Kingshuk K. Sinha

Designing Work Within and Between Organizations

The design of work has been and will continue to be a central problem challenging organization theory and practice. The system of arrangements and procedures for doing work affects all workers every day throughout the world. Work is changing dramatically. In an increasingly global and knowledge-intensive economy, work design is no longer contained within an organization; it often transcends the boundaries of organizations and countries. These changes call for a renewed research focus on work design. Building on configuration and complexity perspectives, we propose a framework for studying work design. We argue that three issues require attention to advance the knowledge of work design: (1) defining the boundaries of work systems, (2) examining how the system is nested in a hierarchy within and between organizations, and (3) determining interactions between the elements of a work system. We propose a method of frontier analysis for identifying equifinal designs-the set of equally effective work designs for different combinations of inputs (situations or contexts) and outputs (performance criteria). When work designs are examined longitudinally, these methods permit an examination of adaptation processes on changing fitness landscapes, suggesting how work systems may increase, decrease, or sustain their relative performance over time.

Toward a theory of project interdependencies in high tech R&D environments

Abstract In today’s intensely competitive market place, high technology firms are challenged with the task of managing multiple-concurrent research and development (R&D) projects with constrained resources. As success in the business world depends on the ability to do more with less, it is important for these high technology firms to understand why certain projects consume less monetary resources but still achieve superior product development outcomes. To address this question, we develop a theoretical framework for understanding the interdependencies between projects and their relationship to project performance in a multiple-concurrent R&D environment. The framework is developed through multiple-case studies of projects undertaken by a Fortune 500 high technology manufacturing firm. The seven projects that comprised the sample for the multiple-case study were chosen from a larger portfolio of projects belonging to a technology group at the firm’s corporate R&D center. The choice of the seven projects was guided by a data envelopment analysis (DEA)-based project performance metric, also proposed in this paper.

The role of infrastructure practices in the effectiveness of JIT practices: implications for plant competitiveness

Previous research on JIT provides very little insight as to why the same JIT practices are able to foster competitiveness in one plant but fail to do the same in another plant. The premise of this research is that such failures are due to a lack of managerial concern regarding infrastructure practices needed for JIT. The current JIT literature on infrastructure design is largely prescriptive, but the prescriptions are not founded on systematic empirical investigation. In this paper, we examine the role of infrastructure practices in the effectiveness of JIT practices from three perspectives—universal, contingency, and configurational—with data from a study sample of 110 plants. The plants in the study sample belong to three industries—electronics, machinery, and transportation—and are located in three countries—US, Italy, and Japan. Our results support the contingency and the configurational perspectives. Specifically, the analyses based on the contingency perspective indicate that with the exception of manufacturing strategy, all other infrastructure practices—quality management, product technology, work integration system, and human resource management (HRM) policies—individually moderate the relationship between JIT practices and plant competitiveness. The analyses based on the configurational perspective indicate that synergy between JIT practices and infrastructure practices needs to be exploited to attain superior plant competitiveness.

Product Recalls in the Medical Device Industry: An Empirical Exploration of the Sources and Financial Consequences

Medical devices play an increasingly significant role in the delivery of health care today. However, persistent quality problems with medical devices and the associated recalls present potential health risks to patients and personnel using these devices. This study addresses three key issues in this regard. First, it empirically assesses the financial implications of medical device recalls to understand if these consequences are severe enough to deter firms from introducing potentially hazardous medical devices into the market, as can be inferred from the literature. Second, the study considers a cross section of medical device manufacturers to examine the effect of firm characteristics on the costs of poor quality. Third, in an attempt to explore the sources of recalls, this study investigates firm characteristics that are likely to be associated with device recalls. The econometric analyses in the study are based on data from manufacturers in the medical device industry over a four-year period (2002--2005). Contrary to our expectations, the findings of the study indicate that at an aggregate level, the market penalties for medical device recalls are not significant, i.e., at the aggregate level, the costs of poor quality are not severe. Furthermore, we find that the magnitude of financial consequences of device recalls is affected by the product scope, sales, growth prospects, and the capital structure of a firm. In our analyses exploring the sources of device recalls, we find that firms with a research and development focus, developing broader product portfolios, have a higher likelihood of device recalls. Also, we find that the likelihood of recalls decreases with prior recall experience, indicating the presence of learning. Implications of the study findings, limitations, and directions for future research are identified. This paper was accepted by Sampath Rajagopalan, operations and supply chain management.

Innovation implementation in high technology manufacturing: A chaos-theoretic empirical analysis

Abstract This paper conceptualizes the process of innovation implementation in high technology manufacturing, a natural setting of multiple and ongoing innovation implementation. Building on the developments in organizational learning theory, we frame the process of innovation implementation in high technology manufacturing as a problem of balancing between exploitation and exploration. Through the application of a logistic difference equation, we provide insights into the dynamics of balancing between exploitation and exploration, and show that innovation implementation in high technology manufacturing can be conceptualized as a chaotic process, in a scientific sense. Using time series data from a wafer fabrication plant, the high technology manufacturing plant that served as our research site over a period of 125 weeks, we test this conceptualization. We find empirical support for the conceptualization of innovation implementation in high technology manufacturing as a chaotic process. We discuss the managerial implications of our studys findings, and the directions for the future research.

