Competitive edge through operations management

A view has emerged within manufacturing and service organizations that the operations management function can hold the key to achieving competitive edge. This has recently been emphasized by the demands for greater variety and higher quality which must be set against a background of increasing cost of resources. As nations' trade barriers are progressively lowered and removed, so producers of goods and service products are becoming more exposed to competition that may come from virtually anywhere around the world. To simply survive in this climate many organizations have found it necessary to improve their manufacturing or service delivery systems. To become real ''winners'' some have adopted a strategic approach to operations and completely reviewed and restructured their approach to production system design and operations planning and control. The articles in this issue of the International journal of Operations & Production Management have been selected to illustrate current thinking and practice in relation to this situation. They are all based on papers presented to the Sixth International Conference of the Operations Management Association-UK which was held at Aston University in June 1991. The theme of the conference was "Achieving Competitive Edge" and authors from 15 countries around the world contributed to more than 80 presented papers. Within this special issue five topic areas are addressed with two articles relating to each. The topics are: strategic management of operations; managing change; production system design; production control; and service operations. Under strategic management of operations De Toni, Filippini and Forza propose a conceptual model which considers the performance of an operating system as a source of competitive advantage through the ''operation value chain'' of design, purchasing, production and distribution. Their model is set within the context of the tendency towards globalization. New's article is somewhat in contrast to the more fashionable literature on operations strategy. It challenges the validity of the current idea of ''world-class manufacturing'' and, instead, urges a reconsideration of the view that strategic ''trade-offs'' are necessary to achieve a competitive edge. The importance of managing change has for some time been recognized within the field of organization studies but its relevance in operations management is now being realized. Berger considers the use of "organization design", ''sociotechnical systems'' and change strategies and contrasts these with the more recent idea of the ''dialogue perspective''. A tentative model is suggested to improve the analysis of different strategies in a situation specific context. Neely and Wilson look at an essential prerequisite if change is to be effected in an efficient way, namely product goal congruence. Using a case study as its basis, their article suggests a method of measuring goal congruence as a means of identifying the extent to which key performance criteria relating to quality, time, cost and flexibility are understood within an organization. The two articles on production systems design represent important contributions to the debate on flexible production organization and autonomous group working. Rosander uses the results from cases to test the applicability of ''flow groups'' as the optimal way of organizing batch production. Schuring also examines cases to determine the reasons behind the adoption of ''autonomous work groups'' in The Netherlands and Sweden. Both these contributions help to provide a greater understanding of the production philosophies which have emerged as alternatives to more conventional systems -------for intermittent and continuous production. The production control articles are both concerned with the concepts of ''push'' and ''pull'' which are the two broad approaches to material planning and control. Hirakawa, Hoshino and Katayama have developed a hybrid model, suitable for multistage manufacturing processes, which combines the benefits of both systems. They discuss the theoretical arguments in support of the system and illustrate its performance with numerical studies. Slack and Correa's concern is with the flexibility characteristics of push and pull material planning and control systems. They use the case of two plants using the different systems to compare their performance within a number of predefined flexibility types. The two final contributions on service operations are complementary. The article by Voss really relates to manufacturing but examines the application of service industry concepts within the UK manufacturing sector. His studies in a number of companies support the idea of the ''service factory'' and offer a new perspective for manufacturing. Harvey's contribution by contrast, is concerned with the application of operations management principles in the delivery of professional services. Using the case of social-service provision in Canada, it demonstrates how concepts such as ''just-in-time'' can be used to improve service performance. The ten articles in this special issue of the journal address a wide range of issues and situations. Their common aspect is that, together, they demonstrate the extent to which competitiveness can be improved via the application of operations management concepts and techniques.

An examination of the development of LTL hub-and-spoke freight distribution systems

Over recent years, hub-and-spoke distribution techniques have attracted widespread research attention. Despite there being a growing body of literature in this area there is less focus on the spoke-terminal element of the hub-and-spoke system as being a key component in the overall service received by the end-user. Current literature is highly geared towards discussing bulk optimization of freight units rather than to the more discrete and individualistic profile characteristics of shared-user Less-than-truckload (LTL) freight. In this paper, a literature review is presented to review the role hub-and-spoke systems play in meeting multi-profile customer demands, particularly in developing sectors with more sophisticated needs, such as retail. The paper also looks at the use of simulation technology as a suitable tool for analyzing spoke-terminal operations within developing hub-and spoke systems.

