The manufacturing strategy formulation process: Linking multifunctional viewpoints

While there has been considerable research on the content of manufacturing strategy, there is a paucity of literature concerning the process of manufacturing strategy formulation [Ward, P.T., Brickford, D.J., Leong, G.K., 1996. Configuration of manufacturing strategy, business strategy, environment, and structure, J. Manage., 22(4) 597–626; Leong, G.K., Snyder, D.L., Ward, P.T., 1990. Research in the process and content of manufacturing strategy, Omega, 18(2) 109–122]. Many researchers have highlighted the need to overcome this deficiency by studying the process of developing manufacturing strategy [Adam, E.E., Swamidass, P.M., 1989. Assessing operations management from a strategic perspective, J. Manage., 15(2) 181–203; Anderson et al., 1989; Leong, G.K., Snyder, D.L., Ward, P.T., 1990. Research in the process and content of manufacturing strategy, Omega, 18(2) 109–122]. To effectively link the manufacturing strategy of a firm to the needs of the marketplace, critical competitive factors or order-winning criteria must be understood and agreed upon both by operations and marketing managers [Hill, T.J., 1983. Manufacturing's strategic role, J. Operational Res. Soc., 34(9) 853–860; Hill, T.J., 1994. Manufacturing Strategy—Text and Cases, 2nd edn., Irwin, Homewood, IL]. For this study, we created and examined a process of establishing a set of order-winning criteria for a consumer pharmaceuticals firm which involved the participation of sixteen managers from seven functional areas over four months. The foundation of the process was developed by Hill [Hill, T.J., 1989. Manufacturing Strategy—Text and Cases. Irwin, Homewood, IL; Hill, T.J., 1994. Manufacturing Strategy—Text and Cases, 2nd edn., Irwin, Homewood, IL], however it was soon evident that additional steps were required. The expanded process we developed both exposed significantly differing views among the managers and raised several questions with important managerial and research implications.     

机械制造过程中的质量控制策略探讨

文章分析了机械制造过程中进行质量控制的重要性,剖析了影响机械制造过程中机械质量的主要因素,并提出了机械制造过程中进行质量控制的方法与对策。     

Export strategy: : a dynamic capabilities perspective

It is argued here that traditional export strategy research (encompassing the study of internationalization processes and export performance) is characterized by weak theoretical foundations and could benefit from a reorientation towards a dynamic capabilities perspective (DCP). We seek to draw on insights from DCP in order to devise a theoretical basis that could enrich export strategy research. Although our development of DCP insights builds on previous work, it also adds a crucial distinction between knowledge stocks and informational architecture. Changes in architecture are of greater importance. Following this elaboration of the dynamic capabilities perspective, we outline some implications and guidelines for future export strategy research.     

A resource-based view of human resource management and organizational capabilities development

The aim of this research work was to analyse the role of human resource management in the development of organizational capabilities and its influence on the firm's performance from a resource-based view. Our results, from empirical research on a nation-wide sample of Spanish savings banks, suggest that human resource decisions, integrated in a human resource system, have an important influence on the development of organizational capabilities and on the firm's performance.     

Environmental considerations within manufacturing strategy: an international study

This paper examines the relative importance of environmental management in four key areas of manufacturing strategy: competitive priorities, action programmes, performance improvement and improvement goals. Its overall position in manufacturing strategy is measured through the creation of an original index using data from the 2001 International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS). Results show that in a minority of firms environmental management is positively positioned. The index's relationships with indicators of innovation and performance in manufacturing are examined. Some significant results include capabilities in the areas of strategy formalization, strategic fit and ISO14001 certification. While results are specific to the IMSS context, implications may be drawn for resource‐based view of the firm research on the application of resources and capabilities. An implication for policy makers is that the development of capabilities for strategy formalization and implementation should be incorporated into environmental policy. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

When knowledge management meets HR strategy: an exploration of personalization-retention and codification-recruitment configurations

