Operations management

Operations management deals with the management of the creation of goods and the delivery of services to the customer. It plays an essential role in the success of any organization. In this book, Andrew Greasley provides a clear and accessible introduction to this important area of study, focusing on all key areas of operations in both manufacturing and service industries. Operations Management, Second Edition covers the main areas of operations strategy, the design of the operations system and the management of operations over time. Yet, its concise nature of the text means students are not overwhelmed by the amount of material presented. This new edition also features: New content in such areas such as the quality gap model, enterprise systems and business process management. Expanded case studies, to include more global and European cases and longer cases at the end of each chapter. Greater clarity in chapter material organization. Worked Examples providing a step–by–step guide to the procedure to solve quantitative problems. Visual redesign in full colour. More support material for students and lecturers, including an interactive WileyPLUS course. All lecturers can access supporting resources on the companion website at www.wiley.com/college/greasley including an Instructor’s Manual with suggested solutions for all case study questions and end of chapter exercises, a Test Bank and PowerPoint slides for each chapter. Students will find multiple–choice test quizzes, web–links and an online glossary. Operations Management is essential reading for all students studying operations management, whether on undergraduate, postgraduate or continuing professional development courses.

Gender and feminine Identities - women as managers in a UK academic institution

The paper considers gender identities in higher education. It examines how people involved in university life engage in (re)creating gender identities and in (re)producing gender-related expectations (and stereotypes) of managerial behaviour. The process of construction of feminine identities is explored through the discourses of academics from a UK university (mainly women who hold managerial positions). The paper reports findings from a series of in-depth interviews with women managers (dean, associate deans and heads of departments) and with university academics (men and women) from a Business School, part of a large British new university. The school was of special interest because women held the majority of senior managerial posts. It appears that the process of construction of femininities is mainly developed around four (stereo-)typical aspects generally associated with feminine management practices (multi-tasking, supporting and nurturing, people and communication skills, and team-work).

The management of stress amongst professional carers within a social services department

This thesis considers four broad areas:(i) ANALYSIS OF THE STRESS FIELD.(a) research studies, relevant to the British Social Services considering the cultural setting, and the rigor with which they were conducted; (b) models of stress, specifically examining the theoretical soundness and practical application of the Medical, Engineering and Transactional models;(c) organisational models of stress relating specifically to human service organisations.(ii) QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES.(a) the appropriate application of each respective methodology and the particular usefulness of qualitative research designs; (b) the relevance of understanding the language and terminology associated with the subject area prior to the implementation of survey methods; (iii) FIELDWORK.(a) Phase 1. By use of focus groups, in-depth interviews and diary keeping amongst a small range of teams and managers, the Researcher develops a basic conceptual framework of stress within a Social Services context. In addition a small scale personality inventory was administered to participants.(b) Phase 2. This consisted of three key elements: 6 case studies in which the Researcher implements and appraises the impact of a range of intervention strategies designed to assist teams and their managers in dealing more effectively with stress; the administration of a large scale survey to all the field social work teams within the Social Services Department; an analysis of the user role within the stress process by way of two focus groups.(iv) THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT.

International human resource management

Over the last two decades, international human resource management (IHRM) has evolved into an important field of research, teaching and practice. Until recently the focus of IHRM was on how to best manage human resources (HRs) in the multinational enterprise; however, IHRM has now evolved to incorporate two more perspectives, cross-cultural HRM and comparative HRM. Significant developments are taking place in the corporate world which have serious implications for IHRM. These include globalization, increasing foreign direct investments into emerging markets, growing intensity of cross-border alliances, growth of multinationals from emerging markets (such as China and India), increasing movement of people around the globe and an increasing trend in business process outsourcing to new economies. This emerging global economic scenario is creating immense opportunities for IHRM students and researchers. International Human Resource Management brings together articles which highlight the historical evolution of IHRM, discuss the contemporary issues and make projections for further developments in the field. The articles have been selected and arranged into sections in a way to help the reader better understand the developments in the field from different perspectives.

