José Antonio Domínguez Machuca

Performance measurement systems, competitive priorities, and advanced manufacturing technology

Purpose – When acquiring advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT), the greatest caution should be taken regarding the performance measurement system to be used: the decision regarding new investments should not be conditioned by the excessive use of financial indicators to the detriment of the strategic objectives that motivated the investments. It is intended to analyze the aeronautical sector, for which the purchase of AMT is qualifying criteria, with two intentions: first, to identify the performance measurement systems that are used, and second, to test their correspondence with the objectives that motivated the investments.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of the 20 plants in the population was conducted via a postal questionnaire plus a structured interview. The unit of analysis has been maintained through the triangulation of data sources.Findings – The findings suggest that both financial and non‐financial indicators are used, with the latter gaining predominance over the former on some occa...

Antecedents and dimensions of supply chain robustness: a systematic literature review

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide groundwork for an emerging theory of supply chain robustness – which has been conceptualized as a dimension of supply chain resilience – through reviewing and synthesizing related yet disconnected studies. The paper develops a formal definition of supply chain robustness to build a framework that captures the dimensions, antecedents and moderators of the construct as discussed in the literature. Design/methodology/approach – The authors apply a systematic literature review approach. In order to reduce researcher bias, they involve a team of academics, librarians and managers. Findings – The paper first, provides a formal definition of supply chain robustness; second, builds a theoretical framework of supply chain robustness that augments both causal and descriptive knowledge; third,shows how findings in this review support practice; and fourth,reveals methodological insights on the use of journal rankings in reviews. Research limitations/implications – At ...

Transparent-box business simulators: an aid to manage the complexity of organizations

The various methods and tools most commonly used for management training at the present time are insufficient to deal with the complexity of organizations. It seems clear that the system dynamics (SD) approach would allow the treatment of complexity in a more realistic way. The possibility of relating the system’s structure to its behavior is one of the main features of SD because it helps to understand the reasons behind this behavior and should favor decision making and an understanding of the phenomena observed. This possibility is offered by transparent-box business simulators that, in this way, help to overcome the deficiencies of other education tools.

A computerized network version of the Beer Game via the Internet

In this article we present a friendly electronic version of the Beer Game, which works over a network and via the Internet as well as in a simple computer. This game can be used: to replace the board game and to perform all the bureaucratic tasks (calculation, graphs, etc.); for briefing and debriefing; for distance learning and training instructors over the Internet. An additional use of the game is to make clear some of the advantages of the use of the EDI for sending commercial documents in order to aid in the dissemination of this advanced telecommunications system.

Adopting and implementing advanced manufacturing technology: new data on key factors from the aeronautical industry

The objective of this paper is to take a greater in-depth look at which factors might be considered to be key to the performance of investments made in advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT), given their supposed positive effects, and on the influence that the time these factors are taken into account during the adoption and implementation process can have on that relationship. It provides a specially devised empirical analysis in the aeronautical sector in the south of Spain. A survey of the 20 plants in the population was conducted via a postal questionnaire between July 1999 and April 2001, with a structured interview being held at a later date. The testing of hypotheses was performed by applying the t-test to independent samples. The results show that the only factor that has a clear and positive effect on performance is the training of personnel. It can also be seen that a lack of strategic planning contributes to dampening the effects of investments. These results may be of some help to management staff and public administrators in charge of promoting the process of technological innovation, by indicating actions that need to be taken in order to successfully adopt and implement AMT.

An empirical study of POM teaching in Spanish universities (II)

Production/operations management (POM) is today a key element for the competitivity of companies, and the demand by Spanish companies for university graduates qualified in this area is significant. Therefore, in this discipline, the correct education and training of future business managers is an evident need to be addressed; however, little is known about the current situation of POM teaching in Spanish universities. Hence, to obtain reliable and useful data, a comprehensive empirical study of the total population of university teachers of this discipline in Spain has been undertaken. The present paper concentrates first on the analysis of the characteristics of the POM faculty in Spanish universities, then considers the teaching and assessment methods and the didactic material employed in the teaching of this discipline. In both cases, a critical analysis has been made of the various problems observed, and alternative solutions have been proposed. The analysis of the content of POM programs is the subject of another article published in this journal.

An empirical study of POM teaching in Spanish universities (I): Content of POM courses

Production and operations management (POM) is a key factor for the competitiveness of any business and university training in POM is a critical element in the preparation of future managers. The course contents, the teaching staff and the teaching methodology used are three of the most important aspects of successful training. These aspects have been explored in an empirical study of the current status of the teaching of POM in Spanish universities, based on a survey of the total population of instructors of this discipline. This is the first study to reveal an in‐depth and comprehensive picture of this topic in a country of the European Union, and it is hoped that this will encourage analogous studies of other countries in Europe and beyond. In the present paper, we shall discuss the more relevant results in respect of the content of POM programs being taught; we illustrate the type of instruction available in Spanish universities, indicate the differences between the main academic degrees in which the discipline figures, and undertake a constructive critical analysis. The teaching staff and methodologies used are analyzed in another article in this journal.

SITMECOM 1.0 PC: a transparent-box multifunctional simulator of competing companies

In this article, the authors illustrate, through the description of the functions of the simulator SITMECOM 1.0 PC, a design philosophy for business simulators. They pursue three basic objectives: to promote the system dynamics approach for business management, to facilitate self-learning, and to provide a user-friendly interface that helps in attaining these goals. In the authors’ opinion, this transparent-box simulator offers clear advantages over traditional business games.

Analysis of interaction fit between manufacturing strategy and technology management and its impact on performance

Purpose – Using the matching/difference perspective, the purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction fit between a set of managerial practices from manufacturing strategy (MS) and another set from technology management (TM) and the link of this fit to operational performance.Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies multiple statistical methods to a database of an international sample of plants in the auto supplier sector to explore (deviation score analysis/multiple linear regression) and confirm (correlation and variance subgroup analysis) whether a matching model presents organisational disequilibrium, where states of fit are related to effectively higher performance than states of misfit.Findings – Results from regression show that there were no states of misfit between the levels of both manufacturing practice sets/areas. This means that there are no significant differences in performance that may be tested for matching interaction. However, subgroup analysis provides greater detail on ...

POM facing the new millennium

Before introducing the articles in this special issue, and taking the First World Conference on Operations Management as an example, the author proposes a new‐conference product, an innovation in service design and implementation. He describes nine key factors which need to be taken into account in order to achieve outstanding success in this kind of service.