Is more capability always beneficial for firm performance? Market orientation, core business process capabilities, and business environment

This study examines the role of capabilities in core marketing-related business processes–product development management (PDM), supply chain management (SCM) and customer relationship management (CRM)–in translating a firm’s market orientation (MO) into firm performance. The study is the first to examine the interplay of all three business process capabilities simultaneously, while investigating how environmental conditions moderate their performance effects. A moderated mediation analysis of 468 product-focused firms finds that PDM and CRM process capabilities play important mediating roles, whereas SCM process capability does not mediate the relationship between MO and performance. However, the relative importance of the capabilities as mediators varies along the degree of environmental turbulence, and under certain conditions, an increase in the level of business process capability may even turn detrimental.

Economical analysis for investment on measuring systems

Metrology processes contribute to entire manufacturing systems that can have a considerable impact on financial investment in coordinate measuring systems. However, there is a lack of generic methodologies to quantify their economical value in today’s industry. To solve this problem, a mathematical model is proposed in this paper by statistical deductive reasoning. This is done through defining the relationships between Process Capability Index, measurement uncertainty and tolerance band. The correctness of the mathematical model is proved by a case study. Finally, several comments and suggestions on evaluating and maximizing the benefits of metrology investment are given.

Evaluation of options for energy recovery from municipal solid waste in India using the hierarchical analytical network process

In this paper a Hierarchical Analytical Network Process (HANP) model is demonstrated for evaluating alternative technologies for generating electricity from MSW in India. The technological alternatives and evaluation criteria for the HANP study are characterised by reviewing the literature and consulting experts in the field of waste management. Technologies reviewed in the context of India include landfill, anaerobic digestion, incineration, pelletisation and gasification. To investigate the sensitivity of the result, we examine variations in expert opinions and carry out an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis for comparison. We find that anaerobic digestion is the preferred technology for generating electricity from MSW in India. Gasification is indicated as the preferred technology in an AHP model due to the exclusion of criteria dependencies and in an HANP analysis when placing a high priority on net output and retention time. We conclude that HANP successfully provides a structured framework for recommending which technologies to pursue in India, and the adoption of such tools is critical at a time when key investments in infrastructure are being made. Therefore the presented methodology is thought to have a wider potential for investors, policy makers, researchers and plant developers in India and elsewhere. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Manufacturing process challenges when machining superalloys

The implementation of advanced manufacturing systems with high process capability is an essential requirement for the high value manufacturing industries. To ensure high process capability, industry needs to deal with the requirement for tight tolerances and the unavoidable variations in materials, and manufacturing and inspection processes. In the case of machining superalloys, such variations result in the need to change the machine parameters for producing different batches of materials from different suppliers. This is required in order to get the process under control and reduce waste and defects, leading to better competitiveness. This papers discuss the variability in materials and the corresponding process requirements when machining superalloys, and highlights the impact of metrology in achieving manufacturing process improvement.

Guest editorial:special issue on digitial enterprise technology

Full text This Proceedings volume contains selected papers from the Fourth International CIRP-sponsored, Conference on Digital Enterprise Technology (DET2007), which was held at the University of Bath, UK, 19–21 September 2007. All selected papers have been suitably enhanced for publication in the Journal and have undergone full review. Digital enterprise technology (DET) is ‘the collection of systems and methods for the digital modelling and analysis of the global product development and realization process, in the context of lifecycle management.’ The principal aim of the DET concept is to provide a coherent context for the development and integration of the various digital technologies that underpin modern design and manufacturing. These technologies can be classified according to the following five key areas. 1. Distributed and collaborative design. 2. Process modelling and process planning. 3. Advanced factory design and modelling. 4. Physical-to-digital environment integrators–verification. 5. Enterprise integration technologies. This special issue is representative of the wide breadth of the DET concept including; a comprehensive review of digital engineering, design processes, digital modelling of machine tools, forming, robotics and machining processes, verification and metrology, and dynamic networks. It is particularly pleasing to see the development of metrology as a key aspect of modern manufacturing technology, linking design intent to process capability. The papers published herein will facilitate the exploration of new and evolving research concepts by the international research community and will influence the development of international standards for the application of DET technologies.