Improving “last mile” delivery performance to retailers in hub and spoke distribution systems

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the “last mile” delivery link between a hub and spoke distribution system and its customers. The proportion of retail, as opposed to non-retail (trade) customers using this type of distribution system has been growing in the UK. The paper shows the applicability of simulation to demonstrate changes in overall delivery policy to these customers. Design/methodology/approach – A case-based research method was chosen with the aim to provide an exemplar of practice and test the proposition that simulation can be used as a tool to investigate changes in delivery policy. Findings – The results indicate the potential improvement in delivery performance, specifically in meeting timed delivery performance, that could be made by having separate retail and non-retail delivery runs from the spoke terminal to the customer. Research limitations/implications – The simulation study does not attempt to generate a vehicle routing schedule but demonstrates the effects of a change on delivery performance when comparing delivery policies. Practical implications – Scheduling and spreadsheet software are widely used and provide useful assistance in the design of delivery runs and the allocation of staff to those delivery runs. This paper demonstrates to managers the usefulness of investigating the efficacy of current design rules and presents simulation as a suitable tool for this analysis. Originality/value – A simulation model is used in a novel application to test a change in delivery policy in response to a changing delivery profile of increased retail deliveries.

Supply chain management diffusion among firms in the Republic of Ireland

The changing business environment has sharpened the focus on the need for robust approaches to supply chain management (SCM) and the improvement of supply chain capability and performance. This is particularly the case in Ireland, which has the natural disadvantage of a location peripheral to significant markets and sources of raw materials which results in relatively high transport and distribution costs. Therefore, in order to gain insights into current levels of diffusion of SCM, a survey was conducted among 776 firms in the Republic of Ireland. The empirical results suggest that there is a need for more widespread adoption of SCM among Irish firms. This is particularly the case in relation to the four main elements of SCM excellence reported in this paper. The design of supply chain solutions is a highly skilled, knowledge-intensive and complex activity, reflected in a shift from 'box moving' to the design and implementation of customised supply chain solutions. Education and training needs to be addressed by stimulating the development of industry-relevant logistics and SCM resources and skills.

Logistical framework for last mile relief distribution in humanitarian supply chains:considerations from the field

Recent years large scale natural disasters: (e.g. 2004 Tsunami, 2005 Earthquake in South Asia, 2010 Earthquake in Haiti, 2010 flood in Pakistan, 2011 Earthquake in Japan etc.) have captured international attention and led to the advance of research of disaster management. To cope with these huge impact disasters, the involved stakeholders have to learn how quickly and efficiently the relief organisations are able to respond. After a disaster strikes, it is necessary to get the relief aid to the affected people by the prompt action of relief organisations. This supply chain process has to be very fast and efficient. The purpose of this paper is to define the last mile relief distribution in humanitarian supply chain and develop a logistical framework by identifying the factors that affect this process. Seventeen interviews were conducted with field officers and the data analysed to identify which are the critical factors for last mile relief distribution of disaster relief operation. A framework is presented classifying these factors according to the ability to implement them in an optimisation model of humanitarian logistics.

An Investigation into Outsourcing Practice in Ireland:A New Direction in Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Companies are increasingly focusing on the development of core competencies as an integral part of their overall strategy development and implementation. The corollary of this is that functions regarded as being non-core are being outsourced. This paper investigates the case for and against outsourcing and in addition what is happening in Ireland regards outsourcing. Furthermore to analysis of current literature in the field, an Irish-wide postal and e-mail survey, as well as three case studies revealed many interesting facts. The key findings of the work are manufacturing outsourcing is now the most popular function to be outsourced for both small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises. Large enterprises (LEs) do not prepare or examine hidden costs more than SMEs, nor do they differ much in relation to the use of consultants. Furthermore, the importance of time spent on preparing or producing contract, and the impact the contract can have on the supplier-buyer relation do not differ significantly. It was found that most companies outsourced within Ireland, which led to further investigation in that area. In relation to logistics outsourcing specifically, this has become very important in the supply chain over the last 20 years as an activity that was traditionally handled by firms as a support function. At that time logistics activities such as warehousing, distribution, transportation and inventory management were given low priority compared with other business functions within the organisation. However, since the customer has become more demanding, the logistics function has now become a source of competitive advantage and there has been a growing emphasis on providing good customer service.

Benevolent sexism at work:gender differences in the distribution of challenging developmental experiences

The current research draws from ambivalent sexism theory to examine potential gender differences in the quantity and quality of developmental work experiences. In a sample of managers in the energy industry, men and women reported participating in a similar number of developmental experiences (with comparable levels of support), but men rated these experiences as more challenging and received more negative feedback than did women. Similarly, a sample of female managers in the health care industry reported comparable amounts, but less challenging types, of developmental experiences than their male counterparts'. The results of three complementary experiments suggest that benevolent sexism is negatively related to men's assignment of challenging experiences to female targets but that men and women were equally likely to express interest in challenging experiences. Taken together, these results suggest that stereotype-based beliefs that women should be protected may limit women's exposure to challenging assignments, which in turn may partially explain the underrepresentation of women at the highest levels of organizations. © The Author(s) 2012.

