Green operations initiatives in the automotive industry:an environmental reports analysis and benchmarking study

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on investigating and benchmarking green operations initiatives in the automotive industry documented in the environmental reports of selected companies. The investigation roadmaps the main environmental initiatives taken by the world's three major car manufacturers and benchmarks them against each other. The categorisation of green operations initiatives that is provided in the paper can also help companies in other sectors to evaluate their green practices. Design/methodology/approach: The first part of the paper is based on existing literature on the topic of green and sustainable operations and the "unsustainable" context of automotive production. The second part relates to the roadmap and benchmarking of green operations initiatives based on an analysis of secondary data from the automotive industry. Findings: The findings show that the world's three major car manufacturers are pursuing various environmental initiatives involving the following green operations practices: green buildings, eco-design, green supply chains, green manufacturing, reverse logistics and innovation. Research limitations/implications: The limitations of this paper start from its selection of the companies, which was made using production volume and country of origin as the principal criteria. There is ample evidence that other, smaller, companies are pursuing more sophisticated and original environmental initiatives. Also, there might be a gap between what companies say they do in their environmental reports and what they actually do. Practical implications: This paper helps practitioners in the automotive industry to benchmark themselves against the major volume manufacturers in three different continents. Practitioners from other industries will also find it valuable to discover how the automotive industry is pursuing environmental initiatives beyond manufacturing, apart from the green operations practices covering broadly all the activities of operations function. Originality/value: The originality of the paper is in its up-to-date analysis of environmental reports of automotive companies. The paper offers value for researchers and practitioners due to its contribution to the green operations literature. For instance, the inclusion of green buildings as part of green operations practices has so far been neglected by most researchers and authors in the field of green and sustainable operations. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Surviving the global economic crisis in the automotive industry through sustainable supplier management

This chapter looks at how the current global economic crisis has impacted upon the global automotive industry from an operations and supply chain perspective. It presents an empirical and theoretical background to help long and short term planning for organisations experiencing adverse trading conditions. The empirical research study (conducted between 2004-07 primarily in Germany) revealed that organisations are able to make short term improvements to performance by reducing costs and making process and structural improvements, but in the long term the deeper rooted causes of the industry can in part only be dealt with by improving interfirm R&D collaborations based upon competencies rather than cost related issues. A new approach known as Collaborative Enterprise Governance is presented which supports the design and management of competitive sustainable enterprises; it consists of a data capture tool, a body of knowledge and a dynamic reference grid to show how many part-to-part company relationships can exist simultaneously to make up productprocess focused enterprises. Examples from the German automotive industry are given, impact upon the overall product development lifecycle and the implications for organisational strategists are discussed. © 2010 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sustainable supplier management in the automotive industry:leading the 3rd revolution through collaboration

The omnipresent global economic crisis has had a particularly dramatic effect on the global automotive industry. It has increased the need for a 3rd revolution and the move towards mass-collaboration between all industrial players that may ultimately lead to a governance model based on partnership-focused collaborative relationships. The first two revolutions were led by the US and Japan respectively, but we propose that this time, the European automotive industry will lead the way in the 3rd revolution. This new book provides an operations and supply chain management perspective while focusing on the issue of sustainable supplier management. © 2010 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Green innovation management in the automotive industry

