Presenting a clear and instructive toolkit for upper level undergraduate and postgraduate students to successfully understand and analyse foreign operation methods, this revised second edition brings up to date its unparalleled coverage with new theoretical and empirical research and the latest company case material. As experts in the field, the authors share their wealth of international knowledge to give the book a strong cross-cultural appeal. New to this edition:? an extended analysis using new and relevant case studies for students to explore foreign operation methods in the full range of small, large and multinational firms updated strategic analyses of emerging concerns, such as mode combination, flexibility and development over time a thorough overview of theoretical perspectives to encourage better understanding of the 'why, what and how' of mode decisions an updated mode strategy section which allows you to challenge existing perspectives and research. Influenced by the needs of the next generation of international business, management and marketing students, this second edition provides the most comprehensive coverage of foreign operation methods in current literature, and will be an excellent introduction to the nature and range of mode options available to companies as they internationalise.

The complexity of today's risk decisions is well known. Beyond cost and risk there are many other factors contributing to these decisions, including type of risk (such as human injury or fatality), the economic impact on the local community, profitability, availability of capital, alternatives for reducing or eliminating the risk, costs of implementing alternatives, codes, standards, regulation, and good industry practice. This book presents a large range of decision aids for risk analysts and decision makers in industry so that vital decisions can be made in a more consistent, logical, and rigorous manner. Though primarily aimed at the process industry, this book can be used by anyone who makes similar decisions in other industries, including those in management science.

This book presents current developments in smart city research and application regarding the management of manufacturing systems, Industry 4.0, transportation, and business management. It suggests approaches to incorporating smart city innovations into manufacturing systems, with an eye towards competitiveness in a global environment. The same pro-innovative approach is then applied to business and cooperation management. The authors also present smart city transportation solutions including vehicle data processing/reporting system, mobile application for fleet managers, bus drivers, bus passengers and special applications for smart city buses like passenger counting system, IP cameras, GPS system etc. The goal of the book is to establish channels of communication and disseminate knowledge among researchers and professionals working on smart city research and application. Features contributions on a variety of topics related to smart cities from global researchers and professionals in a wide range of sectors; Presents topics relating to smart cities such as manufacturing, business, and transportation; Includes expanded selected papers from EAI International Conference on Management of Manufacturing Systems (MMS 2016), EAI Industry of Things and Future Technologies Conference - Mobility IoT 2016 and International Conference on Smart Electric Vehicles and Vehicular Ad-hoc NETworks (SEVNET).

The goal of the International Conference on New Trends in Production Engineering, is to promote knowledge and innovative solutions in the field of production engineering as well as exchange of experiences between specialists from the world of science and industry. The NTPE conference promotes the development of both theoretical and practical knowledge of a new, developing discipline of production engineering. The scope of the conference includes, but is not limited to: Smart Engineering Industry 4.0 Sustainability Engineering and Management Technology Assessment Manufacturing Process Design and Planning Organizing and Controlling of Production Processes Information Technology in Production Engineering Management of Product and Process Innovations Management Systems in Production Engineering Manufacturing Engineering and Maintenance Mechanization and Automation of Production Processes Quality Engineering and Management Environmental Impacts of Production Systems Social Aspects of Production Engineering Workplace Health and Safety Management Systems Papers presenting a multi-faceted approach to the analysed issues are particularly welcome. The high level and focus on both the scientific as well as the practical impact of the conference papers will bridge the gap between research and successful industrial application.

Digital Product Management, Technology, and Practice: Interdisciplinary Perspectives covers a wide range of digital product management issues and offers some insight into real-world practice and research findings. Experts in several disciplines from around the world offer their views on the technical, operational, and strategic challenges that face digital product managers and researchers now and in the next several decades.

