Improving the quality of corporate technical planning: dynamic analogues of QFD

This paper proposes a forecasting methodology based on a combination of QFD and S-curve analysis, In process industries there is a need to strengthen the linkages between process attributes, product attributes, and customer requirements. Industry planning processes accept the relationship between technological positioning, project portfolios, and market life cycles, but specific methods are seldom discussed.
QFD(Quality Function Deployment) can be used to translate customer requirements into product specifications and in turn to specify the process capabilities required to meet those customer requirements. The paper recommends that managements use analogues of QFD adapted to the need for dynamic changes in process capability.
This approach would focus on the interaction between key variables of customer requirements and the technological capabilities of the firm and its competitors, at present and in the future. Historical industry-wide capabilities would be projected through S-curve analysis, while customer requirements can be related to these capabilities through information from QFD studies focused on future customer requirements. Because of their potential complexity, these analyses should deal with only a very limited number of interacting attributes and special care should be given to the management of their implementation.     

What it takes to implement and maintain successful supplier-managed inventory programs

Besieged by global competition and rapid technology changes, manufacturers subsequently have increased pressures on their suppliers to deliver product in less than traditional lead-times. In order to accomplish this goal, the proper selection of suppliers and inventory management programs is paramount. This article will focus on the selection of suppliers, what it takes to make the programs successful, and the most popular types of supplier-managed inventory programs in today's high-technology marketplace.     

The business risk audit – A longitudinal case study of an audit engagement

This study examines the impact of the Business Risk Audit (BRA), a development in audit methodology implemented in the late 1990s, on actual audit practice and on practitioners. Evidence is presented through a longitudinal case study developed from a set of actual audit files over a five year period spanning the implementation of the BRA, together with interviews with audit team members. The study contributes to our understanding of the nature of the audit techniques underlying the BRA and the difficulties experienced in implementing them within the existing organizational structures. In addition, the study illuminates the potentially conflicting roles of audit methodology in its organizational context, both in mediating the complex relationship between the administrators and practitioners in the large accounting firms and as the knowledge management structure used to support delivery of the “audit product”.     

The market viability of European mass tourist destinations. A post-stagnation life-cycle analysis

First generation European mass tourist resorts, defined as those that developed in the north of the continent up to and including the first half of this century, have shown a variety of responses to impending decline within the post-stagnation phase of their life-cycle, much as predicted in the tourist area life-cycle (TALC) model. There have been winners and losers, as some destinations have diversified their local economies and others have accepted gradual contraction, whereas a select few have maintained a competitive edge through product investment and reorientation to new markets. For the second generation of European mass tourist resorts, those high density tourist areas that emerged in the Mediterranean in the 1960s, the evolutionary life-cycle has, to date, been of a much shorter duration. The period from exploration to stagnation has lasted a mere 30 years, sometimes less. The nature of these resorts, whereby rapid development has created a tourism monoculture, means that the onset of decline has far more dramatic implications to local economies when compared with first generation resorts. Unfortunately, although strategic planning initiatives are now (belatedly) being practised, it is likely that rejuvenation will only be short-lived due in most cases to the inherent structural weaknesses of these resorts. Their legacy is one of overdevelopment and environmental scarring, they rely too heavily on price as a marketing tool in an increasingly quality conscious market, and the powers of promotion and distribution remain largely in the hands of northern European mass consolidators (tour operators), with little commerical incentive for customer loyalty. This paper thus predicts a pessimistic post-stagnation scenario for most second generation Mediterranean mass market resorts. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trade Costs and Changes in Canada's Trade Pattern

This paper measures the size and composition of non‐tariff trade costs such as transport, wholesale, and network costs incurred in Canada's merchandise trade using Statistics Canada's latest ‘trade margins’ statistics. It examines how changes in these trade costs have influenced Canada's merchandise trade pattern and the course of economic integration. Our results show that as tariffs have been substantially reduced and largely abolished, costs associated with transport and distribution services now appear much larger than remaining customs duties; therefore, liberalisation in services might be the next key step in promoting greater merchandise trade. Further, reducing transport and other trade‐related costs has helped ‘reverse’ the ‘home market effect’, expanding Canada's domestic demand and production for exports of differentiated products.     

A driver focused truck crash prediction model

This paper advances a driver focused truck crash prediction model. The model investigates the contribution of driver factors on the number of state reportable crashes in which the driver was involved. The findings suggest that the following factors are significantly related to the likelihood of a crash occurrence: driver age, weight, height, gender, and employment stability as well as previous driver and vehicle violations and past crashes. The results have significance regarding the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration imperative to improve safety.