest in these factors drew us to study the case of Lockheed Martin's production system for the F-22, an extremely complex and innovative product. To build theory, we synthesize our empirical data from the case with other existing theory, such as theories of learning and complexity. Through this analysis, we develop a revised framework that reconceptualizes the effect of lean on production costs and use it to develop 11 propositions to direct further research. Included among these are propositions about how the timing, scale, and extent of lean implementation can regulate the benefits of lean. Furthermore, when the objective of lean is construed as the provision of value, we propose that this value is an emergent property of a complex process, different from the mere sum of the values provided by its constituent tasks. Therefore, the elimination of tasks will not guarantee cost reduction, and lean may provide even greater value by incorporating some aspects of agile manufacturing. Overall, we develop a fuller range of the effects of lean practices on production costs and illuminate how operations managers might control key variables to draw greater benefits from lean implementation.     

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF MARKET STRUCTURES

The concept of market structure is at the heart of economic theory. Yet the construct has been largely neglected in marketing. Part of the reason is that it has never been effectively operationalized. In examining the implications of market structure empirical researchers have tended to use single indices for an essentially multidimensional construct. Here we show how markets can be classified objectively using the three key dimensions of structure: market concentration, product differentiation and barriers to entry. The methodology proposed should provide a more reliable base for research into strategic and competitive implications of marketing structure. The purpose of this paper is to develop an operational measure of market structure. The concept of market structure is important both in marketing and economics. Yet empirical work has produced disappointing results.¹Both economists and managers have stressed the need for new definitions and measures if useful generalizations are to be developed and the concept is to provide a valuable basis for government regulation over market competition.     

Supply chain integration and operational performance: The contingency effects of production systems

The boundary conditions of supply chain integration (SCI) have been widely studied in order to find out when SCI is applicable and effective. However, prior studies have mainly focused on external contextual factors, such as supply complexity, environmental uncertainty and country-level infrastructure. This study contributes to the SCI literature by examining the contingency effects of internal production systems on the relationship between supplier integration, customer integration and operational performance. Based on organizational information processing theory, we provide evidence to show that the impact of supplier and customer integration on operational performance varies across production systems, such as one-of-a-kind production, batch production and mass production systems. The empirical results also reveal how supplier and customer integration can be matched with different configurations of production systems in order to achieve the desired quality, flexibility, delivery or cost performance.     

Executive perceptions of adopting an environmental certification program

Environmental certification is playing an increasingly important role in the strategies of many businesses. This is due in large part to consumer demand for environmentally friendly products. Little is known, however, about why executives adopt environmental certification for a product or process, or how they view the benefits and challenges of certification. This paper seeks to advance our knowledge in this area by exploring executives' perceptions of benefits and challenges associated with adopting an environmental certification program. We surveyed executives in the kitchen cabinet industry about a second party certification scheme initiated for producers in that industry. Results suggest that perceptions of the benefits and challenges of environmental certification differ significantly based on whether the company had or had not adopted the certification scheme in question. The paper considers the implications for companies considering adopting environmental certification as well as for organizations providing certification schemes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Social dumping and relocation: is there a case for imposing a social clause?

Public opinion in Europe seems worried about the relocation of production plants toward low wage countries often accused of practicing ‘social dumping’. To reduce the incentives for relocation trade unions proposed the adoption of ‘social clauses’ protecting domestic markets from commodities produced in countries where minimal labor condition are not met. We analyze the effects of the adoption of a social clause in a vertically differentiated Bertrand duopoly. We assess how such a policy affects firms’ relocation decisions in order to be able to assess its welfare implications. We also characterize the optimal social clause policy, both under domestic welfare maximization, and from an efficiency point of view. While we show that a social clause policy cannot be dismissed on domestic (or world) welfare grounds, its case is weaker the higher is the domestic wage and the lower is the foreign wage.     

Social Context,Management, and Organizational Performance: When human capital and social capital serve as substitutes

Do internal (administrative human capital) and external (social capital) resources work to reinforce the effects of each other? Work from multiple disciplines has approached this question, and we advance this literature with a theory of social and administrative resources as potential substitutes for each other in the production of public education outcomes. We argue that social capital benefits some groups more than others and that it interacts with management to improve performance. We therefore expect the benefits associated with social capital to be non-uniform across community groups. Using education as our area of study, we find that social capital offers the most direct and unconditional benefits to white students but that management can use human capital resources to compensate disadvantaged students who may lack support and resources outside of the classroom. We do not find support for the expectation that social capital and human administrative capital reinforce the benefits of each other, but we find evidence that the two resource types are substitutable. This implies that management may substitute human capital resources when social capital is low to benefit public program performance.     

