Nicholas C. Georgantzas

Strategic Thrust of Manufacturing Automation Decisions: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract American manufacturing firms increasingly consider automation as the means to increase productivity and improve their competitiveness. However, decisions to automate do not always produce the expected results and lead to further frustration. The so called “islands of automation” are often blamed for such failures and other technological alternatives such as computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) are adopted on a piece-meal fashion. This paper examines the adoption of new technology in general, and die decision to automate in particular, from a strategic perspective. In order to deal with the underlying complexities of automation, a conceptual framework is developed that can guide decision makers through a step-by-step process. Within an experimental analysis context, a decision support system is built that uses the “Expert Choice” cell to test the effectiveness of the introduced framework. The results indicate that the studys method can greatly enhance the decision making capabilities of firms ...

Judgement and supply chain dynamics

Forecasting demand at the individual stock-keeping-unit (SKU) level often necessitates the use of statistical methods, such as exponential smoothing. In some organizations, however, statistical forecasts will be subject to judgemental adjustments by managers. Although a number of empirical and ‘laboratory’ studies have been performed in this area, no formal OR modelling has been conducted to offer insights into the impact such adjustments may have on supply chain performance and the potential development of mitigation mechanisms. This is because of the associated dynamic complexity and the situation-specific nature of the problem at hand. In conjunction with appropriate stock control rules, demand forecasts help decide how much to order. It is a common practice that replenishment orders may also be subject to judgemental intervention, adding further to the dynamic system complexity and interdependence. The system dynamics (SD) modelling method can help advance knowledge in this area, where mathematical modelling cannot accommodate the associated complexity. This study, which constitutes part of a UK government funded (EPSRC) project, uses SD models to evaluate the effects of forecasting and ordering adjustments for a wide set of scenarios involving: three different inventory policies; seven different (combinations of) points of intervention; and four different (combinations of) types of judgmental intervention (optimistic and pessimistic). The results enable insights to be gained into the performance of the entire supply chain. An agenda for further research concludes the paper.

Coefficient of variation: a critical factor in maintenance float policy

Abstract This study investigates the effects of equipment failure variability on the performance of a maintenance float system. Existing maintenance float policy models assume the rates of equipment failure and repair to follow an exponential(β) distribution. This assumption implies a coefficient of variation of 1 (CV = 1). In this paper, the gamma(α,β) and the Weibull(α,β) failure distributions are used to generate a wide range of values for the coefficient of variation. The effect of these values on the average equipment utilization, server utilization, and on the average waiting time to repair are assessed via experimental simulation with subsequent statistical analysis. The results indicate significant departures in the performance measures of the maintenance float system under both a decreasing failure rate (DFR) and an increasing failure rate (IFR). Thus, there is a need to generate new sets of models for these cases. A full factorial experimental design is followed and the simulation output used to generate metamodels for the gamma and Weibull distributions. The limits of these models are also discussed and it is shown how they can be used to reach optimum decisions. The model also showed a significant interaction between the coefficient of variation and the number of servers in determining average equipment utilization (EU). The number of standbys (F) was not found significant in determining EU.

Why Most Open Source Development Projects Do Not Succeed

Evidence suggests that only a small percentage of open source development (OSSD) projects are active, have significant participation, or have delivered operational software. We develop a system dynamics based simulation model to analyze the dynamics of open source project participation process and software development process. We show that the complex interaction between participation and development processes affects crucially success or failure.

Maintenance float policy estimation with imperfect information

Abstract This paper investigates the initial estimation of maintenance float policy (MFP) for large systems. Recent research on the MFP estimation process based on reliability analysis has generated results which can provide decision support to operations and maintenance managers. That is, even if the only available information consists of the subjective estimates of experts. Both the performance of these models and the validity of their structure are systematically assessed via experimental analysis. The MFP estimation process is improved by shifting the analysis of physical performance of inputs to an effective MFP with a minimum cost architecture. Illustrative examples show how the approach can be adopted to reduce the dimensionality and combinatorial problems associated with large maintenance float systems.

