Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a typology of supply-side resilience capabilities and empirically validates these capabilities and their constituent bundles of practices.
...Design/methodology/approach
– The study is primarily qualitative, employing the critical incident technique to collect data across 22 firms and seeking to validate how and why practice bundles form and relate to operations performance. It contains a frequency of occurrence analysis for the purpose of triangulation, a minor statistical part to provide some additional evidence of bundle formation and correlation between adoption of bundles of practices and recovered operations performance after upstream supply chain disruptions.
Findings
– Four supply-side resilience capabilities are conceptualized along two dichotomous dimensions – “proactive/reactive” and “internal/external” – in a 2×2 matrix as proactive-internal, proactive-external, reactive-internal and reactive-external resilience capabilities. Empirical support for the conceptualized typology is found. Bundles of specific practices that can be associated with each capability are identified. Moreover, the study finds a relationship between these practice bundles and recovered operations performance.
Research limitations/implications
– The statistical part is used just to provide some additional evidence through factor and regression analyses that these capabilities exist and do benefit adopting firms.
Practical implications
– Specifies practices that lead to recovered operations performance in the event of supply disruptions.
Originality/value
– Advances current theory by operationalizing resilience as a set of dynamic capabilities in terms of practice bundles that aid in recovering operations performance upon supply disruptions.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate synergy/trade-off relationship between lean and operational resilience paradigms upon disruption. Lean and resilience are operationalised with ...practice bundles and core functions, respectively.
Design/methodology/approach
– The study uses the Bayesian inference approach to analyse systematically encoded data from firms that faced disruptions in their supply chain. The data were collected from publicly available sources, and encoded using predefined constructs prior to analysis.
Findings
– Findings show that the synergetic relations between operational resilience and lean in mitigating performance losses outweigh the trade-off. Just-in-time/flow and total productive maintenance lean practices appear to be major sources for the trade-off; there is limited-synergy leveraged on the anticipative (sense) capability of operational resilience.
Research limitations/implications
– The dependence on secondary data and small sample size are possible limitations. Future research may employ large-scale studies with the same encoding approach by combining both primary and secondary sources.
Practical implications
– This study implies that companies need not abandon their lean implementation in order to be resilient against unanticipated disruptive circumstances. Most lean practices can be used to leverage agility to mitigate disruptions.
Originality/value
– This is a first study to empirically compare synergy/trade-off between operational resilience and lean with reference to changes in operations performance upon disruption. It is also a first study to investigate sources of synergy/trade-off at lean practice bundles and resilience core functions level. This is a much more practical level compared to how previous studies have addressed the issue.
PurposeRecent studies have argued that companies may actively implement practices to mitigate disruptions in their supply chain and reduce the extent of damage on performance. Other studies have ...shown that disruptions may propagate in supply chains, leading to consequences that are more negative and raising doubts on the effectiveness of mitigation strategies implemented downstream. This study investigates the influence of supply chain complexity on the two phenomena and their interplay, taking a focal company's perspective.Design/methodology/approachA systematic procedure for data collection, encoding and aggregation based on incident data mainly from secondary sources was used. Multiple regression models were run to analyse direct and moderation effects involving resilience, distance of impact location from trigger point, and supply chain complexity on weighted performance change.FindingsSupply chain complexity is found to have positive moderation on the ripple effect of disruption. Resilience capability remains to have dominating direct positive effect in mitigating disruptions when supply chain complexity is taken into account.Research limitations/implicationsThis study extends the research discourse on supply chain resilience and disruption management with focus on the supply side. It demonstrates that, along with the severity of the disruption scenario, the ripple effect must also be considered when analyzing the benefits of resilience practices implemented by the focal company.Practical implicationsComplexity in the supply chain can only help to smooth-out the rippling effects of a disruption, which go largely beyond supply-demand unbalances and lead time fluctuations. To mitigate it better, the focal company has to act proactively with adequate resilience practices, which also connects to the importance of better visibility across multiple supply chain tiers.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that empirically tests the benefits of resilience practices and the ripple effect of disruptions under the moderation role of supply chain complexity.
