Manuela Pérez

Lean indicators and manufacturing strategies

Develops and tests an integrated check‐list to assess manufacturing changes towards lean production. Using the results from a survey to manufacturing plants located in the Spanish region of Aragon, analyzes which lean production indicators are more used to assess the company’s improvements in their production systems, and the determinants on the use of these indicators.

Teleworking and workplace flexibility: a study of impact on firm performance

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between teleworking adoption, workplace flexibility, and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical survey of a representative sample of 479 small‐ and medium‐sized firms. Data gathered through interviews with company managers using a structured questionnaire. A t‐test used to analyse the mean differences of flexibility dimensions between companies, and a regression analysis used to study the impact of teleworking and other flexible workplace practices on firm performance. Findings – Firm performance is positively related to the use of teleworking, flexitime, contingent work and spatial decentralisation. Teleworking firms use more flexitime, have more employees involved in job design and planning, are more intensively managed by results, and use more variable compensation. The relationship of teleworking and external workplace flexibility is not so conclusive. Measures of external flexibility like subcontracting or contingent work are not associated with teleworking but spatial decentralisation is positively associated. Research limitations/implications – A limitation of this research is the measurement of flexibility at the firm level and the use of cross‐sectional data. To the extent that organisations may obtain functional and numerical flexibility by means of their relations to other organisations in networks, the most appropriate unit of analysis may be the network which it has implications for future longitudinal studies. Practical implications – Flexibility is a source of competitive advantage. Enhancing flexibility may be costly in the short run, but it gets easier over time. Firms become more flexible because their managers emphasise the importance of flexibility and because they practice being flexible. A self‐reinforcing process then begins. The relationships between the different forms of flexibility are important to understand the interaction between the dynamic control capacity of management and the responsiveness of the organisation. Originality/value – The article analyses the relationship between teleworking adoption and other flexibility dimensions.

A technology acceptance model of innovation adoption: the case of teleworking

This paper develops a model of teleworking adoption based on the principles of the technology acceptance model. The framework integrates three categories of factors influencing on teleworking adoption: technological, human resources, and organisational factors. The model fills a gap in the teleworking literature by developing research propositions that take into account different theoretical perspectives to study teleworking adoption.

Supplier relations and flexibility in the Spanish automotive industry

Analyses buyer‐supplier relationships in the Spanish automotive industry. Nearly half of the companies interviewed co‐operate with customers, suppliers, and technological centres to improve their production processes, but only two companies co‐operate with their customers in component development and design. The use of just‐in‐time delivery depends on the percentage of trained employees, the use of common components and the adoption of flexible automation. A classification of the cases studied is made along a number of buyer‐supplier partnership dimensions.

Analysis of internal and external labour mobility: A model of job‐related and non‐related factors

This paper shows the results of a survey to Spanish employees about labour mobility and its determinants. Job non‐related factors are more significant than job related factors to explain the employees’ labour mobility. The employees perceptions about job satisfaction, pay fairness, and work‐family conflict are more explanatory of labour mobility than traditional job‐related factors like pay or social benefits.

The use of EDI for interorganisational co‐operation and co‐ordination in the supply chain

This article analyses the moderation effect of co‐operation on electronic data interchange (EDI) adoption, and the influence of EDI use on the co‐ordinating activities in the automotive supply chain. The empirical results from a survey of 116 Spanish automotive suppliers indicate that EDI adopters perceive more operational benefits, more external pressure and mutual understanding, and fewer technical and organisational difficulties than do non‐adopters of EDI. The use of EDI is greater among suppliers that perceive more strategic benefits and fewer cost and organisational difficulties, have a proactive management, are less dependence on suppliers, and adopt EDI earlier. Co‐operation is a moderator of organisational difficulties for EDI adoption and use, and strategic benefits for the use of EDI. The results also show that companies use EDI to become more co‐ordinated with suppliers and customers.

The environmental impacts of teleworking

This paper analyses the environmental impacts of teleworking. Some empirical studies indicate a positive relationship between the use of teleworking and the reduction of commuting and pollution. The article discusses the variables that impact on the use of teleworking in urban environments, and shows a case estimation for a Spanish city.

The organizational implications of human resources managers’ perception of teleworking

Human resource managers are prime decision‐makers in the adoption of teleworking. This paper shows the results of an empirical study of the perceptions of HR managers about the feasibility of teleworking within their organizations. Teleworking feasibility is significantly explained by the percentage of tasks suitable to teleworking, the employees’ involvement in task design and programming, the percentage of salespeople in the workforce, the degree of work‐location sharing for teleworking, the use of information and communication technologies, and the degree of innovation. HR managers in small companies perceive a greater feasibility than HR managers in large companies.

The use of lean indicators for operations management in services

This paper develops a framework model of lean indicators to assess the changes towards leanness in services. The paper also reports the results of a survey of services located in the Spanish region of Aragon, to identify the use of these lean indicators as well as some of their driving factors.

Gender differences of mobility: analysis of job and work‐family factors

This paper analyzes the results of a survey about labor mobility of a sample of 1,182 Spanish employees. The results indicate that women have lower mobility than men, and that the mobility of men and women is explained by different factors. The employee’s perceptions about job satisfaction, pay fairness, and employment stability are also more explicative of job mobility than traditional job‐related factors, such as wages or training. These results have managerial implications for the segmentation of men and women in the labor market.