Cost management and value creation: the missing link

Understanding of the relationship between the costs of the firm and the value the firm provides to its customers is the key to the ability of the firm to reach its profit potential. From this perspective the firm needs to have a thorough understanding of its activities, their costs and their relation to market prices. Advanced cost management studies and practices suggest a variety of different tools that help us understand the relationship between value and cost. However, most of these studies provide us with qualitative tools only. An exception is studies related to product cost planning, as in the case of target costing or value analysis/value engineering. This paper, while being a part of emerging literature on strategic cost management, extends the existing knowledge of the relationship between costs and value by introducing the value creation model (VCM). In particular, the VCM model defines the firms' cost structure in terms of value added, non-value added but required activities, as well as of waste. A firm's cost structure is aligned with value attributes embedded in products and services. The VCM model seeks to understand the trade-off between what the customer is willing to pay for a product/service bundle (value) and the cost the firm bears to provide what the customer desires. Based on these trade-offs, VCM defines value multipliers, which help the firm determine which activities the firm should focus on in order to develop a competitive advantage.     

Materiel management: a clinical experience.

It is easy to understand why unit managers are eager to embrace a comprehensive approach to materiel management. The system allows for the professionals from the purchasing, supply, and distribution areas to meet and work with the managers of individual departments and units. Recognizable outcomes of this system are improved staff satisfaction because of standardized products; improved nursing competency secondary to product familiarization, and improved quality of patient care because area managers have more time to devote to their individual unit functions. The serendipitous benefit is that areas and personnel within a hospital that were once diverse in goals and functions may now develop positive working relationships around the hospital's prime goal of quality patient care, a marketable commodity.     

The underlying potential of supply management in value creation

This study discusses the value-creation potential of supply management in firms, highlighting the significance of buyer–supplier collaboration, as well as resources and capabilities in the process. It is a conceptual study that builds on the theoretical basis of the resource-based view and the value net approach. Given the critical role of supply management in generating value the strategic emphasis in future should be on triple value creation. It is concluded that this cannot be achieved by focusing only on dyadic relationships or relationships in chains, and that supply relations should be viewed in a wider network context.     

Understanding the main drivers of value creation in an open innovation program

Innovation has been identified as the single most relevant element in fuelling corporations’ competitive advantage and ultimate value creation. Corporations no longer rely on a single, linear structure of innovation; the new paradigm of open innovation opens up new possibilities of organizing innovation within the ecosystem, thus giving rise to new drivers for value creation. These value drivers have an impact on the strategic position of the firm and have the ability to create superior financial performance. In this paper we explore the close relationship between open innovation and value creation and propose a framework to analyze this process as well as the most critical elements involved.     

Materiel management and nursing: partnership planning.

An integrated materiel management system should not be developed by any one department; rather it should be a collaborative effort and partnership using the expertise available in both user and supplier areas. The keys to developing a sound system are accurate data collection, careful assessment of needs, establishment of realistic objectives, refinement of systems, and active promotion of the program throughout nursing.     

The use of management texts: Hammer's reengineering

The widespread citation of management texts in academic journals implies that they are a significant influence on the diffusion and implementation of management concepts. This article applies a neo-institutional analysis to the use of two widely cited management texts in the diffusion of a management fashion: Reengineering Work (Harv. Bus. Rev. 68 (1990) 104) and Reengineering the Corporation (Reengineering the Corporation: a Manifesto for Business Revolution, HarperCollins, New York, 1993). It is seen that these texts do not prescribe a methodology for reengineering, but instead of being a weakness this “hollow core” creates a space for actors to reinterpret the concept while drawing on its symbolic force. The texts are kept in circulation by the need of academics to cite foundational texts and the symbolic value of foundational texts to legitimise management practices. The texts of Hammer have joined those of Proust, Joyce and Shakespeare in the canon of books that are regarded as significant, but that people do not feel the need to read.     

以管理创新打造创新型企业

随着市场经济的深入发展,国际化进程的加快,企业面临的竞争压力加大,随着民营经济的发展,洛铜老大的地位已不复存在,以技术力量雄厚、引领国内技术发展方向自居的局面也随着民营企业大力开展技术创新活动的发展,发生着深刻变化,文章通过对洛铜技术创新管理的分析,阐述了一些技术创新管理的方法,提出以管理创新来推动技术创新发展的理念。     

Materiel management and internal audit: a team approach

Materiel management and internal audit share common objectives--the promotion of organization efficiency, the prevention of fraud and abuse, and an interest in the creation of and adherence to policies and procedures. By working together, these two departments can help each other meet their objectives and, in the process, better serve their institution.