Purpose: This paper aims to explore and describe how companies manage the level of standardisation of improvement practices in a multisite context. It seeks to explain the managerial strategies ...applied to change the standardisation level in manufacturing companies with multiple production sites worldwide.Design/methodology/approach: This paper collects data through interviews, observations and company documents from a large multinational producing company and, specifically, from of the largest production sites in the company. The research design resembles a grounded theory approach by being reflexive and open to emerging themes. The standardisation strategy was analysed at a company that strived to increase the standardisation of problem-solving practices within about 20 production sites as part of their corporate lean programme.Findings: Several managerial tools were applied at the corporate level to increase the standardisation level of problem-solving practices, such as developing standards and a company-specific toolbox aligned with an in-house maturity model. In addition, deploying change leaders and global implementation targets enabled audits and progress. However, consequences at the production-site level became minor adaptations of standards, the design of training models as a "roll-out", and a resource-demanding implementation process.Originality/Value: This paper empirically demonstrates strategic tools that corporate management teams apply to influence the company's standardisation level of practices. The study describes the purpose and consequences of the design of the toolbox, maturity model, training model, and implementation targets, which aims to simplify the complex task of managing standardisation in a corporate group. By applying a knowledge-based view, four processes (i.e. adaptation, integration, upskilling, and learning) were identified to improve the management strategies in multisite contexts.
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the influence of supply chain (SC) complexity on the effectiveness of resilience capabilities in mitigating SC disruptions. Hypotheses about direct and ...moderating influences of complexity on resilience capabilities and performance change after disruption are built and quantitatively tested.
Design/methodology/approach
Partial least square-based structural equation modelling with formative constructs was used as an overall approach. Secondary data on SC disruptions, related performance change and resilience practices were collected from multiple sources through a predefined procedure. The collected data were systematically encoded prior to performing statistical analysis.
Findings
SC structural complexity is found to have a significant positive relation with performance improvement after disruption, along with resilience capability; it also positively moderates the resilience–performance link.
Research limitations/implications
The SC complexity factors the authors considered in this study do not include dynamic forms because of the nature of data collected. Future research may attempt to include and test whether the results of this study also hold when additional complexity parameters are taken into account.
Practical implications
Managers are often trying to reduce SC complexity. This study implies that some level of complexity is beneficial also for a better recovery of operational performance affected because of disruption. Resilience capabilities become more effective when leveraged on complexity in the SC.
Originality/value
This is the first study to empirically investigate the influence of SC complexity on the resilience–performance link.
PurposeThe unpredictable failure of submersible pump (SP) in groundwater irrigation systems has considerable negative economic consequences. The purpose of this paper is to develop a total cost ...minimization model that aims to optimize maintenance actions for SP. It reports on simulation-based stochastic scenario analysis for evaluating total cost of maintenance.Design/methodology/approachStochastic simulation modeling has been performed for failure of pump motor and corresponding maintenance. Five alternative scenarios were compared for total cost over 15 years starting with empirical data from a northern Ethiopian site. Downtime probabilities and spare part supply uncertainty have been considered in the mathematical model. The model is also validated using multiple ways.FindingsThe scenario comparisons indicate that despite the challenges of accessing SP doing one motor rewinding for each purchased pump system upon failure (preferably with shorter supply lead time and variability) seems to result in lowest overall costs for the time horizon considered.Practical implicationsThe model should help to make informed practical decision regarding planning and management of SP failure systems in a developing economy context. This should, therefore, lead to better revenue for smallholder farmers and improved food security in similar context.Originality/valueThere are limited number of publications that consider the life cycle costs with stochastic analysis when it comes to maintenance of SPs. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no paper has previously directly addressed maintenance cost optimization for SP in irrigation. The study could be used to develop more sophisticated stochastic models with more efficient algorithms and consideration of additional sources of stochasticity for such system.
The Circular Economy (CE) is currently a popular notion within the policy and business advocacy groups. Despite being visionary and provocative in its message, the research on the CE concept is ...emerging. The two intertwined objectives of the paper are; first to identify, discuss and develop the various definitions provided by the emerging literature. Secondly, to suggest an initial research approach with which research on CE can be conducted. Our analysis shows that the existing CE work is mainly done on the practical and technical levels of the actual physical flows of materials and energy in production-consumption systems. The focus of the extant literature is on concrete metrics, tools, instruments and computations. Therefore, the basic assumptions concerning the values, societal structures, cultures, underlying world-views and the paradigmatic potential of CE remain largely unexplored. We argue that CE has already become what Gallie (1955) more than six decades ago termed as an “essentially contested concept” (ECC). The paper further suggests a model for CE research that helps in the categorization, classification and organization of research and investigation on CE. The model can help in limiting the observed unbalance and enhance the contribution of the CE approach to a more sustainable global society.
