Enhanced process verification through re-engineering the manufacturing procedure

In today’s modern manufacturing industry there is an increasing need to improve internal processes to meet diverse client needs. Process re-engineering is an important activity that is well understood by industry but its rate of application within small to medium size enterprises (SME) is less developed. Business pressures shift the focus of SMEs toward winning new projects and contracts rather than developing long-term, sustainable manufacturing processes. Variations in manufacturing processes are inevitable, but the amount of non-conformity often exceeds the acceptable levels. This paper is focused on the re-engineering of the manufacturing and verification procedure for discrete parts production with the aim of enhancing process control and product verification. The ideologies of the ‘Push’ and ‘Pull’ approaches to manufacturing are useful in the context of process re-engineering for data improvement. Currently information is pulled from the market and prominent customers, and manufacturing companies always try to make the right product, by following customer procedures that attempt to verify against specifications. This approach can result in significant quality control challenges. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of process re-engineering in product verification in SMEs. Leadership, culture, ownership and process management are among the main attributes required for the successful deployment of process re-engineering. This paper presents the findings from a case study showcasing the application of a modified re-engingeering method for the manufacturing and verification process. The findings from the case study indicate there are several advantages to implementing the re-engineering method outlined in this paper.

Salespersons as internal knowledge brokers and new products selling:discovering the link to genetic makeup

Managers increasingly realize the importance of involving the sales force in new product development. However, despite recent progress, research on the specific role of the sales force in product innovation-related activities remains scarce. In particular, the importance of a salespersons’ internal knowledge brokering has been neglected. This study develops and empirically validates the concept of internal knowledge brokering behavior and its effect on selling new products and developing new business, and explores whether a salesperson’s internal brokering qualities are determined by biological traits. The findings reveal that salespeople with the DRD2 A1 gene variant engage at significant lower levels of internal knowledge-brokering behavior than salespeople without this gene variant, and as a result are less likely to engage effectively in new product selling. The DRD4 gene variant had no effect on internal knowledge brokering. Management and future research implications are discussed.

A framework for enabling dynamic e-business strategies via new enterprise paradigms and ERP solutions

In the global Internet economy, e-business as a driving force to redefine business models and operational processes is posing new challenges for traditional organizational structures and information system (IS) architectures. These are showing promises of a renewed period of innovative thinking in e-business strategies with new enterprise paradigms and different Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. In this chapter, the authors consider and investigate how dynamic e-business strategies, as the next evolutionary generation of e-business, can be realized through newly diverse enterprise structures supported by ERP, ERPII and so-called "ERPIII" solutions relying on the virtual value chain concept. Exploratory inductive multi-case studies in manufacturing and printing industries have been conducted. Additionally, it proposes a conceptual framework to discuss the adoption and governance of ERP systems within the context of three enterprise forms for enabling dynamic and collaborative e-business strategies, and particularly demonstrate how an enterprise can dynamically migrate from its current position to the patterns it desires to occupy in the future - a migration that must and will include dynamic e-business as a core competency, but that also relies heavily on ERP-based backbone and other robust technological platform and applications.

Web designers, social e-value creation and e-business planning:understanding resistance from conflicting demands

This chapter investigates the conflicting demands faced by web designers in the development of social e-atmospherics that aim to encourage e-value creation, thus strengthening and prolonging market planning strategies. While recent studies have shown that significant shifts are occurring concerning the importance of users’ generated content by way of social e-communication tools (e.g. blogs), these trends are also creating expectations that social and cultural cues ought to become a greater part of e-atmospherics and e-business strategies. Yet, there is growing evidence that organizations are resisting such efforts, fearing that they will lose control of their e-marketing strategy. This chapter contributes to the theory and literature on online cross-cultural understanding and the impact website designers (meso-level) can have on improving the sustainability of e-business planning, departing from recent studies that focus mainly on firms’ e-business plans (macro-level) or final consumers (micro-level). A second contribution is made with respect to online behavior regarding the advancement of technologies that facilitate the development and shaping of new social e-atmospherics that affect users’ behavior and long term e-business strategies through the avoidance of traditional, formal decision making processes and marketing strategy mechanisms implemented by firms. These issues have been highlighted in the literature on the co-production and co-creation of value, which few organizations have thus far integrated in their strategic and pragmatic e-business plans. Drawing upon fifteen online interviews with web designers in the USA, as key non-institutional actors at the meso-level who are developing what future websites will be like, this chapter analyzes ways in which identifying points of resistance and conflicting demands can lead to engagement with the debate over the online co-creation of value and more sustainable future e-business planning. A number of points of resistance to the inclusion of more e-social atmospherics are identified, and the implications for web designers’ roles and web design planning are discussed along with the limitations of the study and potential future research for e-business studies.