The rapid pace of technological innovation and the effects of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) revolution have resulted in dramatic changes on a global scale, from the empowerment of the individual to the spawning of global markets. From the business perspective, the widespread deployment of Information Technology (IT) has resulted in many organisational changes and the development and use of new management and business processes. An important challenge for today's manufacturing organisations is to be able to anticipate the impact of investments in new (frequently IT-based) manufacturing technologies and programmes. Ideally, management needs to be able to identify and articulate the many ways in which investment decisions influence their organisation - in terms of performance across a range of measures. Furthermore, in today's manufacturing environment, it is increasingly necessary that a close relationship exists between manufacturing decision making and corporate business strategy, so that manufacturing decisions complement and are fully aligned with the organisation's strategic objectives.
Strategic Decision Making in Modern Manufacturing introduces and explains the AMBIT (Advanced Manufacturing Business ImplemenTation) approach, which has been developed to bridge the gap between strategic management considerations and the operational effects of technology investment decisions on the manufacturing organisation, so that the likely impact of new manufacturing technology and/or programme implementations can be evaluated, anticipated and accurately predicted. The AMBIT approach focuses specifically on the non-financial aspects of such investment decisions andoffers an approach that allows a manager, or more frequently a management team, to understand the impacts of a new technology or a new programme on the manufacturing organisation in terms of manufacturing performance.
The prediction of future trends and patterns is a very imprecise and ambiguous activity at the best of times. Yet despite such ambiguity, managers need to be forward looking. They need appropriate tools and approaches to help them anticipate the future. Thus, whilst the pages of organisational history may be filled with anecdotes about organisations that failed to "predict" the future, it is the challenge of today's organisations to evade such a fate. The AMBIT approach delineated in this book has been specifically developed to anticipate the future by analysing the impact of managerial decisions.

This book develops innovative techniques from operational research and management science for the design and implementation of a reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS), and subsequently analyzes and assesses their performance. A reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) is a paradigm that can address many of the challenges posed by the modern market. Accordingly, substantial research is now being conducted on RMS, focusing on various levels of decision-making (strategic, tactical and operational). However, as a relatively new research area, there are still only very few books and articles available on reconfigurable manufacturing system design and management. In addition to filling that gap, this book provides a forum for investigating, exchanging ideas on, and disseminating the latest advances in the broad area of RMS applications in today's industry. Gathering contributions by experts from academia, industry and policy-making, it represents an essential contribution to the existing literature on manufacturing and logistics in general and industry 4.0 in particular.

Compiling strategies from more than 30 years of experience, this book provides numerous case studies that illustrate the implementation of noise control applications, as well as solutions to common dilemmas encountered in noise reduction processes. It offers methods for predicting the noise generation level of common systems such as fans, motors, compressors, and cooling towers, selecting the appropriate equipment to monitor sound properties, assessing the severity of environmental noise, modifying the sources, transmission paths, and receivers of sound, estimating sound pressure levels, designing mufflers, silencers, barriers, and enclosures, and isolating machine vibration.

Managers trying to do a better job have plenty flavors of the month to choose from: total quality management, continuous improvement, empowerment, teamwork-the list is endless.

Everyone is searching for a magic bullet to improve productivity; however, they would have greater success in relying on the core principles of effective management, identified more than fifty years ago.

Scholars over the years have presented the principles from different viewpoints and with different terminology, but it boils down to this: Employees want to be masters of their own fate and to have a real sense of ownership. When provided with an organizational climate that allows this, employees are able to use their own intrinsic motivation to improve productivity and maintain high quality and good service.

Good managers know that people are the only sustainable competitive advantage. They require practical guidance and tools, not flavors of the month, to support employees in realizing their full potential. Create and sustain a productive workplace from the moment you hire an employee with Core Management Principles.

This book is focused on the expansive and highly demanding subject of Food Industry "Technical & Quality Management". As the world's most vital industry "Food Production" is complex, multifaceted and continuously scrutinised. Food scares and product recalls, on national and international scales, demonstrate the persistent challenge to identify, monitor and control all hazards, and also address the increasing criminal threats of Food Fraud, Adulteration & Intentional Contamination. With the benefit of unique perspectives gained by working across Quality, Technical and Operations Management roles at all levels within the food industry, Swainson's Handbook of Technical and Quality Management considers the very diverse remits and particular challenges of those working to assure product Quality, Safety and Legality in the sector. This book provides insights and guidance on the "Applied Practice" of Industrial Quality and Technical Management, written from the perspective of the industry practitioner. "Knowing what to do is half of the challenge, but being able to then make it happen is crucial" - a fact which is often less well considered in food sector information resources. Split into two sections, the book first reviews generic aspects of Food Quality and Technical Management activities with particular regard to: Food Sector Challenges and the Role of Technical and Quality Management; Defining Technical and Quality Standards; The Food Safety and Quality Management System; Raw Materials and Packaging Supplier Control; Site Standards; Product Control and HACCP Considerations; Operations and Process Control; Personnel Control; Audits; Non-Conformance, Recall & Crisis Management; Managing the Technical Department. In the second part of the book Guest Authors share their expertise on a range of specialist topics, providing significant breadth and depth to the content which includes: Review of Third party audit schemes; Insights into supplying supermarkets with regard to good technical and quality management practices; Enforcement authority perspectives on the food manufacturing sector. Also covered are the specific sector challenges of food quality and safety assurance in Fruit and vegetables; Herbs and spices, Cereals, Baked products, Canning and "Cook - Chill" Ready Meals, Soups and Sauces.