A Product-Process Matrix for Electronic B2C Operations: Implications for the Delivery of Customer Value

Electronic business-to-customer (B2C) operations are making it possible for companies to deliver service products—conceptualized as bundles of physical goods, offline services, and digital content—to customers almost anywhere and at any time. In this article, the authors develop a product-process matrix for electronic B2C operations. The building blocks of the matrix are an electronic service product structure and an electronic service process structure. The electronic service product structure, characterized by the digital content of service products and the target market segment, defines four service product categories. The electronic service process structure, characterized by the flexibility of process technologies, defines four service process stages. Positions on the matrix capture the product-process interrelationships in electronic B2C operations. The authors present propositions relating customer value to positions on the product and process structures and on the matrix. They also present illustrative applications of the matrix to examine the B2C operations of two electronic food retailers.

Health Care Supply Chain Design: Toward Linking the Development and Delivery of Care Globally*

This article is motivated by the gap between the growing demand and available supply of high-quality, cost-effective, and timely health care, a problem faced not only by developing and underdeveloped countries but also by developed countries. The significance of this problem is heightened when the economy is in recession. In an attempt to address the problem, in this article, first, we conceptualize care as a bundle of goods, services, and experiences—including diet and exercise, drugs, devices, invasive procedures, new biologics, travel and lodging, and payment and reimbursement. We then adopt a macro, end-to-end, supply chain–centric view of the health care sector to link the development of care with the delivery of care. This macro, supply chain–centric view sheds light on the interdependencies between key industries from the upstream to the downstream of the health care supply chain. We propose a framework, the 3A-framework, that is founded on three constructs—affordability, access, and awareness—to inform the design of supply chain for the health care sector. We present an illustrative example of the framework toward designing the supply chain for implantable device–based care for cardiovascular diseases in developing countries. Specifically, the framework provides a lens for identifying an integrated system of continuous improvement and innovation initiatives relevant to bridging the gap between the demand and supply for high-quality, cost-effective, and timely care. Finally, we delineate directions of future research that are anchored in and follow from the developments documented in the article.

Improving pediatric cardiac surgical care in developing countries: matching resources to needs.

This article reviews a systematic approach to the design and support of pediatric cardiac surgery programs in the developing world with the guidance and strategies of Childrens HeartLink, an experienced non-government organization for more than 40 years. An algorithm with criteria for the selection of a partner site is outlined. A comprehensive education strategy from the physician to the allied health care provider is the mainstay for successful program development. In a partner program, the road to successful advancement and change depends on many factors, such as government support, hospital administration support, medical staff leadership, and a committed and motivated faculty with requisite skills, incentives, and resources. In addition to these factors, it is essential that the development effort includes considerations of environment (eg, governmental support, regulatory environment, and social structure) and health system (elements related to affordability, access, and awareness of care) that impact success. Partner programs should be willing to initiate a clinical database with the intent to analyze and critique their results to optimize quality assurance and improve outcomes.

Customization Strategies in Electronic Retailing: Implications of Customer Purchase Behavior*

In this article, we assess the implications of customer purchase behavior on customization in electronic retailing. We develop a classification scheme for customization strategies in electronic retailing. The classification scheme comprises three customization strategies: (i) transaction customization, (ii) decision customization, and (iii) product customization. We develop scales to measure each of the three customization strategies using a systematic four-stage scale development process. Building on the extant literature on customer purchase behavior, we design an experiment to examine the alignment of the customization strategies with three well-established product types: (i) convenience goods, (ii) shopping goods, and (iii) specialty goods, and its implications for customer value. The findings of the experiment indicate that there are significant differences in the customer value for the three customization strategies across the three product types. The contributions of the study, the managerial implications of the study findings, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Work-Team Implementation and Trajectories of Manufacturing Quality: A Longitudinal Field Study

The study examines the sustainability of manufacturing quality improvements following the implementation of work teams on production lines. We posit that the impact on manufacturing quality, measured as the defect rate trajectory, is monotonically nonincreasing over time and may, more specifically, assume the shape of an inverted S-curve. Employing a longitudinal research design, we investigate four work teams over a 28-month period in a field setting. Each team corresponds to one of the four interconnected production lines in an electromechanical assembly plant operated by a Fortune 500 firm. Results of our empirical analysis support the sustainability of quality improvements associated with work team implementation and partially support the S-shaped trajectory as the particular form of sustainability. However, variations in the manufacturing quality trajectories reflect the characteristics of the work team and the production line on which each the team is instituted. From the standpoint of practice, this study highlights the importance of work-team design and implementation decisions, especially the need to be proactive in identifying and resolving initial implementation difficulties.