Mickey Howard

Automotive e-hubs: Exploring Motivations and Barriers to Collaboration and Interaction

Business-to-business electronic marketplaces or ‘e-hubs’ ‘are increasingly being adopted by organizations seeking to achieve dramatic reductions in cost. While initially heralded in such industries as the automotive sector as the key to restructuring old economy firms, the claims for e-hubs appear optimistic. This paper explores collaboration and interaction by examining four cases of e-hub adoption by vehicle manufacturers and suppliers. A conceptual framework emerges from this examination that helps to assess the real benefits of electronic applications—not the hyperbole—by revealing firm and industry level motivations and barriers. The framework explains the dissonance between expected and realised benefits, and extends the literature on IS barriers. The investigation concludes with recommendations for how best to adopt e-hubs in terms of supply topology, buyer–supplier relationships, leadership, and the threat of disbenefit from e-hubs. q 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Competing through operations and supply: The role of classic and extended resource-based advantage

Purpose – The paper seeks to analyze the evolution of competitive advantage using both “classic” and “extended” resource‐based theory (RBT). The aim is to examine the different ways in which “classic” and “extended” resource‐based advantage develops and how they might combine to create long‐term advantage.Design/methodology/approach – A single case study method is used to examine the process by which competitive advantage has accumulated over a 50‐year period at Food Services Group Inc., a highly successful food service company based on the West Coast of the USA with an annual growth rate currently running at 10 percent.Findings – Preliminary conclusions suggest support for the sequential, iterative, and slow‐cycle development model associated with proprietary bounded resources and, the strategic resource‐rigidity paradox. The work also highlights preliminary evidence for a faster cycle development process possible with inter‐firm resources associated with extended resource‐based theory (ERBT) and, long‐r...

Contracting for complex performance in markets of few buyers and sellers: the case of military procurement

Purpose – The aim of the paper is to identify and review the impact and challenges of new contractual arrangements on UK military procurement and other limited or oligopolistic markets. Design/methodology/approach – The unit of analysis is the large-scale procurement programme. Two cases of major military platforms (naval and air defence) examine through-life maintenance or “contracting for availability” and build theory on procuring complex performance (PCP). Propositions are developed from the literature then tested and extended from the case analysis, supported by 35 interviews from buyer and supplier representatives. Findings – Examining UK military platform procurement reveals a perspective not present in fast moving high volume supply chains. In oligopolistic markets such as defence, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) represents a market of one, seeking ambitious and non-incremental innovation from the prime contractor during the procurement process. The new contractual arrangements show an increasing sh...

Procuring complex performance : studies of innovation in product-service management

Introduction. Procuring Complex Performance: Studies of Innovation in Product-Service Management Mickey Howard and Nigel Caldwell Part 1: Conceptual Underpinnings 1. Contracts, Relationships and Integration: Towards a Model of the Procurement of Complex Performance Michael Lewis and Jens Roehrich 2. Commissions and Concessions: A Brief History of Contracting for Complexity in the Public Sector Gary L. Sturgess 3. Contracts and Incentives in the Construction Sector Will Hughes, Wisdom Kwawu and Jan-Bertram Hillig 4. Complex Performance, Process Modularity and the Spatial Configuration of Production Luis Araujo and Martin Spring Part 2: Application and Cases 5. Business Models for Complex Performance: Procuring Aerospace Engineering Design Services Martin Spring and Katy Mason 6. Learning to Procure Complex Performance: A Comparative Study of Highways Agencies in the UK and Netherlands Andreas Hartmann, Andrew Davies and Lars Frederiksen 7. Supply Management in Naval Defence: The Case for PCP Mickey Howard and Joe Miemczyk 8. Delivering Innovation in Hospital Design: Finance, Contracts and the Institutional Context James Barlow et. al. 9. Learning to Deliver a Mega Project: The Case of Heathrow Terminal 5. Tim Brady and Andrew Davies Part 3: Lessons and Implications 10. Product-Service Innovation: Reframing the Buyer-Customer Landscape John Bessant, Mickey Howard and Nigel Caldwell 11. Lessons in Procuring Complex Services Wendy van der Valk and Finn Wynstra 12. Conclusions and Commentary Nigel Caldwell and Mickey Howard

Automotive Industry Information Systems: From Mass Production to Build-to-Order

Building cars to customer order has been the goal of volume vehicle manufacturers since the birth of mass production. Eliminating the vast stocks of unsold vehicles held in distribution parks around the world represents potential savings worth billions, yet the current supply chain resembles islands of control, driven by production push. Despite recent advances in information technology offering total visibility and real-time information flow, transforming an “old world†industry to adopt customer responsiveness and build-to-order represents a significant step change. This requires overcoming barriers both within and between supply partners and at all levels of the supply chain. Yet, what are these barriers really like and how can the industry overcome them?

