Kate Blackmon

Benchmarking and operational performance: some empirical results

Investigates the link between benchmarking and operational performance using a sample of over 600 European manufacturing sites. Benchmarking is linked to the identification and adoption of improved operational practices, an increased understanding of competitive positioning, and the larger context of the “learning organization”. Shows that benchmarking may indeed contribute to improved operational performance, first through improving the firm’s understanding of its competitive position and its strengths and weaknesses, and second through providing a systematic process for effecting change. Learning organizations were more likely to benchmark than other firms.

A Tale of Two Countries’ Conservatism, Service Quality, and Feedback on Customer Satisfaction

This article compares the influence of service quality on customer satisfaction in the United Kingdom and the United States and considers the moderating effect of systematic customer feedback and complaint processes. Propositions are developed concerning country differences based on British conservatism. Hypotheses were tested using data from the International Service Study. The results support the conservatism hypothesis, empirically demonstrating that customer reaction to good service is similar, but U.K. and U.S. customers tend to respond differently to poor service encounters based on cultural norms. The authors propose that customer feedback is an often-overlooked factor in explaining the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. Much valuable customer feedback may be unrealized in Britain, thus losing the opportunity to improve service design and delivery and creating a vicious cycle. Without intervention, British service firms will continue to deliver levels of service lower than would be acceptable in the United States.

Small firms under Microscope: international differences in production/operations management practices and performance

Although the importance of operations in reaching world-class competitiveness has been highlighted in the operations management literature, small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) have been found to have a poor uptake of world-class practices. Reports on a study of 285 SMEs located in Italy, the UK, and other northern European countries. The data are taken from the MICROSCOPE facilitated self-assessment benchmarking database, which studied operations practices and performance in small firms. The level of world-class practices and performance was compared across companies by company size and by country of origin. Significant differences were found between “micro” companies (fewer than 20 employees) and larger companies (between 20 and 200 employees). Other significant differences were found by country, which may be attributed to differences in regional policies and infrastructures regarding small firms.

Differences in manufacturing strategy decisions between Japanese and Western manufacturing plants: the role of strategic time orientation

In part, cultural differences between Japan and the West have been cited as contributing to fundamentally different manufacturing strategy orientations. One cultural difference is psychological attitudes toward time, which may lead to different emphases on long-term and short-term goals and objectives, i.e., differing strategic time orientations. This paper reports on the analysis of data from an international research study of manufacturing strategy that gathered data from 600 companies in 20 countries. Data on the rates of adoption of strategic manufacturing practices and links between corporate and manufacturing strategy were analysed to test for differences. The results show strong contrasts between Japan and the West and are consistent with a difference in strategic time orientation between the two regions.

The contribution of manufacturing strategy involvement and alignment to world-class manufacturing performance

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore links between the process of strategy formulation and subsequent performance in operations within firms. Design/methodology/approach - An in-depth literature review on resource-based and operations strategy naturally led to three hypotheses. These are then tested using evidence from field-based case studies of manufacturing/assembly plants in the computer industry. Findings - The research suggests that world-class plants incorporate both strategic operations content and strategic operations processes, whilst low-performing plants do not. Practical implications - It is argued that involving manufacturing/operations managers in the strategic planning process helps align manufacturing and business strategy, and this alignment is associated with higher manufacturing performance. This should be of interest to operations managers and strategists within firms. Originality/value - By linking strategic alignment and the manufacturing strategy process to world-class manufacturing practices and performance, this research adds a new dimension to the study of world-class manufacturing and more generally to the best practices and practice-performance debates.

The impact of national and parent company origin on world‐class manufacturing: Findings from Britain and Germany

Presents the results of a study examining differences in world‐class manufacturing practices and performance between the UK and Germany, based on a sample of more than 500 German and British manufacturing plants. Suggests that although German superiority persists in many areas, it may not be as great as generally assumed. While at the overall level, country‐of‐origin effects are important, many of the plant sites sampled were part of multinational organizations. Also examines how much of the difference in manufacturing practices and performance at the site level might be attributed to foreign direct investment in manufacturing. Concludes that parent origin does have a significant effect at the site level.

Murine susceptibility to organophosphorus-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN)☆

This study reports that CD-1 strain mice are neuropathologically and biochemically responsive to acute doses of tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate (TOCP). Young (25-30 g) male and female animals were exposed (po) to a single dose of TOCP (580-3480 mg/kg) and sampled for neurotoxic esterase (NTE) activity at 24 and 44 hr postexposure and for neuropathic damage 14 days later. Biochemically, high intragroup variability existed at the lower doses, and at higher levels of TOCP exposure (i.e., greater than or equal to 1160 mg/kg), mean brain NTE inhibition never exceeded 68%. Hen and mouse brain NTE activity, assayed in vitro for sensitivity to inhibition by tolyl saligenin phosphate (TSP), the active neurotoxic metabolite of TOCP, showed similar IC50 values. Histologically, highly variable spinal cord damage was recorded throughout treatment groups and mean damage scores followed a dose-response pattern with no apparent correlation to threshold (i.e., greater than or equal to 65%) inhibition of brain NTE activity. Topographically, axonal degeneration in the mouse spinal cord predominated in the lateral and ventral columns of the upper cervical cord. Unlike the rat, which displays degeneration in the upper cervical cords dorsal columns (i.e., gracilis fasciculus) in response to TOCP intoxication, treated mice showed minimal damage to this tract. To examine this discrepancy further, ultrastructural morphometric analysis of axon diameters in the cervical cord was performed in control mice and rats. These results indicated that in both species, the largest diameter (greater than or equal to 4 microns) axons are housed in the ventral columns of the cervical spinal cord, suggesting that axon length and diameter may not be the only criteria underlying fiber tract vulnerability in OPIDN.

Worlds apart? — a look at the operations management area in the US, UK and Scandinavia

This paper is concerned with the discipline of Operations Management. The paper looks at the convergence and divergence of research in OM in Scandinavia, the US, and the UK. The three different research traditions are described and analysed separately and then compared and contrasted. A short example is presented from the management of advanced technology literature. A synthesis is offered that locates the three traditions on Jick’s “three-horned dilemma”. Opportunities for researchers in each tradition to learn from the others are described.

Service competitiveness – An international benchmarking comparison of service practice and performance in Germany, UK and USA

This paper provides a cross‐country examination of service management practice and performance of service organizations in the UK, USA and Germany. The findings reported are based on a sample of firms from the international service study (ISS) from four service sectors: financial services, professional services, hotels, and utilities. The paper argues that generally there are differences in services management practices and performance and, more specifically, that service quality performance may be explained by the nature and market dynamics of the service sector within the individual countries.

Service Competitiveness – An Anglo-US Study

This article reports on the latest in a series of international comparisons of management practices and performance outcomes of industries in various countries. Here, it is the service industries in the UK and the US which come under the microscope. Among the companies surveyed, there were more world-class performers in the US than the UK, but also more low performers. The concluding part of the article is diagnostic – the authors also suggest measures which could improve performance.