Sohel Ahmad

The impact of human resource management practices on operational performance: recognizing country and industry differences

The interest in strategic human resource management (HRM) has spawned a number of empirical research studies that investigated the impact of HRM practices on organizational performance. However, very little attention has been paid to address the impact of HRM practices on operations management and to generalize the findings across countries and industries. Success of some business decisions (e.g. globalization and merger and acquisition) necessitates recognition and reconciliation of the differences among HRM practices in different countries and industries. This study attempts to generalize the efficacy of seven HRM practices proposed by Pfeffer in the context of country and industry, focusing primarily on the effects of these practices on operations. The findings provide overall support for Pfeffer’s seven HRM practices and empirically validate an ideal-type HRM system for manufacturing plants.

The role of infrastructure practices in the effectiveness of JIT practices: implications for plant competitiveness

Previous research on JIT provides very little insight as to why the same JIT practices are able to foster competitiveness in one plant but fail to do the same in another plant. The premise of this research is that such failures are due to a lack of managerial concern regarding infrastructure practices needed for JIT. The current JIT literature on infrastructure design is largely prescriptive, but the prescriptions are not founded on systematic empirical investigation. In this paper, we examine the role of infrastructure practices in the effectiveness of JIT practices from three perspectives—universal, contingency, and configurational—with data from a study sample of 110 plants. The plants in the study sample belong to three industries—electronics, machinery, and transportation—and are located in three countries—US, Italy, and Japan. Our results support the contingency and the configurational perspectives. Specifically, the analyses based on the contingency perspective indicate that with the exception of manufacturing strategy, all other infrastructure practices—quality management, product technology, work integration system, and human resource management (HRM) policies—individually moderate the relationship between JIT practices and plant competitiveness. The analyses based on the configurational perspective indicate that synergy between JIT practices and infrastructure practices needs to be exploited to attain superior plant competitiveness.

The importance of recruitment and selection process for sustainability of total quality management

Management literature discusses that the behavioral traits of employees can play an important role in the success of total quality management (TQM). However, little empirical research exists in this regard. Using an international dataset, the present study investigates: the impact of quality management practices on plant competitiveness; and the moderating effect of an employee selection process on the relationship between quality management practices and plant competitiveness. Results show that quality management practices positively impact plant competitiveness. Furthermore, the behavioral traits of employees seem to have a significant impact on the effectiveness of quality management practices. This implies that managers should pay close attention to prospective employees’ behavioral traits and their fit with the TQM philosophy. Managers should not limit their attention to potential employees’ technical skills.

Service failures and customer defection: a closer look at online shopping experiences

This study attempts to understand certain aspects of the online shopping experience from a consumer’s perspective. In particular, this study investigates the interaction between service failure and online shops’ readiness for service recovery and the resulting impact on customer defection. The findings of the present study suggest that some online shops have severely breached a few fundamental business principles, resulting in lost customers. Specifically, this study finds that failure to institute adequate complaint management and service recovery systems contributed to customer defection. Hence, service recovery and customer retention need to be given due importance during the service design phase, and appropriate management decisions have to be made upfront rather than after service failures occur when it may be too late.

Refining the product‐process matrix

We undertake an empirical study of the well‐known product‐process matrix using data collected from 128 plants. Our analysis indicates that the relationship between product structure and process structure is significant, but not strong. Furthermore, less than half of the plants operate near the diagonal of the matrix. We found that the off‐diagonal plants are using innovative initiatives to overcome the lack of product structure and process structure match. As a result, we propose that a third dimension be added to the product‐process matrix that measures how aggressively plants are implementing these innovative initiatives, thereby explaining their off‐diagonal behavior.

The relationship among modularity, functional coordination, and mass customization: Implications for competitiveness

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how product modularity (PM) is related to mass customization (MC) capability and plant competitiveness.Design/methodology/approach – The paper tests hypothesized relationships using structural equation modeling with an international dataset.Findings – PM is not directly related to plant competitiveness. Inter‐functional design coordination (IDC) is found to be critical in fostering plant competitiveness.Practical implications – Managers need to put IDC mechanisms in place to foster MC capabilities and, thereby, enhance plant competitiveness.Originality/value – While the existing literature mostly argues for a direct relationship between PM and competitiveness, the paper shows that IDC and MC capability are crucial intervening variables in this relationship.

Technological knowledge and firm performance of pharmaceutical firms

How efficient are firms at utilizing their technological knowledge stocks? In this paper we focus on a firms breadth and depth of technological knowledge and investigate their differential effects on two performance measures: return on capital and sales growth. Using a sample of 29 pharmaceutical firms we conduct data envelopment analysis (DEA) to determine those firms that are the most efficient converters of breadth and depth of technological knowledge into performance, and the knowledge dimension that the inefficient firms ought to focus upon to improve their performance.

Knowledge management through technology strategy: implications for competitiveness

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a learning‐based technology strategy along three dimensions: proactive technology posture, process adaptation and experimentation, and collaborative technology sourcing; also to investigate their relationships with plant competitiveness (cost, quality, delivery, flexibility, and innovation).Design/methodology/approach – Hypothesized relationships are tested from three perspectives – direct effects perspective, co‐alignment perspective, and mediation perspective – using structural equation modeling with an international dataset.Findings – Results show that although the three dimensions of learning‐based technology strategy are not individually related to plant competitiveness (direct effects perspective), their co‐alignment strongly impacts plant competitiveness (co‐alignment perspective). Furthermore, this co‐alignment creates an environment in which employee suggestion and feedback can help make sense of novel situations, leading to superior plant c...