Dynamic capabilities for CSR management:towards identifying common processes

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to address the question whether and how firms can follow a standard management process to cope with emerging corporate social responsibility (CSR) challenges? Both researchers and practitioners have paid increasing attention to the question because of the rapidly evolving CSR expectations of stakeholders and the limited diffusion of CSR standardization. The question was addressed by developing a theoretical framework to explain how dynamic capabilities can contribute to effective CSR management. Design/methodology/approach – Based on 64 world-leading companies’ contemporary CSR reports, we carried out a large-scale content analysis to identify and examine the common organizational processes involved in CSR management and the dynamic capabilities underpinning those management processes. Findings – Drawing on the dynamic capabilities perspective, we demonstrate how the deployment of three dynamic capabilities for CSR management, namely, scanning, sensing and reconfiguration capabilities can help firms to meet emerging CSR requirements by following a set of common management processes. The findings demonstrate that what is more important in CSR standardization is the identification and development of the underlying dynamic capabilities and the related organizational processes and routines, rather than the detailed operational activities. Originality/value - Our study is an early attempt to examine the fundamental organizational capabilities and processes involved in CSR management from the dynamic capabilities perspective. Our research findings contribute to CSR standardization literature by providing a new theoretical perspective to better understand the capabilities enabling common CSR management processes.

Servitization: academic research and business practice

En los últimos años, la servitización de la manufactura ha llegado a ser un tópico de interés tanto a nivel académico como empresarial. Así, las empresas están contemplando que la servitización es una forma de mejorar su posición competitiva y estar más cerca de sus clientes. Diferentes estudios empíricos han intentado explicar por qué y cómo se servitiza. Facilitan información clave para entender mejor el proceso de servitización. La conexión entre la academia y la práctica empresarial es decisiva en los fundamentos de este tópico de investigación. La fundamentación del mismo, permitirá continuar con su desarrollo y a la puesta en práctica en las empresas. Así, este número especial pretende contribuir en el avance de la teoría y práctica de la servitización. In recent years, the servitization of manufacturing has become a topic of interest to both academics and practitioners. Indeed, companies are realising that servitization is a way to enhance their competitive advantage and get closer to their customers. Several empirical studies have attempted to explain why and how to servitize. They provide important insights to better understand the processes of servitization. The connection between academia and business practices is decisive in the foundation of this research topic. This foundation will allow continuing with its development, contributing in turn to improve the implementation in companies. Hence, this special issue aims to contribute to the theoretical and practical aspects of servitization.

Internal communication and prosocial service behaviors of front-line employees:investigating mediating mechanisms

This paper contributes to the prosocial service behavior (PSB) literature by developing and testing a conceptual framework to investigate the mediating mechanisms underlying the relationships between internal communication and PSBs. Data collected from front-line employees (FLEs) in a UK based service organization was used to test our conceptual framework. Our findings demonstrate that FLE perceptions of internal communication practices influence their role stress and organizational commitment, which, in turn, influence their PSBs. The results highlight the significance of studying role stress and organizational commitment as mediators in the relationship between internal communication and PSBs. The limitations of the study are then sketched, and suggestions for future research are also provided.