An analysis of the role of soft systems methodology in the change process and the contribution of the facilitator within this process

This research aims to examine the effectiveness of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) to enable systemic change within local goverment and local NHS environments and to examine the role of the facilitator within this process. Checkland's Mode 2 variant of Soft Systems Methodology was applied on an experimental basis in two environments, Herefordshire Health Authority and Sand well Health Authority. The Herefordshire application used SSM in the design of an Integrated Care Pathway for stroke patients. In Sandwell, SSM was deployed to assist in the design of an Infonnation Management and Technology (IM&T) Strategy for the boundary-spanning Sandwell Partnership. Both of these environments were experiencing significant organisational change as the experiments unfurled. The explicit objectives of the research were: To examine the evolution and development of SSM and to contribute to its further development. To apply the Soft Systems Methodology to change processes within the NHS. To evaluate the potential role of SSM in this wider process of change. To assess the role of the researcher as a facilitator within this process. To develop a critical framework through which the impact of SSM on change might be understood and assessed. In developing these objectives, it became apparent that there was a gap in knowledge relating to SSM. This gap concerns the evaluation of the role of the approach in the change process. The case studies highlighted issues in stakeholder selection and management; the communicative assumptions in SSM; the ambiguous role of the facilitator; and the impact of highly politicised problem environments on the effectiveness of the methodology in the process of change. An augmented variant on SSM that integrates an appropriate (social constructivist) evaluation method is outlined, together with a series of hypotheses about the operationalisation of this proposed method.

Integrated approach to materials management:a case study

The materials management function is always a major concern to management of any industrial organization, since high inventory and an inefficient procurement process significantly affect profitability. Problems multiply due to the current dynamic business environment in many countries. Hence, existing materials planning and procurement process and inventory management systems require a review. This article shows a radical improvement in the materials management function for an Indian petroleum refinery through business process re-engineering (BPR) by analyzing the current process, identifying key issues, deriving paradigm shifts and developing re-engineered processes through customer value analysis. BPR has been carried out on the existing processes of "material planning and procurement" and "warehousing and surplus disposal.

A KM perspective on implementing an electronic patient record within an NHS hospital

The Electronic Patient Record (EPR) is being developed by many hospitals in the UK and across the globe. We class an EPR system as a type of Knowledge Management System (KMS), in that it is a technological tool developed to support the process of knowledge management (KM). Healthcare organisations aim to use these systems to provide a vehicle for more informed and improved clinical decision making thereby delivering reduced errors and risks, enhanced quality and consequently offering enhanced patient safety. Finding an effective way for a healthcare organisation to practically implement these systems is essential. In this study we use the concept of the business process approach to KM as a theoretical lens to analyse and explore how a large NHS teaching hospital developed, executed and practically implemented an EPR system. This theory advocates the importance of taking into account all organizational activities - the business processes - in considering any KM initiatives. Approaching KM through business processes allows for a more holistic view of the requirements across a process: emphasis is placed on how particular activities are performed, how they are structured and what knowledge demanded and not just supplied across each process. This falls in line with the increased emphasis in healthcare on patient-centred approaches to care delivery. We have found in previous research that hospitals are happy with the delivery of patient care being referred to as their 'business'. A qualitative study was conducted over a two and half year period with data collected from semi-structured interviews with eight members of the strategic management team, 12 clinical users and 20 patients in addition to non- participant observation of meetings and documentary data. We believe that the inclusion of patients within the study may well be the first time this has been done in examining the implementation of a KMS. The theoretical propositions strategy was used as the overarching approach for data analysis. Here Initial theoretical research themes and propositions were used to help shape and organise the case study analysis. This paper will present preliminary findings about the hospital's business strategy and its links to the KMS strategy and process.

A solution for information management in logistics operations of modern manufacturing chains

One dominant feature of the modern manufacturing chains is the movement of goods. Manufacturing companies would remain an unprofitable investment if the supplies/logistics of raw materials, semi-finished products or final goods are not handled in an effective way. Both levels of a modern manufacturing chain-actual production and logistics-are characterized by continuous data creation at a much faster rate than they can be meaningfully analyzed and acted upon manually. Often, instant and reliable decisions need to be taken based on huge, previously inconceivable amounts of heterogeneous, contradictory or incomplete data. The paper will highlight aspects of information flows related to business process data visibility and observability in modern manufacturing networks. An information management platform developed in the framework of the EU FP7 project ADVANCE will be presented.