Senior management leadership, social support, job design and stressor-to-strain relationships in hospital practice

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the quality of senior management leadership on social support and job design, whose main effects on strains, and moderating effects on work stressors-to-strains relationships were assessed. Design/methodology/approach: A survey involving distribution of questionnaires was carried out on a random sample of health care employees in acute hospital practice in the UK. The sample comprised 65,142 respondents. The work stressors tested were quantitative overload and hostile environment, whereas strains were measured through job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Structural equation modelling and moderated regression analyses were used in the analysis. Findings: Quality of senior management leadership explained 75 per cent and 94 per cent of the variance of social support and job design respectively, whereas work stressors explained 51 per cent of the variance of strains. Social support and job design predicted job satisfaction and turnover intentions, as well as moderated significantly the relationships between quantitative workload/hostility and job satisfaction/turnover intentions. Research limitations/implications: The findings are useful to management and to health employees working in acute/specialist hospitals. Further research could be done in other counties to take into account cultural differences and variations in health systems. The limitations included self-reported data and percept-percept bias due to same source data collection. Practical implications: The quality of senior management leaders in hospitals has an impact on the social environment, the support given to health employees, their job design, as well as work stressors and strains perceived. Originality/value: The study argues in favour of effective senior management leadership of hospitals, as well as ensuring adequate support structures and job design. The findings may be useful to health policy makers and human resources managers. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Design and development of logistics workflow systems for demand management with RFID

This paper discusses demand and supply chain management and examines how artificial intelligence techniques and RFID technology can enhance the responsiveness of the logistics workflow. This proposed system is expected to have a significant impact on the performance of logistics networks by virtue of its capabilities to adapt unexpected supply and demand changes in the volatile marketplace with the unique feature of responsiveness with the advanced technology, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Recent studies have found that RFID and artificial intelligence techniques drive the development of total solution in logistics industry. Apart from tracking the movement of the goods, RFID is able to play an important role to reflect the inventory level of various distribution areas. In today’s globalized industrial environment, the physical logistics operations and the associated flow of information are the essential elements for companies to realize an efficient logistics workflow scenario. Basically, a flexible logistics workflow, which is characterized by its fast responsiveness in dealing with customer requirements through the integration of various value chain activities, is fundamental to leverage business performance of enterprises. The significance of this research is the demonstration of the synergy of using a combination of advanced technologies to form an integrated system that helps achieve lean and agile logistics workflow.

Exploring the digital supply chain:implications and models for online software distribution

As a discipline, supply chain management (SCM) has traditionally been primarily concerned with the procurement, processing, movement and sale of physical goods. However an important class of products has emerged - digital products - which cannot be described as physical as they do not obey commonly understood physical laws. They do not possess mass or volume, and they require no energy in their manufacture or distribution. With the Internet, they can be distributed at speeds unimaginable in the physical world, and every copy produced is a 100% perfect duplicate of the original version. Furthermore, the ease with which digital products can be replicated has few analogues in the physical world. This paper assesses the effect of non-physicality on one such product – software – in relation to the practice of SCM. It explores the challenges that arise when managing the software supply chain and how practitioners are addressing these challenges. Using a two-pronged exploratory approach that examines the literature around software management as well as direct interviews with software distribution practitioners, a number of key challenges associated with software supply chains are uncovered, along with responses to these challenges. This paper proposes a new model for software supply chains that takes into account the non-physicality of the product being delivered. Central to this model is the replacement of physical flows with flows of intellectual property, the growing importance of innovation over duplication and the increased centrality of the customer in the entire process. Hybrid physical / digital supply chains are discussed and a framework for practitioners concerned with software supply chains is presented.

Unsupervised KDD to creatively support managers' decision making with fuzzy association rules:a distribution channel application

To be competitive in contemporary turbulent environments, firms must be capable of processing huge amounts of information, and effectively convert it into actionable knowledge. This is particularly the case in the marketing context, where problems are also usually highly complex, unstructured and ill-defined. In recent years, the development of marketing management support systems has paralleled this evolution in informational problems faced by managers, leading to a growth in the study (and use) of artificial intelligence and soft computing methodologies. Here, we present and implement a novel intelligent system that incorporates fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms to operate in an unsupervised manner. This approach allows the discovery of interesting association rules, which can be linguistically interpreted, in large scale databases (KDD or Knowledge Discovery in Databases.) We then demonstrate its application to a distribution channel problem. It is shown how the proposed system is able to return a number of novel and potentially-interesting associations among variables. Thus, it is argued that our method has significant potential to improve the analysis of marketing and business databases in practice, especially in non-programmed decisional scenarios, as well as to assist scholarly researchers in their exploratory analysis. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.