Understanding and improving the manufacturing and changeover process in Saudi Arabian business - a multiple case study approach

The importance of the changeover process in the manufacturing industry is becoming widely recognised. Changeover is a complete process of changing between the manufacture of one product to manufacture of an alternative product until specified production and quality rates are reached. The initiatives to improve changeover exist in industry, as better changeover process typically contribute to improved quality performance. A high-quality and reliable changeover process can be achieved through implementation of continuous or radical improvements. This research examines the changeover process of Saudi Arabian manufacturing firms because Saudi Arabia’s government is focused on the expansion of GDP and increasing the number of export manufacturing firms. Furthermore, it is encouraging foreign manufacturing firms to invest within Saudi Arabia. These initiatives, therefore, require that Saudi manufacturing businesses develop the changeover practice in order to compete in the market and achieve the government’s objectives. Therefore, the aim of this research is to discover the current status of changeover process implementation in Saudi Arabian manufacturing businesses. To achieve this aim, the main objective of this research is to develop a conceptual model to understand and examine the effectiveness of the changeover process within Saudi Arabian manufacturing firms, facilitating identification of those activities that affect the reliability and high-quality of the process. In order to provide a comprehensive understanding of this area, this research first explores the concept of quality management and its relationship to firm performance and the performance of manufacturing changeover. An extensive body of literature was reviewed on the subject of lean manufacturing and changeover practice. A research conceptual model was identified based on this review, and focus was on providing high-quality and reliable manufacturing changeover processes during set-up in a dynamic environment. Exploratory research was conducted in sample Saudi manufacturing firms to understand the features of the changeover process within the manufacturing sector, and as a basis for modifying the proposed conceptual model. Qualitative research was employed in the study with semi-structured interviews, direct observations and documentation in order to understand the real situation such as actual daily practice and current status of changeover process in the field. The research instrument, the Changeover Effectiveness Assessment Tool (CEAT) was developed to evaluate changeover practices. A pilot study was conducted by examining the CEAT, proposed for the main research. Consequently, the conceptual model was modified and CEAT was improved in response to the pilot study findings. Case studies have been conducted within eight Saudi manufacturing businesses. These case studies assessed the implementation of manufacturing changeover practice in the lighting and medical products sectors. These two sectors were selected based on their operation strategy which was batch production as well as the fact that they fulfilled the research sampling strategy. The outcomes of the research improved the conceptual model, ultimately to facilitate the firms’ adoption and rapid implementation of a high-quality and reliability changeover during the set-up process. The main finding of this research is that Quality’s factors were considering the lowest levels comparing to the other factors which are People, Process and Infrastructure. This research contributes to enable Saudi businesses to implement the changeover process by adopting the conceptual model. In addition, the guidelines for facilitating implementation were provided in this thesis. Therefore, this research provides insight to enable the Saudi manufacturing industry to be more responsive to rapidly changing customer demands.

Relationship fading in business-to-consumer context

The objective of this thesis is to develop a better understanding of the relationship fading phenomenon in business-to-consumer context. Fading relates to a gradual decline in consumer’s willingness to continue a relationship with a company. Therefore, understanding the fading process may help to elucidate the ‘unexplained’ relationship dissolution and customer defection. Led by an assumption that a relationship between a consumer and a brand is like the one between individuals, the thesis proposes that the trajectory of relationship fading reflects the disaffection processes similar to the ones suggested in marital and romantic relationships between individuals. The approach taken to answering this research question is a multi-study approach. This type of approach allows addressing each individual research question independently, using the most appropriate research methods. As a result, the thesis comprises three adjacent studies. All three studies are linked and together contribute to a better understanding of the relationship fading process, which is the main topic of the thesis. Based on the results from the first study, a set of boundary conditions of relationship fading is identified. The results of the second study suggest that predictors of relationship fading stage can be uncovered. Thirdly, different restoration techniques are explored, aiming to describe their effectiveness in various relationship fading stages. Individual objectives of the three studies are accomplished. All three studies contribute to achieving the overall objective of the thesis, namely to developing a better understanding of the phenomenon of relationship fading.