Joel D. Wisner

Supply chain management: a strategic perspective

Many leading firms in the USA have adopted an integrated strategic approach to purchasing and logistics management known as supply chain management. As the twenty‐first century begins, supply chain management has become a significant strategic tool for firms striving to improve quality, customer service and competitive success. This article surveyed senior managers in various industries to study the prevalent supply chain management and supplier evaluation practices. The study reduced these practices to a smaller set of constructs and related the constructs to firm performance. The results show that many constructs were correlated with firm performance and that some constructs were found to adversely affect performance.

Benchmarking Supply Chain Management Practice in New Zealand

This paper reports on a benchmarking study carried out on supply chain management (SCM) activities of manufacturing organisations in New Zealand. The purpose of the paper is to report the current state of the play in this area. A postal survey was carried out to ascertain the status of SCM adoption in New Zealand, and identify the issues in SCM that are significant for New Zealand manufacturers. The findings suggest that although there is awareness of the SCM concept in New Zealand, the adoption of the newer concepts of SCM is not very far advanced.

A Performance Assessment of the US Baldrige Quality Award Winners

Since 1987, 17 businesses have won the US Baldrige Quality Award, established to promote awareness of quality management among US businesses. Assesses the financial and competitive performances of these 17 companies. Previous research with respect to the quality‐performance relationship has shown a positive relationship between quality improvement and financial or market share performance. Finds that while substantial improvements in operations performance characteristics among Baldrige Award winners have coincided with the implementation of quality improvement programmes, these improvements have not always resulted in financial success. Firms should therefore view quality improvement programmes as a method for building a strong competitive foundation, not as a panacea guaranteed to result in economic health.

A review of the order release policy research

Reviews a critical aspect of job shop scheduling research, namely the decision regarding release timing of orders to the manufacturing shopfloor. Covers articles specifically addressing the order release problem; the information should prove helpful for researchers employing order release policies in their research. The release decision literature is classified into three areas: descriptive studies including case and survey research, analytical or optimization‐based research, and simulations of theoretical and empirically derived job shops. Presents tables describing the release rules and summarizing the characteristics of the simulation research. Identifies a number of topics within the order release research area in need of further investigation, including the comparison of larger sets of release rules, the use of more realistic simulation models such as the dual resource constrained job shop model, the need for further empirical identification of release policies, and the use of release policies that c...

Comparing practices for capturing bank customer feedback ‐ Internet versus traditional banking

Customer feedback capabilities and mechanisms were identified and evaluated in30 bank and credit union sites in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Additionally, 82 US Internet bank sites were identified and evaluated withrespect to their customer feedback capabilities. Comparisons were made between the brick/mortar and Internet banks and their respective feedback mechanisms. While this study identified a number of value‐enhancing customer feedback characteristics employed in banks, many of these financial institutions were found to be lacking even the most basic methods of feedback collection. Suggestions for improvement and areas for future research were included in the study.

THE SCOPE AND SPAN OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT.

Studies on supply chain management suggest that the scope of business processes being coordinated across supply chains is broad. However, little empirical evidence exists that corroborates such claims. In this study executives randomly selected from a diverse array of industries were surveyed to determine the scope of processes that are being integrated across organizational borders, the extent to which they are being jointly managed, and the span in terms of the number of tiers across which they are being managed. The results indicate that a large proportion of companies that practice supply chain management are attempting to integrate logistics, marketing, and operations‐oriented processes with those of other companies in their supply chains. Also, the span of a companys supply chain management efforts significantly relates to the extent to which it jointly manages business processes with other firms.

A study of successful quality improvement programs in the transportation industry

This article presents the findings of a comprehensive, exploratory survey concerning transportation quality improvement programs. Various quality improvement program dimensions were compared among two groups of respondents: those who experienced market share increases or cost decreases associated with the quality programs, and those who did not. The survey examined firms’ general focus on quality and customers, the use and design of formal quality improvement programs, and the success and current status of these programs. A number of significant quality program differences were found when comparing the two groups, including differences in top management support, benchmarking practices, customer interaction, and program design elements.

An empirical study of customer comment card quality and design characteristics

The use of comment cards is a very popular method for obtaining customer feedback in the hospitality industry. An investigation was made regarding the current status of comment card usage in hotel‐restaurants offering high quality, Sunday champagne buffets, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Cards were assessed with regard to frequency and mode of availability, information content, service quality, card design, and management follow‐up. Although 81 per cent of the buffets made use of comment cards, problems were found with accessibility, comprehensiveness of information, questionnaire design principles and frequency of call‐backs.

A study of US machine shops with just‐in‐time customers

Presents the findings of a comprehensive survey conducted among a wide variety of US machine shops. The objectives of the study were to develop the literature‐based just‐in‐time (JIT) machine shop model and to study empirically the changes taking place in the operation of machine shops in response to increasing demands by customers for JIT deliveries of products. Determines basic facility operating characteristics, machine operator characteristics, shopfloor control policies, and overall shop performance characteristics of machine shops having a significant level of sales to JIT customers. Discusses these findings with respect to the JIT machine shop model described in the previous literature. Supplies descriptive information for machine shops having little or no sales to JIT customers, to identify operating differences between the two classes of machine shops.

A Framework for Quality Improvement in the Transportation Industry

Over the past 10 years, quality management has become an important strategic tool for manufacturing and service firms striving to attain competitive success. Numerous studies have documented various elements of quality management and the requirements for successful quality programs in the manufacturing industry. However, there has been a lack of basic and applied quality management research in most service industries. The transportation industry is one such service example. In this research, a survey was used to examine 18 quality practices within the transportation industry and relate these quality initiatives to various success elements of the transportation quality programs. Hypotheses were tested through the use of Bonferroni multiple range tests, bivariate correlation, factor analysis, and multiple linear regression of survey data gathered from within the transportation industry. The survey results showed that many of the quality practices in the transportation industry were positively correlated with firm performance. Multiple linear regression also indicated that both strategic and operations initiatives identified from the literature affected the success of the transportation quality programs. One implication is that transportation organizations should seek to integrate their strategic goals and quality practices to enhance competitive advantage.