Antero Putkiranta

Coping with the change: a longitudinal study into the changing manufacturing practices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study how, in recent decades, manufacturing sites have reacted to changes in their business environment by developing their management practices. This also makes it possible to predict the behavior and lifecycles of the new practices adopted by companies.Design/methodology/approach – The study is longitudinal, conducted in 1993, 2004 and 2010. It used a standard questionnaire, based on the “Made in Europe” benchmarking study. The results were analysed by Friedmans rank order method. The use of a three (or more) data‐point longitudinal study is the clearest way to reveal changes in, and the behaviour of, the practices.Findings – The data suggest that there is a lifecycle for the practices used in companies and that many of the practices adopted in the late 1990s are already out of date. However, personnel‐related practices seem to last longer than process‐related practices. Furthermore, these practices seem to follow the curve of the Bass diffusion model.Research ...

Longitudinal benchmarking studies in operations management: lessons learned

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibilities and pitfalls of longitudinal studies in the field of operations management (OM).Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal study conducted in Finland was analyzed from the methodological point of view. In the theoretical part, a framework for analyses was created by studying the literature of longitudinal studies within and without the OM field.Findings – Longitudinal studies are important in revealing root‐cause effects. They are particularly important in generating new ideas and theories and in questioning old ones. However, longitudinal studies are somewhat difficult to conduct and some unexpected challenges may arise, such as the effect of technology development on data retrieval.Research limitations/implications – The analyses in this study are based on the data obtained in a longitudinal study conducted in the years 1993, 2004 and 2010. The sample in the longitudinal study is quite small for real quantitative statistical analysis,...

Benchmarking: a longitudinal study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the use and effect of benchmarking in manufacturing companies.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 23 companies were interviewed longitudinally in 1993, 2004 and 2010. For the study a standard questionnaire was used, and the questions asked concerned the best practices used in the companies and their operational performance.Findings – The use of benchmarking has changed a lot over the last 15 years. It grew a lot after the first study was made, but by the time of the third study it had shrunk to the same level as in 1993. There may be several reasons for that, but, as the data indicates, there is no clear relation between the use of benchmarking and operational results, which may be one reason.Research limitations/implications – Due to the small sample size the results are only indicative and more research is needed in this area. Furthermore, there may also be several other reasons affecting the performance of companies. It is always risky to claim tha...

Strategic roles of service sites: application of Ferdows’s model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the applicability to the service business of general models used in the manufacturing environment. This is done by applying Ferdows’s model, “the strategic role of the plant”, in two cases. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses the case approach. One case (IBM Nordic) is based on an interview, while the other case (Google) relies on secondary data. In each case the operations are mapped on Ferdows’s model. Findings – The cases indicate that the same kind of roles can be found in the service business as in traditional manufacturing environments, and that these roles are widely used. However, for communicative purposes, the model was terminologically slightly modified. Research limitations/implications – Although this study presents the findings of only two cases, the knowledge of material available from public sources leads us to believe that these findings are universal. The model is easy to communicate in the service sector and is thus a very valu...

Opportunities in Role Specialization Through Location in Public Sector Services

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to study whether organizations in the public sector have special roles that are similar to those in the private sector. The model used for the analyses is the Ferdows ‘strategic role of the plant’ model. The operations of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Finland were analyzed for the study. The data used was gathered in interviews and from general sources. The results indicate that special roles can be found and, furthermore, that there are huge possibilities in this area. The idea of roles is important to improve their productivity.

Parameters in a Successful Process Outsourcing Project: A Case From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland

The purpose of this article is to analyze the success factors of a critical business process outsourcing project (visa issuing) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Finland. This has been done by mapping the success factors on the organizational “Star Model” of Galbraith (2002). The reasons for success include strong employee participation, good communication, and, in particular, the commitment of the organization in St. Petersburg.

Impact of ownership change on plant practice-performance dynamics: A longitudinal multiple case study

Purpose – Ownership change has been an overlooked contingency factor in past plant level practice-performance studies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of ownership changes to practice-performance dynamics by longitudinally following the same 23 manufacturing sites from year 1993 to 2010. Design/methodology/approach – Interview data of the made in Finland – study are used for presenting different paths of plant development in the long term. Both narratives and descriptive statistics are used to support the analysis. Findings – The findings suggest that the benefits of long-term domestic ownership may in fact exceed the positive knowledge spill-over effects that derive from foreign acquisitions. Foreign acquirers seem to “cherry-pick” well-performing sites. Also it seems that the likelihood of inferior performance and plant shutdowns may increase due to foreign acquisitions. Research limitations/implications – Due to the exploratory nature of the study the sample size did not a...

Effect of change – a longitudinal study into the changing manufacturing structures

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze changes in the supply chain and production process, and the effects these changes have had on competitive performance. Design/methodology/approach – The study is longitudinal and was conducted in 1993, 2004 and 2010 with a standard questionnaire. The data have been analyzed by using the Mann-Whitney U-test. Findings – The study indicates that changing a role within the supply chain may help a company to adapt to surrounding changes, but there is no single best way to react to such changes. Companies must be able to position themselves in the new situation. Research limitations/implications – Even though the study itself and the data are unique, there are still some limitations. Although the results are limited to the sample, they nevertheless give a good insight into the changes that occurred within the sample. Originality/value – This study is the only longitudinal study in this field to compare three periods of time. This gives a unique perspective to st...