Maruf Hasan

The relationship between total quality management practices and organisational performance in service organisations

Quality is an effective strategic weapon for improving productivity in the organization. A quality management framework based on the attribute theory of service quality was used to show how the organisational performance is affected by various quality dimensions. Using a questionnaire survey and subsequent data analysis, an empirically valid and reliable measurement instrument of quality dimensions was developed. Several multiple regression models were developed which indicated that the dimensions “role of top management” and “customer satisfaction” are among the most important in terms of their effect on organisational performance.

Exploring deeper structures in manufacturing strategy formation processes: a qualitative inquiry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explicate deeper structures in manufacturing strategy (MS) formation processes, in order to advance process understanding. This would be useful in identifying and nurturing appropriate forms of MS formation within specific organisational settings.Design/methodology/approach – Nine case studies in the Australian metal products, machinery and equipment manufacturing sectors, guided by the grounded theory approach.Findings – Deeper structures in MS processes represent linear and parallel, convergent and divergent, sequential and iterative progression of strategic initiatives across four broad phases identified as: initiation, consolidation, commitment and realization. The multiple progressions are explained by the nature of strategic initiatives, the causal relationships between the phases or modes and the influence of internal and external organisational contextual factors. The aggregate patterns are presented in the form of a conceptual model.Research limitations/i...

Implementation of ERP of the Australian manufacturing companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons for implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in Australia and the issues encountered during the course of implementation.Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey is conducted, research frame is selected from the Australian manufacturing sector and a final list of 350 Australian manufacturing companies was prepared from which 79 responses were received, representing a response rate of 23 per cent.Findings – The paper finds that the planned and actual use of ERP systems is pervasive in the Australian manufacturing sector, with both small and large companies implementing or planning to implement an ERP system. It was also revealed that ERP system implementation benefits are concentrated more in quickly providing high‐quality information within firm.Research limitations/implications – Respondents are limited to Australian companies, and results may be regional in nature. Further study is suggested to benchmark the res...

Impact of Initial Level and Growth Rate in Multiplicative HW Model on Bullwhip Effect in a Supply Chain

Bullwhip effect (BWE) in a supply chain, attributed as the amplification of variance of demand along its route of propagation, compels a manufacturer to bear additional costs in the form of non-optimal resource usage. An accurate forecasting approach for demand prediction can be instrumental in mitigating the BWE. Numerous researchers have attempted to assess the impact of several forecasting approaches such as Moving Average, Single, Double and Triple Exponential Smoothing models, ARIMA, AI-based methods on BWE. However, Multiplicative Holt-Winters approach in mitigating the BWE is not widely exploited particularly with respect to the influence of the initial values of the level and growth rate of this approach. Hence, in this research endeavour, an attempt is made to study the impact of these parameters of the Multiplicative Holt-Winters model on the bullwhip effect in a two-echelon supply chain. Accordingly a simulation is performed in MS Excel along with ANOVA to reveal the significance of the parametric values. The preliminary results demonstrate that the initial values of the level have a significant impact over the bullwhip effect whereas the initial values of the growth rate maintain a U-type relationship. Thus, a scope is revealed for further study to improve the widely adopted Multiplicative Holt-Winters forecasting approach for tackling the BWE through exploration of optimal conditions.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Garment Industry Supply Chain

There has been a growing concern over the ready-made garment (RMG) industry in their environmental and social performance. Each stakeholder involved in the garment supply chain has embarked on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices in responding to the criticism of poor working conditions. This thesis reviews the history of the RMG industry and highlights the problems such as environmental issues, workers’ low wages and hazardous work environment raised with the development of the garment industry in developing countries. CSR concept is reviewed from the aspects of its importance, implementation and related challenges. Some of the main apparel exporters (e.g. China, India and Bangladesh) are analyzed in their current situation of the industry and related CSR practices. It is found that CSR is still at an early stage, regulations are generally not comprehensive and workers are in poor working conditions in the RMG industry of developing countries. Based on what are found in the different cases, the collaboration between each stakeholder seems of importance to improve current conditions. Not only garment manufacturers themselves, but also the government, buyers, none-government organizations (NGO) and consumers are responsible for supporting the RMG industry towards a more socially responsible direction. A framework is established to illustrate the relationship and necessary collaboration between the stakeholders.

The Application of the Service-Profit Chain in the Mobile Industry

In view of a lack of service benchmarking framework, this research aims to develop a holistic telecommunication services industry benchmarking framework based on the service-profit chain concept and the characteristics of the cellular industry. The framework is based on idea from relevant literature. The authors discovered that nine constructs including three input constructs (e.g., service provider, competitors, and customer), five intermediate constructs (e.g., customers perceptions, customer satisfaction (CS), customer trust (CT), customer loyalty (CL), and customer retention (CR)), and one output construct (e.g., profit) should be included in the model. In addition, contrary to previous works, it was found that each component of the service package (i.e., core, supplementary, and value-added services) should be considered as an individual element instead of a single complete service package. However, the nine constructs and their mutual links need to be tested and validated in the future. The main contribution of this research is the developed telecommunication services benchmarking framework linking together sources of sustainable competitive advantages - five intermediate constructs. While most researches tended to consider the complete service package as a single element, this work segregate the single package into several relevant service components. Hence, with limited resources, the relative level of impact of each service element on CS, CL, CR and profit could assist the formulation of service improvement efforts. In the other word, knowing the order-of-importance of service components, managements could allocate resources accordingly.

Logistics technology transfer process model

A consecutive number of studies on the adoption trend of logistics technology since 1988 revealed that logistics organizations are not in the frontier when it comes to adopting new technology and this delayed adoption creates an information gap. Given the integrative nature of logistics technology, failure to implement the technology successfully could result in writing off major investments in developing and implementing the technology or even in abandoning the strategic initiatives underpinned by these innovations. Consequently, the need to employ effective strategies and models to cope with these uncertainties is crucial. This research addresses the aspect of uncertainty in implementation success by process research models. Process research approach focuses on the sequence of events in the technology transfer process that occur over time. Through the use of optimal matching from natural science and cluster analysis, this research revealed four patterns that organizations follow when transferring logistics technology namely, formal minimalist, mutual adaptation, development concerned, and organizational roles dispenser. Analysis of the relationship between these patterns and success pointed to a set of crucial and necessary events which differ from one pattern to another.

Manufacturing in Australia: A historical perspective

The Australian manufacturing industry has been established for over two hundred years. In these two hundred years, manufacturing has grown from a small manufacturing industry that only satisfies the basic necessities of the colonial settlement; into a largely elaborate manufacturing industry wherein some subsectors Australia is a forerunner in the world. In this paper, historic and current issues that concern Australian manufacturing as a whole are investigated and recommendations are made to assist the manufacturing sector to be globally competitive and sustainable in the future.

An Empirical Study of Performance Measurement Systems in New Zealand Manufacturing Companies

Abstract In the current dynamic business environment performance measurement (PM) is increasingly important. Although financial measures have been the primary focus in the past these measures have outdated and are considered by some writers to be misleading and even harmful. Much more emphasis is being placed on non-financial measures in approaches such as the Balanced Scored and Integrated Performance Measurement Systems. To date there have been few empirical studies of the characteristics and indicators of the PM systems being used. This project surveyed 219 manufacturing companies to investigate the use of performance measurement system (PMS) in New Zealand. The low response rate does not allow any general conclusions to be drawn but there are indications that New Zealand manufacturers are adopting with an increasing emphasis on non-financial measures.