Chemical and physical characterization of clay bodies

Suitable methods for the assessment of the effect of freeze-thaw action upon ceramic tiles have been determined. The results obtained have been shown to be reproducible with some work in this area still warranted. The analysis of Whichford Potteries clays via a variety of analytical techniques has shown them to be a complex mix of both clay and non-clay minerals. 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy has highlighted the presence of both small and large particleα-Fe203, removable via acid washing. 19F MAS NMR has demonstrated that the raw Whichford Pottery clays examined have negligible fluorine content. This is unlikely to be detrimental to ceramic wares during the heating process. A unique technique was used for the identification of fluorine in solid-state systems. The exchange of various cations into Wyoming Bentonite clay by microwave methodology did not show the appearance of five co-ordinate aluminium when examined by 27Al MAS NMR. The appearance of Qo silicate was linked to an increase in the amount of tetrahedrally bound aluminium in the silicate framework. This is formed as a result of the heating process. The analysis of two Chinese clays and two Chinese clay raw materials has highlighted a possible link between the two. These have also been shown to be a mix of both clay and non-clay minerals. Layered double hydroxides formed by conventional and microwave methods exhibited interesting characteristics. The main differences between the samples examined were not found to be solely attributable to the differences between microwave and conventional methods but more attributable to different experimental conditions used.

Strategic positioning of manufacturing operations within global supply chains

In global environment, a company has to make many decisions that impact upon its position in global supply chain networks such as outsourcing, offshoring, joint venture, vertical/horizontal integration, etc. All these decisions impact on the company’s strategic position, and hence on competitive space and performance. Therefore, it is important for a company to carefully manage strategic positioning by making careful decisions about the adoption of alternative manufacturing and supply chain activities. Unfortunately, there is no complete process studied in strategic positioning of manufacturing operations within global supply chain. Therefore, the work presented in this paper has investigated leading research and industrial practices to create a formal and rational decision process. An analysis of previous literature, industrial practices, and the resulting decision process are all presented in this paper.

How do public private partnerships influence business school performance in English-speaking Caribbean?

This thesis addresses the question of how business schoolsestablished as public privatepartnerships (PPPs) within a regional university in the English-speaking Caribbean survived for over twenty-one years and achieved legitimacy in their environment. The aim of the study was to examine how public and private sector actors contributed to the evolution of the PPPs. A social network perspective provided a broad relational focus from which to explore the phenomenon and engage disciplinary and middle-rangetheories to develop explanations. Legitimacy theory provided an appropriate performance dimension from which to assess PPP success. An embedded multiple-case research design, with three case sites analysed at three levels including the country and university environment, the PPP as a firm and the subgroup level constituted the methodological framing of the research process. The analysis techniques included four methods but relied primarily on discourse and social network analysis of interview data from 40 respondents across the three sites. A staged analysis of the evolution of the firm provided the ‘time and effects’ antecedents which formed the basis for sense-making to arrive at explanations of the public-private relationship-influenced change. A conceptual model guided the study and explanations from the cross-case analysis were used to refine the process model and develop a dynamic framework and set of theoretical propositions that would underpin explanations of PPP success and legitimacy in matched contexts through analytical generalisation. The study found that PPP success was based on different models of collaboration and partner resource contribution that arose from a confluence of variables including the development of shared purpose, private voluntary control in corporate governance mechanisms and boundary spanning leadership. The study contributes a contextual theory that explains how PPPs work and a research agenda of ‘corporate governance as inspiration’ from a sociological perspective of ‘liquid modernity’. Recommendations for policy and management practice were developed.

Non-English-speaking defendants in the magistrates court:a comparative study of face-to-face and prison video link interpreter-mediated hearings in England