Online case studies. Managing Innovation is an established, bestselling text for MBA, MSc and advanced undergraduate courses on management of technology, innovation management and entrepreneurship. It is also used widely by managers in both the service and manufacturing sectors. Now in its fourth edition, Managing Innovation has been fully revised and updated based on extensive user feedback to incorporate the latest findings and techniques in innovation management. The authors have included a new and more explicit innovation model, which is used throughout the book and have introduced two new features – Research Notes and Views from the Front Line – to incorporate more real life case material into the book. The strong evidence–based and practical approach makes this a must–read for anyone studying or working within innovation. An extensive website accompanies this text at www.managing–innovation.com. Readers can browse an online database of audio and video clips, as well as case study material, interactive exercises and tools for innovation, whilst lecturers can find additional support material including instructor slides and teaching guides and tips. "Tidd and Bessant's text has become a standard for students and practitioners of innovation. They offer a lively account on innovation management full of interesting and new examples, but one that at the same is rigorously anchored in what we have learned over the last thirty years on how to manage that ultimate business challenge of renewing products, processes, and business models. Those who want to innovate must read this book." — Professor Arnoud De Meyer, Director, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK "Innovation matters and this book by two leaders in the field which is clear and practical as well as rigorous should be essential reading for all seeking to study or to become involved in innovation." — Chris Voss, Professor of Operations and Technology Management, London Business School "...comprehensive and comprehensible compendium on the management of innovation. It is very well organized and very well presented. A pedagogic tool that will work at multiple levels for those wishing to gain deeper insights into some of the most challenging and important management issues of the day." — David J. Teece, Thomas W. Tusher Professor in Global Business, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, USA "Those of us who teach in the field of Innovation Management were delighted when the first edition of this book appeared 11 years ago. The field had long been in need of such a comprehensive and integrated empirically–based work. The fact that this is now the 4th edition is clear testimony to the value of its contribution. We are deeply indebted to the authors for their dedication and diligence in providing us with this updated and expanded volume." — Thomas J. Allen,Howard W. Johnson Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management, USA.

Modularity and industrial complexes:perspectives for green operations in the automotive industry

This paper discusses the possible contributions from modularity and industrial condominiums towards enhancing environmental performance in the automotive industry. The research described in this study is underpinned by a review of journal articles and books on the topics of: modularity of production systems; green operations practices, and the automotive industry and sustainability. The methodology is based on theoretical analysis of the contribution of the modular production system characteristics used in the automotive industry for Green Operations Practices (GOP). The following GOPs were considered: green buildings, eco design, green supply chains, greener manufacturing, and reverse logistics. The results are theoretical in nature; however, due to the small number of studies that investigate the relationship between modularity and sustainability, this work is relevant to increase knowledge in academic circles and among practitioners in order to understand the possible environmental benefits from modular production systems.

Changing policies for the automotive industry in an 'old' industrial region:an open innovation model for the UK West Midlands?

Automobile manufacture in the UK West Midlands peaked during the 1950s and early 1960s but, with overseas competition, declined thereafter. Successive policies, such as government supported mergers to form the British Motor Corporation in the 1950s, green-field development away from the region in the 1960s, nationalisation of the (then) British Leyland in the 1970s, Japanese FDI in the 1980s and the Rover-centric Accelerate Project in the 1990s have failed to halt the decline. Since early 2000, regional policy has been the responsibility of the Regional Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands. The RDA has moved away from traditional support based on the needs of big companies or ‘champions’ and adopted an approach centred on a mix of small and large businesses and high level research, and – arguably – an ‘open innovation’ model. Here, we examine these new policies and their potential to create an innovative and competitive regional environment.

Japanese by design:an analysis of the UK automotive industry

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Challenges and opportunities for reverse logistics initiatives in the automotive industry

This paper investigates the main strategies automotive companies adopt to address the issue of dealing with end-of-life vehicles and spare parts. Furthermore, it investigates the reasons behind take-back strategies, i.e how and why automotive companies undertake initiatives in reverse logistics. The research findings indicate that companies are trying to respond to the end-of-life legislation based on cost-effective approaches as well as corporate environmental responsibility. Outsourcing is used when expertise is found to extract value from scrap and there is cooperation with suppliers and vendors to facilitate the dismantling of cars and recycling of parts.

Manufacturing reshoring and its limits:the UK automotive case

This paper explores the meaning of reshoring and its drivers in the case of UK manufacturing and in particular its automotive sector. Drawing on interviews, policy reviews and a range of recent surveys, the paper finds that while reshoring is a discernable trend in UK manufacturing, it is less pronounced than many have claimed and that – in the UK case at least - there are severe limits as to how far this reshoring trend can go, particularly in relation to the availability of skills and finance in the supply chain. This is in turn raises questions over the stance of British policy and whether more could be done, with comparisons made to US experience.

Phoenix industries and open innovation? The Midlands advanced automotive manufacturing and engineering industry

This paper explores the links between open innovation and the emergence of a ‘phoenix industry’ centred on the UK’s traditional automotive heartland, the West Midlands, which has developed a significant presence in automotive design and engineering, particularly among small and niche firms. Drawing on case study research, the paper investigates whether this can be considered as a phoenix industry, and to what extent open innovation has been important in the industry’s development. The paper considers relationships between firms and impacts in terms of changing economic and labour market conditions. The paper concludes by examining the role that public policy has played to date and might play in the future in supporting an emerging phoenix industry with open innovation features.