Dynamic development and execution of closed-loop supply chains: a natural resource-based view

Purpose This research reflects on recent closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) practices using a natural resource-based (NRBV) and dynamic capabilities (DC) perspective. Design/methodology/approach Two empirical case studies of CLSC exemplars are used to discuss the theoretical relevance of these views. Findings Shows how strategic resources help companies in two sectors achieve successful CLSC designs. Strategic supply chain collaboration is an important success factor but also presents a number of challenges. The NRBV is used to explain the importance of new resources in technology, knowledge and relationships, and stresses the role of DCs to constantly address changes in the business environment to renew these strategic resources. Research limitations/implications This research elaborates on NRBV theory related to CLSCs and reinforces the inclusion of DCs. It specifies the application of NRBV in the context of textiles and carpet manufacture, and highlights the inherent conflicts in seeking value while moving toward sustainable development. Practical implications Investments in technical and operational resources are required to create CLSCs. Pure closed-loop applications are impractical, requiring relationships with multiple external partners to obtain supply and demand for recycled products. Originality/value Provides insights into the constituent resources needed for successful CLSCs. Helps move CLSC research from a tactical logistics problem to a problem of strategic resources and relational capabilities: what we term ‘dynamic supply chain execution’. Our paper develops a framework for transitioning towards CLSCs, underlining the importance of co-development and forging new relationships through commitment to supply chain redesign, co-evolution with customers and suppliers, and control of supply chain activities.

Towards the 3Daycar: vehicle design and its impact on rapid build-to-order

This paper identifies the key technological opportunities for rapid build-to-order in vehicle design. It questions the ability of conventional volume car production methods to deliver total customer order fulfilment. It examines the link between body construction, vehicle complexity and capacity as a means of reducing the current average 48-day lead time, from order placement through manufacture to delivery to the customer. Four case studies of new models at European automotive manufacturing plants suggest that emerging technology offers a significant contribution towards meeting customer demand and shortening order-to-delivery lead time.

The innovation game: lessons in strategy and managing operations

Purpose – This paper seeks to present a teaching tool (the Innovation Game) which aims to demonstrate the challenges of developing an effective innovation strategy in the context of new product development. The goal of the game is to enable participants to experience how strategic and operational choices made in relation to innovation strategy are interrelated and how these choices can impact on new product development success. Specifically the paper aims to explore the impact of choices made in relation to capability accumulation, capacity management and product‐portfolio management.Design/methodology/approach – After presenting the learning objectives for the game with the support of relevant literature, the paper describes the design of the game and the context in which it was played. The paper reviews feedback (learning outcomes) from formal reflective post‐game sessions with participants. This feedback indicates that the learning objectives have been satisfied.Findings – Through experiential learning...

Collaboration and the ‘3DayCar’: a study of automotive ICT adoption

The 3DayCar programme reveals the principle source of delay during the order fulfilment process in the automotive industry as information processing not manufacturing. This suggests that information and communication technologies (ICT) are crucial in re-shaping industry structure towards customer responsiveness and building to order. This paper reports on the findings of a longitudinal study during a critical period for the industry where firms adopting web-enabled ICT seek to increase inter-organizational collaboration and gain competitive advantage over other supply chains. In all, 75 interviews across 28 firms examine the adoption of business-to-business (B2B) e-procurement and supply systems by vehicle manufacturers (VMs) and suppliers. Forms of organization are represented as a map of industry structure showing supply relationships and firm affiliation to B2B applications. VMs have tended to adopt a short-term price-driven approach using e-hubs and webEDI (electronic data interchange) in their attempts to control cost. Suppliers are concerned over an apparent disregard for firm autonomy, particularly those who have launched ICT projects of their own. Recommendations for the future are considered in light of what such large-scale efforts imply for design, deployment, and uses of ICT in industry settings.

Investigating the Intangible: Lessons Learnt from Research into Automotive Inter-organisational IT Systems

The role of Information Technology (IT) as a source of competitive advantage and enabler of advanced supply chain management in inter-organisational systems is hardly in question. E-commerce, trade-exchanges and online transactions are just a few of these enabling features. The thrust and volume of studies reflect this critical role, yet recent research reflects more qualitative and case-based research designs. This is in part due to the intangible nature of IT systems, and the resulting difficulties of visualisation and quantification. This paper reviews the main research methods in IT, based on the lessons learnt from a three-year research programme in the automotive industry, and concludes with a generic framework on how both qualitative and quantitative methods can be integrated to provide a more holistic understanding of IT in inter-organisational systems.