The resource-based view and the knowledge-based view are important developments in strategic management theory, and ‘knowledge management’ has exploded in the popular management literature. There is, however, little empirical literature that explores the connections between firms' attempts at knowledge management and their HR strategies. In this paper, we focus particularly on links between knowledge management and staffing practices. High-technology manufacturing was selected as the site of our research, as high-technology firms rely on highly skilled employees to innovate and develop new products and are therefore an ideal environment for exploring the strategies employed for both managing knowledge, and recruiting and retaining employees. Drawing particularly on the work of Hansen et al. (1999 Hansen, M.T., Nohria, N. and Tierney, T. 1999. What's Your Strategy for Managing Knowledge?. Harvard Business Review, March–April:, : 106–16. [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), this paper identifies and explores two fits between knowledge management and HR strategy or what we call KM-HR configurations: ‘personalization-retention’ and ‘codification-recruitment’. We argue that there is no one way to manage knowledge and its links to HRM and build a simple framework of potential KM-HR configurations with propositions for future research.     

Exploring the circular economy paradigm: A natural resource-based view on supplier selection criteria

The paradigm of circular economy and the transfer of its principles to supply chain management has recently received much attention from researchers and practitioners. Limited natural resources, governmental legislation, and social responsibility for environmental preservation are the main factors for the development of circular supply chains. Especially in the automotive industry, critical materials are used to produce electric vehicles, reinforcing the importance of circularity for the industry. As the first stage of the supply chain, suppliers have a considerable influence on creating self-sufficient production systems, and in the automotive sector, a low level of vertical integration is important. Therefore, selecting suppliers is an enabler for circular supply chains, but this decision is a complex process due to multiple, partly conflicting criteria. To contribute to the knowledge in this research area, this study applies a fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory approach for supplier selection in a circular supply chain in a case study of electric vehicles. First, a set of criteria for supplier selection in circular supply chains was identified based on a literature review and was systematically categorized based on the natural resource-based view. Afterward, the criteria were assessed and refined by experts with a strong procurement background in the automotive industry. Second, the experts were interviewed for value collection, and finally, the mutual influence of the criteria was determined. The results show that the most important criteria for circular supplier selection in electric vehicle supply chains are environmental standards, environmental-related certifications, resource consumption, and waste generation. Regarding the natural resource-based view, short-term focused criteria addressing the capability of pollution prevention have a higher importance compared to long-term criteria that drive sustainable development. In addition, this study classifies the criteria into the categories of causes and effects, discusses the prominence of the criteria, and presents a strategic map showing the mutual influences of the criteria. The results contribute to the theoretical and practical discussion on circular supply chains by identifying the key criteria for circular supplier selection and providing decision-making support for procurement managers.     

Organizational interfaces and innovation: The challenge of integrating supplier knowledge in LEGO systems

Suppliers have become increasingly important as partners in firms' innovation efforts. Reaping potential collaboration benefits is complex due to challenges in combining internal and external knowledge. The paper explores how various types of organizational interfaces between buyer and supplier create both opportunities and problems for their joint actions. The paper is based on a longitudinal case study of attempts to develop an innovative packaging solution for the toy manufacturer LEGO systems. The study shows that buying firms need to carefully analyse what form of organizational interface access to prioritize since each type offers its specific possibilities and drawbacks. Furthermore, the feasibility of organizational interfaces may change over time due to mutual organizational learning.     

Market priorities, manufacturing configuration, and business performance: an empirical analysis of the order-winners framework

This study carries out an empirical test of the order-winners framework in manufacturing organizations. Hill [Hill, T., 1985. Manufacturing Strategy: The Strategic Management of the Manufacturing Function, first ed. Macmillan, Basingstoke; Hill, T., 2000. Manufacturing Strategy: Text and Cases, second ed. Palgrave, Basingstoke] proposed the order-winners framework to help managers to improve understanding about markets and to develop a consistent manufacturing strategy. The framework defines ideal profiles of products and markets, and manufacturing and investment decisions that relate to alternative process choices. The study tests the hypothesis of a negative relationship between misfit to an ideal profile defined in the framework and business performance in domestic market share, return on sales, and return on investment in a survey of 183 manufacturers from 17 countries. Results found a significant negative relationship between misfit and domestic market share. The study contributes to operations management research by developing a methodology to measure fit as profile deviation in the context of manufacturing, and applying this methodology to the order-winners framework.     

