Roberto Sarmiento

Identifying improvement areas when implementing green initiatives using a multitier AHP approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss research gaps and the potential applications of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in an internal benchmarking process used to identify improvement areas when firms attempt to adopt green initiatives with a supply chain perspective.Design/methodology/approach – By means of a detailed literature review, the paper distinguishes several gaps in previous studies that have investigated green supply chains, supply chain management and benchmarking issues.Findings – Past research that analyses the challenges firms encounter when implementing green initiatives are lacking in scope and also in focus. Thus, the paper synthesises those findings, and proposes a novel framework and approach to apply AHP to examine various potential challenges firms and supply chains might be faced with when adopting green initiatives.Research limitations/implications – The investigation is conceptual in nature.Practical implications – Despite the limitations of the paper, its findings an...

Determinants of performance amongst shop‐floor employees

Purpose – The paper aims to explore the determinants of perceived job performance in a sample of shop‐floor employees in a manufacturing plant in northern Mexico.Design/methodology/approach – It is hypothesised that job satisfaction, age and education levels are significant predictors of job performance. A thorough literature review reveals that studies of the variables that influence job performance within a manufacturing setting are basically lacking. A questionnaire distributed amongst shop‐floor employees and their immediate supervisors was used in order to measure the variables included in the study. Statistical analyses were performed with the data in order to test for the reliability and validity of the measures, and also to test the three main research hypotheses.Findings – It was found that two variables that measure job satisfaction are positively and significantly associated with job performance. This result is consistent with previous studies. Nevertheless, age and education levels do not show...

Delivery reliability, manufacturing capabilities and new models of manufacturing efficiency

Purpose – To provide a selective bibliography on reported empirical evidence regarding the compatibility/trade‐offs relationships between delivery reliability and other manufacturing capabilities, and also identify specific areas for future research.Design/methodology/approach – The paper conceptually examines published studies which have reported a trade‐off/compatibility situation between delivery reliability and other manufacturing capabilities such as internal quality, external quality, manufacturing costs, inventory costs, etc. Some different aspects of delivery reliability are also discussed.Findings – Principally, the paper identifies a need to study in more detail the different variables (manufacturing capabilities, contextual variables and manufacturing practices) that could be potentially associated with the achievement of high manufacturing efficiency (high levels of outputs/low levels of inputs) in terms of delivery reliability, materials inventory and safety resources.Research limitations/imp...

Manufacturing capabilities and performance: a critical analysis and review

In order to advance scientific knowledge, it is important to maintain consistency regarding the methodologies and units/levels of analysis employed to test a theorys main claims. Thus, this investigation provides a critical examination of the papers that have aimed to test the trade-off model and its competing concepts. The analysis focuses on the methodologies used to examine the validity of such models and theories, and also on the operationalisation of the variables that represent the level of analysis by which those theories are tested. To aid in the investigation, a framework to distinguish measures of performance with an internal and external reference and perspective is proposed. The results show that current methodologies, approaches and rationales used to determine the validity of the trade-off model or its rival concepts observe important limitations, as they do not address the trade-off models core principles. Those limitations in turn make the results of those studies questionable. Consequently, it is proposed that in order to advance theory in our field, more consistent methods and approaches should be utilised.

Strategic consensus on manufacturing competitive priorities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of studies on strategic consensus along manufacturing competitive priorities. Based on this analysis, a new methodology to measure strategic consensus on manufacturing competitive priorities that is more consistent with mainstream operations management theory is proposed. The paper also includes novel proposals for future research.Design/methodology/approach – The new methodology and proposals for research are mainly based on a literature review of previous studies on strategic consensus regarding manufacturing competitive priorities and also on relevant research and works in the field of operations management.Findings – Previous methodologies used to measure strategic consensus regarding manufacturing competitive priorities are mainly based on studies in the business strategy field. Thus, these methodologies are deemed as inadequate in the operations management field. It is also found that there are very few studies that have analysed ...

