... how temporary workers are used to manage product seasonality, and the role of hidden actors such as labour providers and charities. We show that different product supply chains tend to mimic each other and share the same pool of temporary workers to ensure flexibility at low cost, while exploiting...

...Kangkang Yu; Jack Cadeaux; Ben Nanfeng Luo; Cheng Qian Purpose This study aims to extend ambidexterity theory from the perspective of organisational learning and examine how process ambidexterity, which comprises operational flexibility and operational routine, responds to environmental...

... only As a way of alleviating nursing workforce shortages, health care managers are employing two types of workforce flexibility: supplemental staffing and floating among units. In this paper, the authors investigate the moderating effects of two critical situational variables – namely, job...

...Daniel R. Eyers; Andrew T. Potter; Jonathan Gosling; Mohamed M. Naim Purpose Flexibility is a fundamental performance objective for manufacturing operations, allowing them to respond to changing requirements in uncertain and competitive global markets. Additive manufacturing machines are often...

... criteria are proposed. Complexity Learning Flexibility Project management Process design Operations management Process management Complex processes This latter process must include, among others, a sub-process to “withdraw in good order” in the face of superior power, in order to break...

...Raymond Obayi; S.C. Koh; David Oglethorpe; Seyed M. Ebrahimi Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of three important relational capabilities – absorptive capacity (AC), transactive memory systems (TMS), and organisational interoperability (OI); on the flexibility...

...Sajad Fayezi; Ambika Zutshi; Andrew O'Loughlin Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address an important question which centres on investigating how do manufacturing businesses perceive and understand the concepts of agility and flexibility in their supply chains (SCs). Design...

...David A. Nembhard Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the tradeoffs between efficiency and flexibility in production processes involve a cross-trained workforce. The study quantifies production losses that stem from worker learning and forgetting in a cross-training environment...

... development tasks. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2014 Case study Innovation New product development Flexibility Management of technology Modularity New product design Product platforms Complex products and system Lithography manufacturing Many authors emphasize categorizing...

...Corinne M. Karuppan; Sven Kepes Purpose Fast‐paced, hyper‐competitive environments require organizations to use flexible resources and delegate decision making. This paper aims to examine the synergistic effects of operators' involvement in decision making (IIDM) and equipment reliability across...

... agility and its theoretical underpinnings is presented. Within the framework, drivers and determinants of VC agility are identified as characteristics enabling flexibility within key components of a firm's VC. Also, it is posited that information technology (IT) capability impacts the levels of achieved...

...Adegoke Oke Purpose The issue of manufacturing flexibility has been widely discussed in the literature. One major area of focus has been the development of taxonomies for flexibility. This paper aims to review the contributions in this area and to propose a new classification and a framework...

...Adegoke Oke This paper presents the results of a major survey and case study of UK manufacturing plants in six major industrial sectors: electronics, process, engineering (capital), engineering (consumer), household goods and food. The paper explores the conditions under which volume flexibility...

...Daniel Arias Aranda In this paper, the relationship between operations strategy and performance through flexibility as a moderating variable is analysed within the service setting of engineering consulting firms in Spain. A framework for service strategy dimensions is suggested while manufacturing...

...Winco Kam‐Chuen Yung; Danny Ting‐Hong Chan The new management concept of flexible business process reengineering (FBPR) may be defined as a methodology that combines the best of three management tools – positioning, continuous improvement and business process reengineering (PIR). Employing all...

... implemented, such systems would promote a proactive management style and greater confidence in management decisions. © MCB UP Limited 2002 Performance measurement Business culture Information technology Flexibility Internet The manufacturing industries are facing tough challenges...

...Alberto Petroni; Maurizio Bevilacqua Most of previous research on manufacturing flexibility has been conceptual by nature and finalized to build analytical models and only a small percentage of the studies have focused on empirical observations of actual industrial practice. In this study, we...

...Jan Olhager; B. Martin West We use the methodology from quality function deployment (QFD) for linking manufacturing flexibility to market requirements. This approach creates a framework for modelling the deployment of the need for flexibility from the customers’ viewpoints into manufacturing...

... in a sample of manufacturing firms. The paper will add empirical support to other surveys’ results on the use of production indicators. Lean production Manufacturing strategy Flexibility Lean production is a conceptual framework popularized in many Western industrial companies since the early...

...Zubair M. Mohamed; Mohamed A. Youssef; Faizul Huq The performance of flexible manufacturing systems, (FMS) has been one of the major topics that has attracted the attention of production and operations management (POM) researchers for the last two decades. In this paper we study the relationship...