Technological proximity and the choice of cooperation partner

This paper provides empirical tests of hypotheses of cooperative behavior provided by evolutionary approaches in the resource-based view of the firm. The influences of “technological proximity”, individual incentives to cooperate and managerial tools to the choice of research partner are analyzed. Using German patent data we can show the positive influence of those three determinants. The results of this paper confirm theories dealing with the path-dependency of research activities.      

Radical innovations in new product development and their financial performance implications: An event study of US manufacturing firms

At the dawn of the 21st century, global competition continues to increase at an accelerating rate and radical innovation is recognized as a potent weapon for firms to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. Academics, practitioners and consultants share the view that radical innovation is important to the long-term financial success of firms. Nevertheless, empirical studies on the relationship between radical innovation and firm performance have been dominated by survey research, which provided little concrete evidence on the financial impact of radical innovation. In this study we traced the financial performance of publicly traded manufacturing firms in the United States that introduced radical innovations over the period 1986-2000 and examined whether radical innovation could lead to superior financial performance in these firms. We employed the event-study method, matching each sample firm with a control group of firms in the same industry with similar pre-event performance and firm size. Our results show that while radical innovation helps firms maintain sales growth and return on sales (ROS), firm profitability in terms of return on assets (ROA) is not significantly improved. In fact, manufacturers suffer from a decline in profitability upon the introduction of radical innovations in new product development.     

A Process Perspective on Organizational Failure: A Qualitative Meta‐Analysis

An important stream of the organizational failure literature has proposed process models to describe how firms fail. Despite much progress, this stream is currently at a crossroads. Previous process models try to capture how failure unfolds in singular models that describe organizational failure as the result of either inertia or extremism or as a mixture of both. However, it remains unclear how these competing explanations are related and what underlying mechanisms explain why organizational failure processes unfold as they do. We address these issues by examining failure processes using a qualitative meta‐analysis research design. The qualitative meta‐analysis allows us to analyse and synthesize the wealth of previously published single‐case studies in order to develop process models of organizational failure. The most salient finding of our analysis is that failure processes converge around four distinct process archetypes, which we name imperialist, laggard, villain, and politicized. Each process archetype can be explained by the interplay of distinct rigidity and conflict mechanisms. Differentiating the four process archetypes and explaining the underlying mechanisms helps to resolve some contradictions in the previous failure process literature.     

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.     

Internal labour flexibility from a resource-based view approach: definition and proposal of a measurement scale

The dynamic nature of current competitive environments has motivated managers to identify sources of flexibility based on the organisation's human resources. In this regard, internal labour flexibility emerges as a valid strategy to counteract environmental changes, based on the adaptability of the organisation's current workforce to face non-routine circumstances and events that require creativity and initiative. However, despite recent interest in the notion of internal labour flexibility, there is no commonly accepted definition of this term. Currently, there are several competing definitions of the construct, along with a variety of operationalisations. Some integration of these approaches is needed to ensure that our knowledge of internal labour flexibility grows cumulatively. In this study, we have sought to address some of these limitations by theoretically conceptualising and empirically validating a scale to measure internal labour flexibility from the resource-based view (RBV). The application of structural equation modelling to a sample of 226 Spanish firms confirmed the suggested dimensionality of the internal labour flexibility scale, which distinguishes between employees' intrinsic flexibility, skill malleability, behavioural malleability and relational flexibility. Tests of reliability and validity confirmed the appropriateness of this measurement scale.     

Organizational sponsorship and service co-development: A contingency view on service co-development directiveness of business incubators

We address the lack of studies focusing on internal organizational sponsorship mechanisms, while considering environmental influencers and focus on a specific type of organizational sponsorship to do so: Business incubators. We argue that to be able to offer a customized incubatee-strengthening service pack, incubator-incubatee interaction is key, requiring clear-cut and directive service co-development instructions, which is our focal construct. To better understand the functioning of this focal construct, we adopt a contingency approach to examine how the incubator's human capital, and the institutional environment impact the incubator's service co-development directiveness. A quantitative empirical study reveals that both human capital and an entrepreneurially-minded regulative and cognitive institutional environment allow an incubator to be directive, thereby laying a foundation for co-development of customized service offerings. Moreover, the incubator's human capital turns out to further stimulate the positive effects of an entrepreneurially-minded regulative environment. All in all, we find that both internal organizational and external institutional elements are pivotal for first-best implementation of the internal sponsorship mechanism ‘service co-development directiveness’.     