Farewell, welfare state – hello, welfare regions? Chances and constraints of welfare management in the German federal system

The German welfare state is in crisis. Alarming long-term demographic trends, the still not fully digested consequences of German unification and the current economic downturn in much of the Eurozone have combined to create an urgent need for welfare reform. Yet the constitutional arrangements which govern the German political system, and well-entrenched political practice, mean that any such reform process is a daunting challenge. Thus, the welfare crisis is also a crisis of German-style co-operative federalism. Current empirical evidence makes for uncomfortable reading, and triggers debate on the nature of the German federation: have the two constitutional principles of federalism and establishing equal living conditions throughout the federation become mutually exclusive? However, as much of the welfare state is centred on the best utilisation of scarce financial resources, it is debatable to what extent alterations in the functional distribution of welfare responsibilities among the territorial levels of government can be regarded as a solution for the current problems. The article concludes that in the search for long-term sustainability of the welfare state the territorial dimension is likely to remain a secondary issue.

The impact of coordination on the effectiveness of last mile relief distribution

Last mile relief distribution is the final stage of humanitarian logistics. It refers to the supply of relief items from local distribution centers to the disaster affected people (Balcik et al., 2008). In the last mile relief distribution literature, researchers have focused on the use of optimisation techniques for determining the exact optimal solution (Liberatore et al., 2014), but there is a need to include behavioural factors with those optimisation techniques in order to obtain better predictive results. This paper will explain how improving the coordination factor increases the effectiveness of the last mile relief distribution process. There are two stages of methodology used to achieve the goal: Interviews: The authors conducted interviews with the Indian Government and with South Asian NGOs to identify the critical factors for final relief distribution. After thematic and content analysis of the interviews and the reports, the authors found some behavioural factors which affect the final relief distribution. Model building: Last mile relief distribution in India follows a specific framework described in the Indian Government disaster management handbook. We modelled this framework using agent based simulation and investigated the impact of coordination on effectiveness. We define effectiveness as the speed and accuracy with which aid is delivered to affected people. We tested through simulation modelling whether coordination improves effectiveness.

Power in distribution channels - Supplier assortment strategy for balancing power

This paper focuses on the move from buyer dominance toward interdependence between buyers and suppliers in a distribution channel. The paper introduces a case study collected through in-depth interviews and participative observations. It examines the relationships between a timber supplier and its customers in the builders' merchants sector. We stress the relevance of considering actions intended to change the power balance, rather than focusing only on trust. The power balance in a dyadic relationship is dynamic, and power positions need to be constantly re-evaluated. An important power resource is information asymmetry, manifested in the supplier's information about: products, regional and local demand, and the usage of the products. For practitioners, we highlight the possibility of exerting a non-coercive power resource, such as information asymmetry, in order to increase the relative power. Furthermore, being open about the power position between a buyer and a seller can foster a more efficient collaboration.

A multi-organisational approach for disaster preparedness and response:the use of optimisation and GIS for facility location, stock pre-positioning, resource allocation and relief distribution

From 1992 to 2012 4.4 billion people were affected by disasters with almost 2 trillion USD in damages and 1.3 million people killed worldwide. The increasing threat of disasters stresses the need to provide solutions for the challenges faced by disaster managers, such as the logistical deployment of resources required to provide relief to victims. The location of emergency facilities, stock prepositioning, evacuation, inventory management, resource allocation, and relief distribution have been identified to directly impact the relief provided to victims during the disaster. Managing appropriately these factors is critical to reduce suffering. Disaster management commonly attracts several organisations working alongside each other and sharing resources to cope with the emergency. Coordinating these agencies is a complex task but there is little research considering multiple organisations, and none actually optimising the number of actors required to avoid shortages and convergence. The aim of the this research is to develop a system for disaster management based on a combination of optimisation techniques and geographical information systems (GIS) to aid multi-organisational decision-making. An integrated decision system was created comprising a cartographic model implemented in GIS to discard floodable facilities, combined with two models focused on optimising the decisions regarding location of emergency facilities, stock prepositioning, the allocation of resources and relief distribution, along with the number of actors required to perform these activities. Three in-depth case studies in Mexico were studied gathering information from different organisations. The cartographic model proved to reduce the risk to select unsuitable facilities. The preparedness and response models showed the capacity to optimise the decisions and the number of organisations required for logistical activities, pointing towards an excess of actors involved in all cases. The system as a whole demonstrated its capacity to provide integrated support for disaster preparedness and response, along with the existence of room for improvement for Mexican organisations in flood management.