This study compares interpreter-mediated face-to-face Magistrates Court hearings with those conducted through prison video link in which interpreters are located in court and non- English-speaking defendants in prison. It seeks to examine the impact that the presence of video link has on court actors in terms of interaction and behaviour. The data comprises 11 audio-recordings of face-to-face hearings, 10 recordings of prison video link hearings, semistructured interviews with 27 court actors, and ethnographic observation of hearings as viewed by defendants in Wormwood Scrubs prison in London. The over-arching theme is the pervasive influence of the ecology of the courtroom upon all court actors in interpretermediated hearings and thus on the communication process. Close analysis of the court transcripts shows that their relative proximity to one another can be a determinant of status, interpreting role, mode and volume. The very few legal protocols which apply to interpretermediated cases (acknowledging and ratifying the interpreter, for example), are often forgotten or dispensed with. Court interpreters lack proper training in the specific challenges of court interpreting, whether they are co-present with the defendant or not. Other court actors often misunderstand the interpreter’s role. This has probably come about because courts have adjusted their perceptions of what they think interpreters are supposed to do based on their own experiences of working with them, and have gradually come to accept poor practice (the inability to perform simultaneous interpreting, for example) as the norm. In video link courts, mismatches of sound and image due to court clerks’ failure to adequately track current speakers, poor image and sound quality and the fact that non-English-speaking defendants in pre-and post-court consultations can see and hear interpreters but not their defence advocates are just some of the additional layers of disadvantage and confusion already suffered by non- English-speaking defendants. These factors make it less likely that justice will be done.

The importance of power dynamics in the development of asynchronous online learning communities

This research explored how a more student-directed learning design can support the creation of togetherness and belonging in a community of distance learners in formal higher education. Postgraduate students in a New Zealand School of Education experienced two different learning tasks as part of their online distance learning studies. The tasks centered around two online asynchronous discussions each for the same period of time and with the same group of students, but following two different learning design principles. All messages were analyzed using a twostep analysis process, content analysis and social network analysis. Although the findings showed a balance of power between the tutor and the students in the first high e-moderated activity, a better pattern of group interaction and community feeling was found in the low e-moderated activity. The paper will discuss the findings in terms of the implications for learning design and the role of the tutor.

Microsegregation in nodular cast iron and its effect on mechanical properties

A review of the literature pertaining to the mechanical properties, solidification and segregation effects in nodular cast iron has been made. A series of investigations concerning the influence of microsegregation on mechanical properties of :pearlitic, ferritic and austenitic nodular cast iron have then been reported. The influence of section size on the tensile and impact properties of cornmercial purity and refined ferritic nodular cast iron has been studied. It has been shown. that an increase in section caused a decrease in impact transition temperature of the commercial purity material without greatly affecting the impact transition temperature of the purer material. This effect has been related to increased amounts of segregation effects such as cell boundary carbides in heavier sections of the commercial purity material. Microsegregation studies on the materials used in this thesis have been carried out using an electron probe microanalyser. This technique has shown that concentrations of chromium and manganese and depletions of nickel and silicon occurred at eutectic cell boundaries in nodular cast iron and were often associated with brittle carbides in these areas. These effects have been shown to be more prevalent in heavier sections. The nature of segregation during the solidification of nodular cast iron has been studied by quenching samples of nodular iron during the solidification process. Micro-analysis of such samples has shown that segregation of manganese and chromium occurs by a gradual build-up of these elements at the solid/liquid interface. The microstructures of the quenched specimens revealed carbide filaments connecting graphite nodules and areas of quenched liquid. These filaments have been used as evidence for a revised hypothesis for the solidification of nodular cast iron by a liquid diffusion mechanism. A similar series of experiments has been carried out on two high nickel austenitic irons containing 0.5 per cent manganese and 4 per cent manganese respectively. In both these materials a decrease in elongation was experienced with increasing section. This effect was more drastic in the 4 per cent manganese material which also contained much greater amounts of cell boundary carbide in heavy sections. Micro-analysis of samples of the 4 per cent manganese material quenched during solidification revealed that manganese concentrated in the liquid and that nickel concentrated in the solid during solidification. No segregation of silicon occurred in this material. Carbide filaments appeared in the microstructures of these specimens. A discussion of all the above effects in terms of current concepts is included.

Reflecting on time, timing and timeliness in public sector supply networks

Despite recent research on time (e.g. Hedaa & Törnroos, 2001), consideration of the time dimension in data collection, analysis and interpretation in research in supply networks is, to date, still limited. Drawing on a body of literature from organization studies, and empirical findings from a six-year action research programme and a related study of network learning, we reflect on time, timing and timeliness in interorganizational networks. The empirical setting is supply networks in the English health sector wherein we identify and elaborate various issues of time, within the case and in terms of research process. Our analysis is wide-ranging and multi-level, from the global (e.g. identifying the notion of life cycles) to the particular (e.g. different cycle times in supply, such as daily for deliveries and yearly for contracts). We discuss the ‘speeding up’ of inter-organizational ‘e’ time and tensions with other time demands. In closing the paper, we relate our conclusions to the future conduct of the research programme and supply research more generally, and to the practice of managing supply (in) networks.

