Christopher M. McDermott

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Purpose – This empirical study explores the relationship between total quality management (TQM) practices and organizational culture with the purpose of identifying the particular cultures that determine the successful implementation of TQM practices. Specifically, it tests two competing views on the relationship; the unitarist and pluralist views.Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data was drawn from 194 organizations in Australia. The research model employs the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria as TQM framework and builds on the competing values model to frame organizational culture. The data was analysed using structural equation modelling technique.Findings – The findings support the pluralist view, wherein different subsets of TQM practices are determined by different types of cultures. Interestingly, hierarchical culture was found to have a significant relationship with certain practices of TQM. Additionally, the findings indicate that although the cultural factors underpinni...

An exploratory analysis of new competencies: a resource based view perspective

Abstract The resource based view (RBV) theory of the firm widely acknowledges that capabilities that are unique and are important for achieving sustained competitive advantage. It has been argued in the manufacturing literature that manufacturing facilities, technology and policies are important to gain performance. However, little has been done to examine the capabilities from a resource based perspective. Nor has there been an exploration in how firms develop and leverage new capabilities. The literature also tends to neglect how complex and often intertwined these capabilities are within the firms. This study addresses this gap in the literature by examining the successful development of new resources and competencies that were created when Analog Devices developed an emerging technology. The paper is exploratory and identifies the new competencies and Analog Devices’ ability to capitalize upon them.

Managing radical product development in large manufacturing firms: a longitudinal study

Abstract This study explores and documents the processes by which large manufacturing firms develop and produce radical products. Seven projects from five Fortune 500 firms were analyzed over a 3-year period. Through the use of these case studies, we found common themes emerging in the way these firms manage their new product development (NPD) process in this turbulent environment. Our observations suggest that these high levels of uncertainty result in several unique challenges in developing the project, especially in the areas of managing functional integration and finding a divisional home for the emerging product.

Advanced manufacturing technology: Does more radicalness mean more perceived benefits?

Abstract Advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) are often attributed with providing operational benefits, organizational benefits, and improved managerial satisfaction and the more radical the technology the better. This study acts as a counterweight to those studies by suggesting that the achievement of the perceived benefits arising from radical AMT are far from automatic. This study provides evidence that the problems outweigh the benefits associated with radical AMT from the perspective of the operations manager.

Concurrent development and strategic outsourcing: Do the rules change in breakthrough innovation?

Abstract Concurrent development activities and strategic supply chain management have become staples of the new product development (NPD) process over the last 15 years. Although this is beneficial, often the advice given comes in a “generic” form, based on the assumption that the similarities among NPD efforts are more important than the differences between them. However, variation in the radicalness of projects can make a significant difference in the way that they should be managed. This paper explores the processes associated with the development of radical new products. Based on interviews with project managers and engineers in the United States and Japan, this paper puts forth three propositions, which we summarize in a model aimed to help managers decide whether the “degree of radicalness” of the product may require changes in the organizations NPD process.

The relationship between multidimensional organizational culture and performance

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the relationship between the four cultural dimensions of the competing values framework (CVF) (group, developmental, hierarchical, and rational cultures) and four types of performance: product quality, process quality, product innovation, and process innovation. Theoretically, this represents the contrasts among the four quadrants of CVF in terms of their respective outcomes, with quality and innovation reflecting the contrast between control and flexibility orientations, and product and process reflecting the contrast between external and internal orientations.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 194 middle and senior managers of Australian firms who had knowledge of past and present organizational practices relating to quality and innovation‐related aspects in the organization.Findings – Developmental culture was found to be the strongest predictor among the four cultural dimensions, as it shows relationships with three of the performance measures: ...

The semiconductor silicon industry roadmap: Epochs driven by the dynamics between disruptive technologies and core competencies

Abstract The resource-based perspective has done much to identify idiosyncratic firm attributes that may be a principal source of competitive advantages. Unfortunately, there has been little systematic industry evidence to support the strategic importance of core competence, nor has there been much work on the temporal or cumulative nature of core capabilities within an industrial setting. Further, little or no research has been performed demonstrating how the advent of technological discontinuities or disruptive technologies plays a part in creating epochs in technology competency development and the roadmap of an industry. In this study, we analyze the evolutionary and cumulative nature of core capabilities and their interactions with technological discontinuities from a market-driven perspective. We have studied the evolution of 167 firms through the 50-year history of the semiconductor silicon industry. Over time, there were several structural shifts in the necessary competencies through the advent of disruptive technologies. In the last 30 years, however, the change in the required competencies has been more cumulative in nature. We summarize this in a roadmap detailing the epochs in the semiconductor silicon industry.

The diminishing utility of the product/process matrix

Advanced processing technologies, managerial practices, and information systems have merged as vital elements of modern day production. It has been argued that these changes in practice and technology have yielded a strategic manufacturing environ‐ment in the 1990s which is very different from that which existed in the 1970s and 1980s. Examines and documents these changes through the findings of a study in the US power tool industry of the effectiveness of the product‐process matrix in explaining the operations strategies of firms over the period 1970‐1990. Utilizes data from a detailed literature‐based survey, from on‐site interviews with executives and tours of manufacturing plants in the industry to explore the strategies followed over time by main and niche power tool firms competing in the US market. Shows that, while the Hayes and Wheelwright product‐process model captures many aspects of strategic operations decisions through 1980, changes have dramatically altered the competitive landscape and that many of the trade‐offs central to the model are no longer central to the articulation and formulation of operations strategy.

Hospital operations and length of stay performance

Purpose – As hospital costs continue to rise, increasing attention is being paid to the way these organizations are and should be managed. This attention typically comes in the form of focus on costs of services, quality (often measured through mortality rates) and length of stay. Hospital management has a broad array of choices at their disposal to address these challenges. As service operations, hospitals present a significant opportunity to apply the many tools and techniques from the field of operations strategy to this important industry. The objective of this paper is to use the operations strategy framework to assess the relationship between a set of operational elements and hospital performance in terms of average length of stay (ALOS), so that hospital managers improve the effectiveness and efficiency of patient care of their hospitals.Design/methodology/approach – Using the structural and infrastructural operations strategy framework, this study examines the relationship between several strategi...

A framework for technology management in services

Technology is playing an increasingly important role in many service industries. However, a survey of the existing classification systems of services shows that they are not designed specifically for the management of technology in services, and, thus, fall short when applied to such an environment. This paper describes and provides illustrations of a new framework which is useful for technology management in the service sector. The framework focuses on managing according to where the value is added in the service: in the technology (knowledge-embedded) or in the worker him/herself (knowledge-based). Additionally, the extent to which the service has a product component is also argued to be critical to the successful management of technology.