Willem Selen

Linking financial performance to strategic orientation and operational priorities: An empirical study of third‐party logistics providers

Purpose – Aims to investigates the relationship of strategic choices of pure cost‐, pure differentiation‐, or a combination‐strategy on a composite measure of financial performance for third‐party logistics (3PL) providers in Hong Kong. In addition, it seeks to identify the importance of operations priorities underlying the respective adopted strategy, as well as the importance given to future competitive challenges for each strategy.Design/methodology/approach – Uses cluster analysis, ANOVA.Findings – Logistics service providers classified to follow different strategies report different financial performance, with companies adhering to the combined strategy of cost and differentiation performing best, followed by pure differentiation companies, which in turn outperform pure cost‐, commodity driven‐companies.Research limitations/implications – Future research may be widened to include customer, and not solely competitor, perceptions. Further studies could elaborate on technology adoption, information shar...

Learning in the new business school setting: a collaborative model

The claim is made that many of today’s evolutions in business management, characterized by new ways of knowledge creation in a collaborative, multi‐disciplinary environment, are not yet adequately reflected in business college education. The paper puts business education within the framework of demand chain management and supply networks, which will dictate modern business management. Secondly, the management process is revisited in terms of dynamic performance measurement and the link with double‐loop learning. Then the paper will go on discussing the multi‐functionality required and how this is (not) reflected in many business curricula. Finally, the author addresses the need to expose business students to modern business ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), and collaborative commerce‐software interfaces, in conjunction with a critical analysis of the underlying methodologies used. Furthermore, the need to collaborate more closely within the business school setting and outside with business practitioners is highlighted.

Knowledge management in resource‐based competitive environments: a roadmap for building learning organizations

Today’s competitive focus manifests itself with the strategic management of unique operational resources that impact the rules of competition, rather than a market‐based view where the firm follows the rules dictated by markets. Knowledge management becomes hereby a vital prerequisite. This paper suggests a roadmap for building a learning organization in a resource‐competitive environment, based on previous research, and highlights the knowledge management issues involved along the way. A number of learning issues from this process are addressed as well. Combined, they form the basis for constructing agile learning environments, linked to tangible performance criteria and strategic objectives.

Enabling real estate service chain management through personalised Web interfacing using QFD

This paper takes the concept of integrated services to meet individual user needs one step further, by addressing how integrated services can be delivered over the Web in a service chain involving multiple partners. Moreover, a framework is developed and applied to enable fulfilment of individual user needs by developing the appropriate service delivery in terms of Web interface and content, as well as the underlying processes and functionalities, which in turn are defined within an information technology/information systems architecture. The methodology of quality function deployment is used in this context, and applied to a real estate service environment in Australia.

The Handbook of Service Innovation

Bringing together some of the world’s leading thinkers, academics and professionals to provide practitioners, students and academicians with comprehensive insights into implementing effective service innovation. This book presents service innovation holistically and systemically across various service areas, including health, education, tourism, hospitality, telecommunications, and retail. It addresses contemporary issues through conceptual and applied contributions across industry, academia, and government, providing insights for improved practice and policy making. Featuring cutting-edge research contributions, practical examples, implementations and a select number of case studies across several growth service industries, this book also includes examples of failed service innovation attempts in order to demonstrate a balanced view of the topic and to make clear the pitfalls to be avoided. Culminating in a suggested step-by-step guide to enable service organization’s managers to understand and implement the concepts of service innovation and manage its evolutionary processes effectively, this book will prove a valuable resource to a wide reaching audience including researchers, practitioners, managers, and students who aspire to create a deeper scientific foundation for service design and engineering, service experience and marketing, and service management and innovation. Includes endorsements from professionals in the field of service innovation.

An application of a unified capacity planning system

Purpose – This paper aims to present a unified approach for effective capacity management, with the flexibility to position the organization across differing market‐orientations, anywhere from produce‐to‐stock to purchase‐and‐produce‐to‐order.Design/methodology/approach – The unified planning system combines capacity management with the external market through the customer order decoupling point (CODP). The approach starts by determining the CODP, using commonality and effect‐cause‐effect analysis. The resulting CODP information is then used to determine the optimal master production schedule (medium‐term), as well as the detailed schedule (short‐term) at the bottleneck resource, using mathematical programming; to support decisions across different planning horizons in an integrated fashion.Findings – This unified approach was applied to an electronics manufacturing company in the Netherlands. The unified capacity planning system not only reduces the number of capacity problems to be solved by production ...

Manufacturing cell performance improvement: a simulation study

This paper reports on the study of the “underbody front”-automated welding cell at Opel Belgium, a major automobile manufacturer of General Motors International Operations. It employs the use of simulation in an experimental design framework to identify potential improvements in average daily output through management of buffer sizes at key buffer locations within the cell. Many practical applications of animated computer simulation stop at the modeling and displaying of the process under study. Simulation as a tool for process reengineering or enhancement can only reach its full potential if incorporated in a comprehensive statistical study, so as to attain statistically significant results. The paper also reports on the reactions of, and issues raised by, management when the experimental design methodology was presented as a tool for process enhancement and productivity improvement.

A Production planning model and a case study for the pharmaceutical industry in The Netherlands

A strategic aggregate production planning model was developed for a pharmaceutical company in The Netherlands. It supports strategic planning decisions on changing production capacity, The production line and ways of improving plant performance by comparing optimal total individual cost components with the actual performance data. The model also supports aggregate decisions with regards to order acceptance, detailed production planning and purchasing. Optimal production timing provides good estimates of sales and customer release dates. The effects of external factors such as an expedited order and possible production delays can also be analysed and the sales value of the order calculated. In addition, optimal production plans for the most important items can be used for detailed scheduling tasks and purchasing of raw materials for future periods.

Strategic positioning for real-estate management in Australia: implementing e-business for competitive advantage

Many initiatives that create additional value in real estate transactions, derive from effective web presence and virtual searching facilities. Recent research takes a strategic view, and utilises a structured approach of translating the impact of the internet as an enabling technology on business strategy, business model development and business infrastructure, stating that companies need to tailor their deployment of internet technology to their particular strategies. This research describes such deployment from a strategic positioning perspective and via a competitive positioning matrix. Dimensions of interactiveness with customers, and the flexibility/complexity and innovation of the website environment/infrastructure that supports and complements the real estate interaction and/or transaction are considered, and a preferred competitive positioning model is derived, along with a preferred expansion path. An e-business model for a regional real estate organisation in Australia demonstrates how the competitive positioning model may be deployed as the driver for building competitive advantage.

A collaborative commerce framework for the real estate industry

The internet is opening up new business opportunities for the real estate industry. It provides real estate companies with new ways to collaborate with service providers, gain customer and market information, and communicate with the customer in new ways to turn the industry into a customer-centric driven modus operandi. It also makes the real estate market more transparent, and hence more efficient. This, in turn, will create downward pressure on existing commission fees, create multiple revenue channels, and redefine the role of the agent as an intermediary. In order to move towards a more desirable one-stop shopping experience, real estate companies have to form closer relationships with various business players, thereby moving towards a collaborative commerce model. Such a model is outlined to show how it could work for the real estate industry. Whilst much more is to be done in implementing the total collaborative commerce model, some initial progress is being made in integrating website design features for one-on-one marketing, and in linking web-interface design and development with the enabling supply chain partners and information providers within the service value chain.