Tsunami disaster recovery experience:a case study on micro, small and medium scale enterprises in Southern Sri Lanka

Post-disaster recovery of Micro, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) remains an issue of interest for policy and practice given the wide scale occurrences of natural disasters around the globe and their significant impacts on local economies and SMEs. Asian Tsunami of December 2004 affected many SMEs in southern Sri Lanka. The study was developed to identify the main issues encountered by the Tsunami affected SMEs in Southern Sri Lanka in the process of their post-tsunami recovery. The study: a) identifies tsunami damage and loss in micro and SMEs in the Galle district; b) ascertains the type of benefits received from various parties by the affected micro and SMEs; c) evaluates the problems and difficulties faced by the beneficiary organizations in the benefit distribution process; and d) recommends strategies and policies for the tsunami-affected micro and SMEs for them to become self-sustaining within a reasonable time frame. Fifty randomly selected tsunami-affected micro and SMEs were surveyed for this study. Interviews were conducted in person with the business owners in order to identify the damages, recovery, rehabilitation, re-establishment and difficulties faced in the benefit distribution process. The analysis identifies that the benefits were given the wrong priorities and that they were not sufficient for the recovery process. In addition, the many governance-related problems that arose while distributing benefits are discussed. Overall, the business recovery rate was approximately 65%, and approximately 88% of business organizations were sole proprietorships. Therefore, the policies of the tsunami relief agencies should adequately address the needs of sole proprietorship business requirements. Consideration should also be given to strengthen the capacity and skills of the entrepreneurs by improving operational, technological, management and marketing skills and capabilities.

A new paradigm in large-scale assembly-research priorities in measurement assisted assembly

This paper presents for the first time the concept of measurement assisted assembly (MAA) and outlines the research priorities of the realisation of this concept in the industry. MAA denotes a paradigm shift in assembly for high value and complex products and encompasses the development and use of novel metrology processes for the holistic integration and capability enhancement of key assembly and ancillary processes. A complete framework for MAA is detailed showing how this can facilitate a step change in assembly process capability and efficiency for large and complex products, such as airframes, where traditional assembly processes exhibit the requirement for rectification and rework, use inflexible tooling and are largely manual, resulting in cost and cycle time pressures. The concept of MAA encompasses a range of innovativemeasurement- assisted processes which enable rapid partto- part assembly, increased use of flexible automation, traceable quality assurance and control, reduced structure weight and improved levels of precision across the dimensional scales. A full scale industrial trial of MAA technologies has been carried out on an experimental aircraft wing demonstrating the viability of the approach while studies within 140 smaller companies have highlighted the need for better adoption of existing process capability and quality control standards. The identified research priorities for MAA include the development of both frameless and tooling embedded automated metrology networks. Other research priorities relate to the development of integrated dimensional variation management, thermal compensation algorithms as well as measurement planning and inspection of algorithms linking design to measurement and process planning. © Springer-Verlag London 2013.

Implementation of a machine tool performance measurement and diagnostic system and its impact on parts verification

Five axis machine tools are increasing and becoming more popular as customers demand more complex machined parts. In high value manufacturing, the importance of machine tools in producing high accuracy products is essential. High accuracy manufacturing requires producing parts in a repeatable manner and precision in compliance to the defined design specifications. The performance of the machine tools is often affected by geometrical errors due to a variety of causes including incorrect tool offsets, errors in the centres of rotation and thermal growth. As a consequence, it can be difficult to produce highly accurate parts consistently. It is, therefore, essential to ensure that machine tools are verified in terms of their geometric and positioning accuracy. When machine tools are verified in terms of their accuracy, the resulting numerical values of positional accuracy and process capability can be used to define design for verification rules and algorithms so that machined parts can be easily produced without scrap and little or no after process measurement. In this paper the benefits of machine tool verification are listed and a case study is used to demonstrate the implementation of robust machine tool performance measurement and diagnostics using a ballbar system.