The difference a manager can make: organizational justice and knowledge worker commitment

The quality of the employment relationship is argued to be central to knowledge workers' commitment, which in turn supports knowledge creation. Given the high levels of discretion enjoyed by knowledge workers, managers' decisions over work distribution, content and resources become more critical for commitment and knowledge creation. However, little research has explored how justice perceptions shape the quality of the employment relationship and the consequences for commitment. Using a sample of 429 R&D workers from across six science and technology-based firms this paper explores the three-way interaction of procedural and interactional justice with the psychological contract to predict knowledge worker commitment. We found that when employees simultaneously perceived high levels of procedural and interactional justice this moderated the relationship between psychological contract breach and knowledge worker commitment. Furthermore, where there was contract breach, positive perceptions of procedural justice moderated the relationship with commitment. However, in the context of contract fulfilment, low perceived levels of interactional justice predicted lower comparative levels of commitment, regardless of the level of procedural justice.

The results suggest that the perceived quality of the relationship between knowledge workers and their manager can make a positive difference in the context of breach of the psychological contract and this in turn can help maintain levels of commitment important for knowledge creation.     

TMT conflict,organizational structure,and entrepreneurial orientation: An attention-based view

Drawing on the attention-based view, this study investigates the linkage of top management team (TMT) conflict to entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and the moderating effect of organizational structure in terms of formalization and centralization on the linkage. It finds that TMT cognitive conflict is positively related to EO, while affective conflict is negatively related to it. Furthermore, formalization positively moderates the linkage of TMT cognitive conflict to EO, while negatively moderates the negative linkage of TMT affective conflict to EO. Moreover, centralization does not significantly moderate the linkage of either TMT cognitive or affective conflict to EO. This study enriches our knowledge of the antecedents of EO, improves our understanding of the value of TMT conflict by distinguishing between TMT cognitive conflict and affective conflict, and introduces a novel insight—the attention-based view—to elaborate the TMT conflict-EO linkage.     

Evaluating the transformation of China's resource-based cities: An integrated sequential weight and TOPSIS approach

The transformation and development is an inevitable problem for resource-based cities (RBCs). In the process of transformation, cities in various cities, regions, resource types and development stages are having shown commonality and uniqueness. However, little work has been done on the horizontal comparison between RBCs. This paper evaluates the transformation level of 81 RBCs in China from 2006 to 2017 and investigates the transformation effect of cities in different regions, different dominant resources and different development stages. The comprehensive index system incorporating economy, society and environment is established by using the improved TOPSIS method. The results indicate that the transformation effects of most RBCs are between 0.400 and 0.800. Generally speaking, the transformation effects of four economic regions are on the rise, especially in the western region, with an increase of 17.626% from 2006 to 2015. The transformation effect of RBCs in the eastern region is the highest, while that in the northeast is the worst. Regeneration cities’ transformation effect is the best, reaching more than 0.70 in 2017. The transformation effect of growth cities is the worst, but the growth rate is the highest from 2006 to 2015. There is a rising trend of the transformation effects for oil-based cities and coal-based cities, while the transformation effects of iron-oriented cities and rare earth-oriented cities are not obvious.     

Green innovation and knowledge: The role of size

This paper reports research on relationship between firm's knowledge sourcing strategy and green innovation. The data are taken from Spanish Technological Innovation Panel survey during 2007–2011. The study contributed to the literature by focusing on the moderating role of firm size on the relationship between knowledge sources and green innovations. Results from over 5,000 firms indicate a shift in the focus from internal knowledge to external knowledge when developing green innovations as firms grow in size. Despite benefits from broad knowledge search on green innovations, the relationship has an inverted U shape. The diminishing returns of knowledge breadth on green innovations are present for smaller firms and disappearing as firms get larger. Government policies promoting more coordination and knowledge complementarity between private and public sector will help to influence more knowledge transfer, ensuring a more sustainable and green economy.