The Site of Diversalizing: The Accomplishment of Inclusion in Intergenerational Dance

In this study, we aim to revisit theorizing on inclusion by turning to practice theory. Challenging the individualist ontological assumption of most diversity and inclusion studies, we follow a practice-based theory of diversity to understand how an inclusive social order is accomplished. Our empirical case centres on the real-time practicing of a dance production where diversity was central to its production process as well as final performance. Using a research strategy of connected situationalism, we uncover and document three practices: mixing, inverting and affirming, that are recursively intertwined into a nexus, producing inclusion. We advance the inclusion literature by proposing the notion ‘a site of diversalizing’ that processually captures the accomplishment of multiplicity through practices and their associations in time and space, highlighting the necessity to understand ‘practice’ as the entanglement of bodily, discursive and material components, and approaching context as comprised of mutually constituting relations instead of micro/macro levels.     

Seasonal exponential smoothing with damped trends : An application for production planning

This paper reviews a spreadsheet-based forecasting approach which a process industry manufacturer developed and implemented to link annual corporate forecasts with its manufacturing/distribution operations. First, we consider how this forecasting system supports overall production planning and why it must be compatible with corporate forecasts. We then review the results of substantial testing of variations on the Winters three-parameter exponential smoothing model on 28 actual product family time series. In particular, we evaluate whether the use of damping parameters improves forecast accuracy. The paper concludes that a Winters four-parameter model (i.e. the standard Winters three-parameter model augmented by a fourth parameter to damp the trend) provides the most accurate forecasts of the models evaluated. Our application confirms the fact that there are situations where the use of damped trend parameters in short-run exponential smoothing based forecasting models is beneficial.     

新李嘉图模型:古典定律的当代复兴与拓展构想

新李嘉图模型研究的兴起推动了生产率核心范式重返比较优势问题讨论的视野。然而,当代生产率承载比较优势的新机理,却受到非完全竞争因素和要素禀赋结构异质性及动态化的双重影响。本文一方面探讨开发完全竞争假设改变后新李嘉图模型构造的新古典化处理的技术路径,改进基于产品品种考虑的生产率测度方法;另一方面,鉴于经典的C-D生产函数及其衍生模型难以准确反映开放经济中要素禀赋结构异质性及动态化的现实,借助对Uzawa两部门模型的讨论,建立用来表达要素密集性异质分布和动态变化的影响参数,设定面向经典生产函数的一阶约束条件,首次实现Rybczynski效应的可计算模型化及其同经典生产函数的整合。     

产品市场竞争强度对公司现金股利分配的影响

作为一种外部治理机制,产品市场竞争的强度对公司现金股利分配具有显著的影响。本文所建立的理论模型表明,两者的关系呈倒U形：在产品市场竞争强度达到某一临界值之前,现金股利分配倾向随之提高;但是,在该临界点之后,现金股利分配倾向随之降低。采用迭代主因子法构建了一个合成变量来度量产品市场竞争强度,针对中国上市公司样本数据的实证检验支持了理论分析的结论。     

面向精益生产模式的过程控制分析

文中运用最先进的精益生产方式中有关生产过程方面的理论、方法和技术,对几个典型的问题做了全面、细致、深入的分析,并形成生产过程方法体系,以期制造企业能够在充分利用现有条件的基础上,合理配置各生产要素,全面改善生产过程,实现提高生产效率、降低生产成本和保证产品质量的目标。     

A review of research on personality in teams: Accounting for pathways spanning levels of theory and analysis

Over the last half century there has been a great deal of interest in the role of personality in teams. In this article we review the theoretical and empirical research on this topic to summarize what we have learned and also to provide a foundation for future research necessary for application of this knowledge to human resource management decisions. We describe research that emphasizes both team- and individual-levels of analysis and theory, and we discuss recent efforts that attempt to bridge these two levels. We conclude by identifying several issues that should take precedence in research in order to advance our understanding of the role of personality in teams.     