What matters in business incubation? A literature review and a suggestion for situated theorising

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to provide a critical assessment of the literature on business incubation effectiveness and second, to submit a situated theoretical perspective on how business incubation management can provide an environment that supports the development of incubatee entrepreneurs and their businesses. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a narrative critical assessment of the literature on business incubation effectiveness. Definitional issues, performance aspects and approaches to establishing critical success factors in business incubation are discussed. Business incubation management is identified as an overarching factor for theorising on business incubation effectiveness. Findings – The literature on business incubation effectiveness suffers from several deficiencies, including definitional incongruence, descriptive accounts, fragmentation and lack of strong conceptual grounding. Notwithstanding the growth of research on this domain, understanding of how entrepreneurs and their businesses develop within the business incubator environment remains limited. Given the importance of relational, intangible factors in business incubation and the critical role of business incubation management in orchestrating and optimising such factors, it is suggested that theorising efforts would benefit from a situated perspective. Originality/value – The identification of specific shortcomings in the literature on business incubation highlights the need for more systematic efforts towards theory building. It is suggested that focusing on the role of business incubation management from a situated learning theory perspective can lend itself to a more profound understanding of the development process of incubatee entrepreneurs and their firms. Theoretical propositions are offered to this effect, as well as avenues for future research.

The challenges of representing human behaviour in simulation models:some case examples from supply chain, evacuation modelling and rail disruption

As more of the economy moves from traditional manufacturing to the service sector, the nature of work is becoming less tangible and thus, the representation of human behaviour in models is becoming more important. Representing human behaviour and decision making in models is challenging, both in terms of capturing the essence of the processes, and also the way that those behaviours and decisions are or can be represented in the models themselves. In order to advance understanding in this area, a useful first step is to evaluate and start to classify the various types of behaviour and decision making that are required to be modelled. This talk will attempt to set out and provide an initial classification of the different types of behaviour and decision making that a modeller might want to represent in a model. Then, it will be useful to start to assess the main methods of simulation in terms of their capability in representing these various aspects. The three main simulation methods, System Dynamics, Agent Based Modelling and Discrete Event Simulation all achieve this to varying degrees. There is some evidence that all three methods can, within limits, represent the key aspects of the system being modelled. The three simulation approaches are then assessed for their suitability in modelling these various aspects. Illustration of behavioural modelling will be provided from cases in supply chain management, evacuation modelling and rail disruption.

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.

Performance management and high performance work practices in emerging markets

In this chapter, we discuss performance management systems (PMSs) and high performance work systems (HPWSs) in emerging economies. We start by discussing PMSs, with specific emphasis on PMSs in global organizations. We follow this up with an introduction of HPWSs, and then discuss PMSs and HPWSs in emerging economies. While the list of emerging economies keeps changing, and is rather long, as one might expect, in this chapter we have concentrated on five key emerging economies – China, India, Mexico, South Korea, and Turkey. Performance management is the process through which organizations set goals, determine standards, assign and evaluate work, coach and give feedback, and distribute rewards (Fletcher, 2001). In this connection, organizations all over the world face the challenge of how best to manage performance, including finding ways to motivate employees to sustain high levels of performance. In other words, organizations must develop and implement PMSs that are appropriate for their environment in such a way that high levels of performance can be achieved and sustained over time (DeNisi, Varma and Budhwar, 2008). While all organizations need to address these issues, the way a firm decides to go about addressing these issues is dependent on its location and context. In other words, differences in local norms, culture, law, and technology, make it critical that organizations develop and/or adapt techniques, policies and practices that are appropriate to the setting (see for example, Hofstede, 1993).

The complements towards developing a new risk management framework and Its applicability to the Nigerian power sector

The availability of regular supply has been identified as one of the major stimulants for the growth and development of any nation and is thus important for the economic well-being of a nation. The problems of the Nigerian power sector stems from a lot of factors culminating in her slow developmental growth and inability to meet the power demands of her citizens regardless of the abundance of human and natural resources prevalent in the nation. The research therefore had the main aim of investigating the importance and contributions of risk management to the success of projects specific to the power sector. To achieve this aim it was pertinent to examine the efficacy of risk management process in practice and elucidate the various risks typically associated with projects (Construction, Contractual, Political, Financial, Design, Human resource and Environmental risk factors) in the power sector as well as determine the current situation of risk management practice in Nigeria. To address this factors inhibiting the proficiency of the overarching and prevailing issue which have only been subject to limited in-depth academic research, a rigorous mixed research method was adopted (quantitative and qualitative data analysis). A review of the Nigeria power sector was also carried out as a precursor to the data collection stage. Using purposive sampling technique, respondents were identified and a questionnaire survey was administered. The research hypotheses were tested using inferential statistics (Pearson correlation, Chi-square test, t-test and ANOVA technique) and the findings revealed the need for the development of a new risk management implementation Framework. The proposed Framework was tested within a company project, for interpreting the dynamism and essential benefits of risk management with the aim of improving the project performances (time), reducing the level of fragmentation (quality) and improving profitability (cost) within the Nigerian power sector in order to bridge a gap between theory and practice. It was concluded that Nigeria’s poor risk management practices have prevented it from experiencing strong growth and development. The study however, concludes that the successful implementation of the developed risk management framework may help it to attain this status by enabling it to become more prepared and flexible, to face challenges that previously led to project failures, and thus contributing to its prosperity. The research study provides an original contribution theoretically, methodologically and practically which adds to the project risk management body of knowledge and to the Nigerian power sector.