Zero-sum and frontier trade-offs: an investigation on compromises and compatibilities amongst manufacturing capabilities

This paper examines well-accepted methodologies and rationales used to assert the presence/absence of trade-offs and compatibilities between manufacturing capabilities, and comparisons are made with respect to more recent theoretical developments. By means of a detailed analysis of a representative framework, important limitations and inconsistencies are identified. The proposal for the existence of zero-sum and frontier trade-offs intends to resolve some of those issues. Generally speaking, zero-sum trade-offs are identified by a statistically significant and negative correlation. On the other hand, frontier trade-offs are predicted to be observed after some level of compatibility between different capabilities is achieved. This means that, apart from widely-used probabilistic methodologies such as linear regression/correlation analysis, subsequent deterministic approaches and rationales need to be applied in order to acknowledge the potential existence of frontier trade-offs. These and other implications are discussed in light of previous studies, and suggestions for future research are offered.

Performance improvements seen through the lens of strategic trade-offs

Performance improvement and competitive advantage are closely related but different concepts. However, the strategic operations management field has often used them interchangeably/equivalently in previous investigations involving Wickham Skinner’s strategic trade-offs model and related theories. In this study, the relationship between these concepts is clarified by means of thought experiments, which are developed on the basis of methodologies, approaches and rationales used in previous studies. It is logically established that utilising measures of improvement along individual performance criteria is inadequate when testing the trade-offs model’s core implications, because these, as per Skinner, only apply in comparisons involving market-leading performance in those criteria (realisation of competitive advantage). The incompleteness of approaches such as linear regression/correlation analysis and like methodologies for such studies is also demonstrated. In short, our research attempts to clarify some misconceptions that are prevalent when performance improvements, market-leading performance and strategic trade-offs are investigated and debated. Venues for future research are offered.

A note on ?trade-off and compatibility between performance: definitions and empirical evidence?

This paper improves on a novel methodology advanced in order to assess deterministically (i.e., precisely) compromises and compatibilities between manufacturing capabilities in individual firms. We extend the original proposal to include more recent theoretical developments arguing that both trade-offs and compatibilities (e.g., cumulative capabilities) can be observed in a relationship between two or more competitive criteria. This means that as opposed to widely-accepted views, trade-offs and compatibilities can be complementary, and not necessarily mutually exclusive, when explaining relationships between various competitive criteria. As such, our improved methodology and rationale can assess the existence of both trade-offs and compatibilities between multiple capabilities utilising a single framework. Opportunities for novel research that uses our methodology are also offered.

Issues with the modelling of manufacturing performance: the trade‐offs

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight issues with current methodologies and rationales used to model the achievement of high business performance in operations management studies, particularly those dealing with the trade‐offs – cumulative capabilities concepts. The paper also attempts to provide solutions to these problems.Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual approach and critique of previous methodologies and rationales is utilised. In particular, use is made of a “thought experiment” in order to illustrate the issues that need to be addressed.Findings – Widely accepted approaches and rationales used to model the achievement of high levels of performance are limited. This is particularly true when more recent theoretical developments in the field are considered. Thus, more comprehensive methodologies, rationales and terminologies that resolve the identified difficulties are necessary. To address this issue, this paper offers a more holistic way to examine the relationships between tw...

Natural laws and strategic trade-offs: implications for research and policy advising

Contrary to what previous research has asserted, our investigation contends that there is no evidence refuting Wickham Skinner’s strategic trade-offs model. We arrive at this conclusion by analysing Skinner’s words in light of Karl Popper’s falsification theory of scientific knowledge. It is observed that the trade-offs model’s core principle has natural law-like characteristics, something which makes it deterministic. We also note that past research attempting to refute Skinner’s ideas have been, by and large, inadequate and erroneous. This is because those studies have been performed mainly on the basis of probabilistic hypotheses, methodologies and estimates. These hypotheses, methods and estimates are, strictly speaking, open-ended and imprecise, and, as such, void of empirical content. This means that there is an inconsistency between the nature of Skinner’s model and the characteristics of the theories, methodologies and evidence that have been proposed as more complete alternatives (e.g. cumulative capabilities model). Therefore, Popperian epistemology would deem as inadequate any attempt to refute a deterministic law/theory/statement by means of probabilistic models, methodologies and evidence. We also elaborate on a new approach and rationale to test the strategic trade-offs model’s main assertions. It combines deterministic and probabilistic approaches to analyse the data and interpret the results. Implications for research and policy advising are also offered.