Business education in operations management

This paper examines trends in the practice of Operations Management and in teaching the field in major Business Schools. Operations Management has been defined as the design and management of transformation processes that create value for society. The operations function is the one function directly involved in that transformation, and hence is directly responsible for the activities that justify the existence of the firm, both economically and as a value-creating organization in society. The top rated schools in Operations Management are the top-rated research-intensive Business Schools in the world. Operations Management is an area that has been undergoing rapid change in response to changes in business practices worldwide. It is at the heart of changes of which the AACSB report Management Education at Risk, August 2002 (p 20), comments of Business Schools in general: ‘With regard to global relevance (of Business Schools), the complex opportunities and challenges that emanate from the world scope of operations, outsourcing, supply chains, partnerships, and financial and consumer markets – all linked in real time through the Internet – are not reflected adequately in curricula and learning approaches.’ Products, and even services, depend increasingly on advanced technology. This is true globally and especially so for countries in South East and East Asia, from which Australian Universities draw a significant number of students. Services operations management has become much more important, while there are both educational and industrial needs in management science or operations research.

Bridging the gap from the general to the specific by linking knowledge management to business process

A phenomenon common to almost all fields is that there is a gap between theory and practical implementation. However, this is a particular problem in knowledge management, where much of the literature consists of general principles written in the context of a ‘knowledge world’ that has few, if any, references to how to carry out knowledge management in organisations. In this chapter, we put forward the view that the best way to bridge this gap between general principles and the specific issues facing a given organisation is to link knowledge management to the organisation’s business processes. After briefly reviewing, and rejecting alternative ways in which this gap might be bridged, the chapter goes on to explain the justification for, and the potential benefits and snags of, linking knowledge management to business processes. Successful and unsuccessful examples are presented. We concentrate especially on the issues of establishing what knowledge is relevant to an organisation at present, the need for organisational learning to cope with the inevitable change, and the additional problems posed by the growing internationalisation of operations. We conclude that linking knowledge management in terms of business processes is the best route for organisations to follow, but that it is not the answer to all knowledge management problems, especially where different cultures and/or cultural change are involved.

Business processes and knowledge management

Knowledge has been a subject of interest and inquiry for thousands of years since at least the time of the ancient Greeks, and no doubt even before that. “What is knowledge” continues to be an important topic of discussion in philosophy. More recently, interest in managing knowledge has grown in step with the perception that increasingly we live in a knowledge-based economy. Drucker (1969) is usually credited as being the first to popularize the knowledge-based economy concept by linking the importance of knowledge with rapid technological change in Drucker (1969). Karl Wiig coined the term knowledge management (hereafter KM) for a NATO seminar in 1986, and its popularity took off following the publication of Nonaka and Takeuchi’s book “The Knowledge Creating Company” (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995). Knowledge creation is in fact just one of many activities involved in KM. Others include sharing, retaining, refining, and using knowledge. There are many such lists of activities (Holsapple & Joshi, 2000; Probst, Raub, & Romhardt, 1999; Skyrme, 1999; Wiig, De Hoog, & Van der Spek, 1997). Both academic and practical interest in KM has continued to increase throughout the last decade. In this article, first the different types of knowledge are outlined, then comes a discussion of various routes by which knowledge management can be implemented, advocating a process-based route. An explanation follows of how people, processes, and technology need to fit together for effective KM, and some examples of this route in use are given. Finally, there is a look towards the future.

Strategic positioning of manufacturing operations within global supply chains

This paper describes research that has sought to create a structured and integrated methodology that guides manufacturers through the decision of strategic positioning within global supply chains. The position of a company is concerned with deciding a boundary and configuration of internal and external business activities to the company and is directly related to initiatives such as outsourcing, make or buy, and offshoring. This paper provides an in-depth description of this concept, describes work carried out to form a methodology for strategic positioning within the global supply chain, and presents the details of the methodology. This research has made a significant contribution to the knowledge on how manufacturing companies can form a strategic positioning within global supply chains.

The selection of biodiversity indicators for business landholdings

Businesses are seen as the next stage in delivering biodiversity improvements linked to local and UK Biodiversity Action Plans. Global discussion of biodiversity continues to grow, with the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, updates to the Convention on Biological Diversity and The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity being published during the time of this project. These publications and others detail the importance of biodiversity protection and also the lack of strategies to deliver this at an operational level. Pressure on UK landholding businesses is combined with significant business opportunities associated with biodiversity engagement. However, the measurement and reporting of biodiversity by business is currently limited by the complexity of the term and the lack of suitable procedures for the selection of metrics. Literature reviews identified confusion surrounding biodiversity as a term, limited academic literature regarding business and choice of biodiversity indicators. The aim of the project was to develop a methodology to enable companies to identify, quantify and monitor biodiversity. Research case studies interviews were undertaken with 10 collaborating organisations, selected to represent =best practice‘ examples and various situations. Information gained through case studies was combined with that from existing literature. This was used to develop a methodology for the selection of biodiversity indicators for company landholdings. The indicator selection methodology was discussed during a second stage of case study interviews with 4 collaborating companies. The information and opinions gained during this research was used to modify the methodology and provide the final biodiversity indicator selection methodology. The methodology was then tested through implementation at a mineral extraction site operated by a multi-national aggregates company. It was found that the methodology was a suitable process for implementation of global and national systems and conceptual frameworks at the practitioner scale. Further testing of robustness by independent parties is recommended to improve the system.

Global marketing of industrial products:are interpersonal relationships always critical?

The present paper examines the issue of whether interpersonal relationships are critical for global marketing of industrial products. The fields of relationship marketing, IMP group research, sales research, and network theory have stressed the importance of interpersonal relationships in the business-to-business or industrial marketing context. In contrast to this emphasis on interpersonal relationships, we argue that industrial firms can both conceive and enhance marketing strategies based on developing high quality and consistent processes, products, services or outcomes (consistent processes and outcomes). Such strategies are especially important given the fact that developing interpersonal relationships is expensive due to their reliance on frequent and/or face-to-face communications. In this paper, we examine industry and country contexts that lead to the choice of alternative industrial product marketing strategies and highlight some future research directions and managerial implications.