Self-other rating discrepancy and personality antecedents

This study explored individual difference factors to help explain the discrepancy that has been found to exist between self and other ratings in prior research. Particularly, personality characteristics of the self-rater were researched in the current study as a potential antecedent for self-other rating agreement. Self, peer, and supervisor ratings were provided for global performance as well as five competencies specific to the organization being examined. Four rating tendency categories, over-raters, under-raters, in-agreement (good), and in-agreement (poor), established in research by Atwater and Yammarino were used as the basis of the current research. The sample for rating comparisons within the current study consisted of 283 self and supervisor dyads and 275 for self and peer dyads from a large financial organization. Measures included a custom multi-rater performance instrument and the personality survey instrument, ASSESS, which measures 20 specific personality characteristics. MANCOVAs were then performed on this data to examine if specific personality characteristics significantly distinguished the four rating tendency groups. Examination of all personality dimensions and overall performance uncovered significant findings among rating groups for self-supervisor rating comparisons but not for self-peer rating comparisons. Examination of specific personality dimensions for self-supervisory ratings group comparisons and overall performance showed Detail Interest to be an important characteristic among the hypothesized variables. For self-supervisor rating comparisons and specific competencies, support was found for the hypothesized personality dimension of Fact-based Thinking which distinguished the four rating groups for the competency, Builds Relationships. For both self-supervisor and self-peer rating comparisons, the competencies, Builds Relationships and Leads in a Learning Environment, were found to have significant relationship with several personality characteristics, however, these relationships were not consistent with the hypotheses in the current study. Several unhypothesized personality dimensions were also found to distinguish rating groups for both self-supervisor and self-peer comparisons on overall performance and various competencies. Results of the current study hold implications for the training and development session that occur after a 360-degree evaluation process. Particularly, it is suggested that feedback sessions may be designed according to particular rating tendencies to maximize the interpretation, acceptance and use of evaluation information. ^

Customer relationship management: A content analysis of issues and best practices

This dissertation is a study of customer relationship management theory and practice. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a business strategy whereby companies build strong relationships with existing and prospective customers with the goal of increasing organizational profitability. It is also a learning process involving managing change in processes, people, and technology. CRM implementation and its ramifications are also not completely understood as evidenced by the high number of failures in CRM implementation in organizations and the resulting disappointments. ^ The goal of this dissertation is to study emerging issues and trends in CRM, including the effect of computer software and the accompanying new management processes on organizations, and the dynamics of the alignment of marketing, sales and services, and all other functions responsible for delivering customers a satisfying experience. ^ In order to understand CRM better a content analysis of more than a hundred articles and documents from academic and industry sources was undertaken using a new methodological twist to the traditional method. An Internet domain name (http://crm.fiu.edu) was created for the purpose of this research by uploading an initial one hundred plus abstracts of articles and documents onto it to form a knowledge database. Once the database was formed a search engine was developed to enable the search of abstracts using relevant CRM keywords to reveal emergent dominant CRM topics. The ultimate aim of this website is to serve as an information hub for CRM research, as well as a search engine where interested parties can enter CRM-relevant keywords or phrases to access abstracts, as well as submit abstracts to enrich the knowledge hub. ^ Research questions were investigated and answered by content analyzing the interpretation and discussion of dominant CRM topics and then amalgamating the findings. This was supported by comparisons within and across individual, paired, and sets-of-three occurrences of CRM keywords in the article abstracts. ^ Results show that there is a lack of holistic thinking and discussion of CRM in both academics and industry which is required to understand how the people, process, and technology in CRM impact each other to affect successful implementation. Industry has to get their heads around CRM and holistically understand how these important dimensions affect each other. Only then will organizational learning occur, and overtime result in superior processes leading to strong profitable customer relationships and a hard to imitate competitive advantage. ^