Product Differentiation and the Location of International Production

We analyze how product differentiation influences firms' choice between exporting and foreign direct investment. When product specifications are determined endogenously, we show that there is no symmetric solution to the product specification subgame. The cost disadvantage of an exporting firm translates into a disadvantage in product specification. Overseas production is favored if this allows the investing firm to adopt a more aggressive product specification. Our analysis suggests an ambiguous relationship among location, product differentiation, and cost and demand functions, confirmed by the existence of a parameter range for which there is no pure strategy equilibrium in location choice.     

Optimal order display in limit order markets with liquidity competition

Order display is associated with benefits and costs. Benefits arise from increased execution-priority, while costs are due to adverse market impact. We analyze a structural model of optimal order placement that captures trade-off between the costs and benefits of order display. For a benchmark model of pure liquidity competition, we give a closed-form solution for optimal display sizes. We show that competition in liquidity supply incentivizes the use of hidden orders to prevent losses due to over-bidding. Thus, because aggressive liquidity competition is more prevalent in liquid stocks, our model predicts that the proportion of hidden liquidity is higher in liquid markets. Our theoretical considerations ares supported by an empirical analysis using high-frequency order-message data from NASDAQ. We find that there are no benefits in hiding orders in il-liquid stocks, whereas the performance gains can be significant in liquid stocks.     

The Impact of Activity-Based Costing on Managerial Decisions at Insteel Industries—A Field Study

In this field-based study, we interview top- and middle-level managers at Insteel Industries and conduct statistical analysis of firm-level data in order to shed light on whether activity-based costing (ABC) provides new information to managers and whether activity-based management (ABM) significantly influences product and customer-related decisions. We find that after the ABC analysis, Insteel undertook a number of process improvements that resulted in significant cost savings. Additionally, Insteel displayed a higher propensity to discontinue or increase prices of products and discontinue customers that were found comparatively unprofitable in the ABC study. Thus we provide empirical evidence that ABC influences both strategic and operational managerial decisions.     

The environmental challenge

We now come to the ultimate question of whether we should be optimistic or pessimistic about our environmental future, and indeed our survival. If we believe human beings to be rational and thus ultimately acting in their own self-interest, there is no reason to believe that the environmental challenges confronting us as individuals and as a society are not resolvable in a manner that allows both economic development and a reasonable quality of life for human beings. Indeed, we see, at least in the developed world, recognition of the magnitude of the problems that we face and movements toward solutions. Yet our nemesis is time. Irretrievable seconds are ticking away as we struggle against ignorance and economic self-interest. Our concern must be not whether we will act, but whether we will act in time to forestall environmental catastrophe for our civilization. The ultimate solution to our environmental problems must come from a fundamental change in the self-serving psychology that produced the tragedy of the commons. Self-interest must be sublimated not only to the greater needs of society, but to the needs of our posterity. The tragedy of the commons can only be avoided if our time horizon shifts from the short- to long-term. In addition, there must be a shift in values from obsession with economic development to concern for the quality of human life. These shifts dictate that in the future our economic, political, and social system must be built upon a foundation of "sustainable" growth. This means that "industries (and nations, for that matter) cannot thrive if they sacrifice future quality of life for present economic gain. In the long run, the principles of economic growth and environmental quality reinforce each other." How do we make this esoteric speculation relevant to our job each day as materiel managers in health care delivery organizations? We can do this by first understanding the problems that we confront and how we are a part of these problems. Next, we must assume a leadership role in confronting and resolving these problems. This means being an advocate for the environment and championing initiatives within the institution to resolve problems and advance environmental responsibility. Finally, we must remember that every day, with each purchase order we issue, we vote for or against the environment.     

垄断市场中双寡头企业的市场行为研究\n——从产品纵向差异的角度分析

从产品纵向差异的角度分析了垄断市场中双寡头企业的短期市场行为和长期市场行为.具体来说,从短期的角度出发,将产品质量视为外生变量,研究高质量企业和低质量企业的定价策略和利润状况,并对均衡结果进行比较静态分析.研究结果表明,两个企业都有提高或降低各自产品质量的动机,这取决于双方现有的质量水平.从长期的角度出发,将产品质量视为内生变量,研究企业的质量与价格决策.研究结果表明,产品质量存在唯一均衡,但均衡质量并没有表现出较大的差异化,而是表现出较小的差异化.此外,无论从短期还是长期的角度来看,企业都不存在高质量优势,而仅存在低质量优势.