The Knowledge in Automotive Field Representation with Modern Technologies

Modern technologies have changed the way of presenting information in archives. This makes it possible to introduce new services, which was unimaginable a few years ago. Digitalization, security and virtual presentation of objects in the sphere of motoring by application of technologies, based on knowledge about how to create digital resources is the theme of this project. The aim of AutoKnow project is to carry out a research and create a multi- media digital archive AutoKnow and Experimental Virtual Motor Laboratory (EVML) with Motor Library (ML) from digital multi-media patterns from a selected group of objects in the sphere of automobile technology, presented by NMU. This makes it possible to widely apply multi-media collections in automobile engineering, teaching, research work in that sphere and serve the interests of a large number of auto-amateurs as well in Bulgaria. The research and development of АutoKnow is in the following mutually related fields: - Creation and annotation of collections of objects in the sphere of automobiles; - Creation, analysis and security of a digital archive AutoKnow; - Design and creation of Digital Motor Library; - Socially-oriented applications in education, scientific studies and Experimental Virtual Motor Laboratory; - Informational System for teaching and testing of knowledge in the sphere of automobiles MindCheck.

A roadmap for cost engineering in the automotive supplier sector

The advent of global competition has introduced the need for new competitive manufacturing strategies. The implementation of new strategies has a dramatic effect on measuring product cost compared to traditional management accounting methods. It is found that new cost management methods are required to measure success and support decision-making within the new strategies. One example is the consequences of using traditional management accounting methods for measuring the effects of lean having catastrophic results during reporting. Such results steer managers away from lean manufacture based upon a false picture of the potential benefits. This research examines cost management methods potentially applicable within the automotive supplier sector. Because of the lack of cost-related data collected within the supplier sector companies, this paper ends with a demonstration of a novel method for use in data scarce environments. Copyright © 2008 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Is keiretsu really a source of competitive advantage for Japanese automotive suppliers?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine how firms create and sustain competitive advantage in the inter-firm business relationships from a supplier's perspective. It also investigates what factors affect their competitiveness and relationship between buyers and suppliers. Design/methodology/approach - This is an exploratory study on keiretsu partnerships composed of four main phases: analysis of theoretical perspectives, construction of a conceptual framework, interview of a CEO, and finally, a survey questionnaire with Japanese automotive suppliers. Findings - As a result, this paper classified these 11 companies into four supplier groups (affiliated or independent Tier 1 suppliers; affiliated or independent Tier 2 suppliers) and analysed their competitiveness developing the research propositions further. The benefits of affiliation under a keiretsu partnership are discussed, showing that there may be little benefit in being an affiliated Tier 1 supplier. Even more critical, the results show that independent Tier 2 supplier may be more competitive than affiliated tier ones. Originality/value - These intriguing results reveal an urgent need of investigating Japanese automotive supply chains from the suppliers' perspectives in the future research. This paper extended the literatures on competitive advantage and business relationships at both theory and managerial practice.

Practice based learning for automotive engineering design students

The automotive industry combines a multitude of professionals to develop a modern car successfully. Within the design and development teams the collaboration and interface between Engineers and Designers is critical to ensure design intent is communicated and maintained throughout the development process. This study highlights recent industry practice with the emergence of Concept Engineers in design teams at Jaguar Land Rover Automotive group. The role of the Concept Engineer emphasises the importance of the Engineering and Design/Styling interface with the Concept engineer able to interact and understand the challenges and specific languages of each specialist area, hence improving efficiency and communication within the design team. Automotive education tends to approach design from two distinct directions, that of engineering design through BSc courses or a more styling design approach through BA and BDes routes. The educational challenge for both types of course is to develop engineers and stylist's who have greater understanding and experience of each other's specialist perspective of design and development. The study gives examples of two such courses in the UK who are developing programmes to help students widen their understanding of the engineering and design spectrum. Initial results suggest the practical approach has been well received by students and encouraged by industry as they seek graduates with specialist knowledge but also a wider appreciation of their role within the design process.