•Circular Economy is linked to the classical work on Essentially Contested Concepts by Gallie.•New definition of Circular Economy is given.•A model for future research on Circular Economy is proposed.
This paper explores how the design process of the production system could be utilized to improve the operational performance during the production ramp-up and operation phases. A qualitative case ...study was carried out in a large process-type manufacturing company, focusing on three new production line launching projects. Different actions taken in the design process of the production lines were linked to their impact during the running operation phase and operational performance, which is measured by the metric of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) within lean manufacturing. The empirical findings provides a concrete example that activities in the design process impact on the OEE. A set of enablers in the production system design process at different systems-level, especially concerning the acquisition of new production equipment have been demonstrated that has potential to achieve the target operational performance. Finally, the concept of operational performance driven production system design process is proposed.
•How to overcome challenges related to decision making in urban production logistics.•Identify the factors from the recent research project and systematic literature review.•Facilitate the ...development of simulation models for urban production logistics.
In recent years, policy makers as well as urban logistics and transport research have investigated how to reduce environmental impact from transportation in urban areas. Therefore, many new frameworks that can help a specific actor in its decision making process at a certain decision making level (i.e., business or policy level) have been implemented and published. However, the first screening of existing literature did not reveal frameworks that can be used across different decision making levels. This limits the possibility for actors using the same infrastructure but not necessarily co-operate to discuss how the actions and needs of each actor of different decision making levels mutually influence each other. This paper first presents an outcome of a literature review and analysis of existing research project results before. It combines these to a multi-layer framework that can enhance collaborative decision-making and seamless aggregation of performance measures such as environmental impact from multiple transportation activities in and around urban areas. For this multi-layer framework, factors are identified, and possible relationships across the various layers are indicated. The field of application is the area near urban manufacturing sites and specifically addressing all actors that share on regulate infrastructure relevant to last mile inbound logistics. The source of data is project databases as well as for the literature review research databases. The methodology applied is a combination of a literature review based on database entries and a snowball approach. The article also presents how the framework can be prototypically implemented in participatory simulations using a simplified example. Potential usage for establishing holistic urban mobility structures is also discussed.
Purpose
Many studies have found that Lean practices provide better performance in a stable business environment. However, there is limited information on how Lean practices influence performance ...gains (defined in this paper as improvement and sustenance of performance) in an uncertain (complex and dynamic) environment. This study aims to investigate how the implementation of Lean helps to sustain performance in such context.
Design/methodology/approach
The study draws on an in-depth investigation of two capital goods manufacturing engineer-to-order (ETO) cases, in which performance sustenance is discussed in relation to the extent, locus and extensiveness of implemented Lean practice bundles.
Findings
Findings indicate that a higher extent of Lean practices’ implementation, covering both shop floor and transactional processes, increases the possibility of performance sustenance in ETO. Furthermore, a coherent approach in the pre-, during- and post-implementation phases of the Lean change process is required to foster performance sustenance. Lean practices in ETO are modified to suit context change from repetitive manufacturing.
Research limitations/implications
This study proposes performance sustenance as a performance measure in a highly uncertain context, such as ETO, as a single reference cannot effectively measure performance improvements over diverse orders. From this perspective, appropriate Lean implementation contributes towards building capabilities for flexibly and proactively managing uncertain circumstances.
Practical implication
Even companies operating in highly uncertain (complex and dynamic) contexts may benefit from significant performance gains, thanks to the Lean implementation. This can be achieved by a balanced implementation of practices at shop floor and transactional processes, and their mindful customisations.
Originality/value
The study compares Lean implementation in ETO with that of high-volume–low-variety systems established in the literature. It qualitatively discusses how Lean implementation as an overarching effort both in shop floor and transactional processes leads to better sustenance of achieved performance improvements in shop floor under high uncertainty.
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