Performance effects of information systems integration:: A system dynamics study in a media firm

– The purpose of this paper is to understand the relationship between information systems (IS) integration and business performance in the context of the ad traffic system of a media company., – A system dynamics (SD) model that shows ad traffic system structure was developed and simulation scenarios were examined., – Simulation scenarios identify the dysfunctional effects of the lack of IS integration. The model shows how IS integration problems increase the dynamic complexity of business processes, resulting in poor business performance. It also shows how and why IS integration improvements can lead to superior performance., – Researchers of business process management will benefit from a wider adoption of simulation and SD modeling approaches. The modeling process and model validation are discussed., – SD modeling can help organizations analyze and streamline their business processes through IT, significantly and sustainably improving their business performance., – Modeling the relationship between IS integration and business performance through time.

The intermediate structure of designs for quality

Changes in world markets have brought renewed interest in quality management, and a proliferation of quality‐assurance methods. The new methods focus on design rather than inspection, thereby shifting managers’ attention from inspecting quality to designing quality into products and services. A powerful approach to designs for quality is the quality function deployment (QFD) process. QFD’s simplification procedures call for improvement through the analysis of indirect relationships among quality’s ends and means. An illustrative example enhances QFD’s capability of capturing and representing the effects of multiple interdependencies among specifications and design variables, while the computation that matrix multiplication requires is both simple and efficient.

Guest editorial on transformation and societal change

Catering to the growing community of scholars and practitioners who see the needed transformation and societal change in our modern temporality, this article serves as a preamble to a fascinating collection of five applied-research contributions. The article also defines our modernity’s problematic mess, an attempt that creates the need to reconcile three hellenic ‘–isms’, three philosophical constructs most pertinent to our modernity’s quest for transformational and societal change. They are pertinent because all five research contributions this guest editorial is about rely on one or more of them either explicitly or implicitly. Newcomers to transformational and societal change research will find the brief overview of the requisite philosophical background useful as it emphasizes philosophy’s value for future research. By integrating multiple, diverse perspectives, this Human Systems Management (HSM) Special Issue can serve as a prototype for future HSM special issues, which will further integrate transformation and societal change with research and practice in managing human, i.e., natural, systems and help identify new, exciting opportunities for future research in social science and beyond.

Open source disruptive-innovation strategy

Is open source software disrupting the software industry? If yes, how does this process work and what are its likely impacts? The purpose of this article is to explore the market effects of open source software as a disruptive innovation. The research framework it proposes accounts for the dynamic complexity of the open-source disruptive innovation strategy (DIS) of disrupter firms or communities, and the disruptive-innovation response strategies (DIRS) of incumbent software firms. The article articulates essential components of DIS and DIRS, namely new software performance dimensions and organizational innovations that open source enables. The interaction of DIS and DIRS processes through time can lead either to the failure or to the co-existence of incumbent and disrupter firms or communities. The article extends disruptive innovation theory and helps managers make sense of the complex competitive dynamics introduced by open source.

How service customers tidy their service quality perceptions

A system dynamics simulation model shows the interdependence of strategy and performance in a typical service company. Computed with the model, decision scenarios trace the firms sinister service quality dynamics to the inauspicious blunder of pulling on internal policy levers too hard. The resulting dysfunctional behavior jolts the entire service organization, including its customers, defectors and profit per customer metric. As a method for modeling service organizations, system dynamics provides the integrated process required for comprehending self-inflicted problems in services. Along with insights toward effective and productive service quality design, management and performance, the models simulation results also unveil the morphology of a likely topology, showing how service customers might aptly tidy their perceptions of good and poor service quality. These results urgently call for service quality research, aimed at effective and productive, customer-centric service quality design and management that entail high-quality service production, delivery and consumption processes.