This book provides hands-on techniques for writing engineering procedures to achieve ISO 9000 compliance. It is designed for individuals responsible for writing these procedures in any industry. Readers will find actual examples of clearly written, compliant engineering procedures, ready to adapt to your own industry and your own particular needs and use immediately. It answers virtually all your procedure writing questions. Procedure writers will gain a general understanding of engineering documentation principles and how to apply them to their own situations. Simple diagrams and other graphics illustrate key ideas, giving a bird's-eye view of what is coming next. The intent of the book is to familiarize the reader with the essential elements and concepts of engineering procedure development and management and show how to apply these concepts to their own specific applications. The author emphasizes engineering principles and tools that are common to all engineering disciplines, with examples for their use.Step-by-step procedures shown for each document format enable readers to apply each format to their own engineering documentation programs quickly and easily. The book provides a fingertip reference that covers the entire engineering procedure process, using the latest technology for engineering documentation systems.

ISO 9001 is known throughout the world as the gold standard for quality process improvement, but quality assurances experts are also discovering the power of CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration). This text explores how these two models can be used together to improve process quality by quantum leaps. It shows how organizations can streamline their quality process improvement programmes by capitalizing on the similarities both models share while minimizing their differences. The authors demonstrate that organizations can save valuable resources and money as they improve quality by moving towards both ISO 9001:2000 and CMMI compliance certification.

Generate Better, Faster Results-- Using Less Capital and Fewer Resources

" "The High-Velocity Edge"] contains ideas that form the basis for structured continuous learning and improvement in every aspect of our lives. While this book is tailored to business leaders, it should be read by high school seniors, college students, and those already in the workforce. With the broad societal application of these ideas, we can achieve levels of accomplishment not even imagined by most people."
The Honorable Paul H. O'Neill, former CEO and Chairman, Alcoa, and Former Secretary of the Treasury

"Some firms outperform competitors in many ways at once--cost, speed, innovation, service. How? Steve Spear opened my eyes to the secret of systemizing innovation: taking it from the occasional, unpredictable 'stroke of genius' to something you and your people do month-in, month-out to outdistance rivals."
Scott D. Cook, founder and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Intuit, Inc.

"Steven Spear connects a deep study of systems with practical management insights and does it better than any organizational scholar I know. This] is a profoundly important book that will challenge and inspire executives in all industries to think more clearly about the technical and social foundations of organizational excellence."
Donald M. Berwick, M.D., M.P.P., President and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement

About the Book

How can some companies perform so well that their industry counterparts are competitors in name only? Although they operate in the same industry, serve the same market, and even use the same suppliers, these extraordinary, high-velocity organizations consistently outperform all the competition--and, more importantly, continually widen their leads.

In "The High-Velocity Edge," the reissued edition of five-time Shingo Prize winner Steven J. Spear's critically acclaimed book "Chasing the Rabbit," Spear describes what sets market-dominating companies apart and provides a detailed framework you can leverage to surge to the lead in your own industry. Spear examines the internal operations of dominant organizations across a wide spectrum of industries, from technology to design and from manufacturing to health care.

While he investigates several great operational triumphs, like top-tier teaching hospitals' fantastic improvements in quality of care, Pratt & Whitney's competitive gains in jet engine design, and the U.S. Navy's breakthroughs in inventing and applying nuclear propulsion, "The High-Velocity Edge" is not just about the adoration of success. It also takes a critical look at some of the operational missteps that have humbled even the most reputable and respected of companies and organizations. The decades-long prominence of Toyota, for example, is contrasted with the many factors leading to the automaker's sweeping 2010 product recalls. Taken together, these multiple perspectives and in-depth case studies show how to: Build a system of "dynamic discovery" designed to reveal operational problems and weaknesses as they arise Attack and solve problems when and where they occur, converting weaknesses into strengths Disseminate knowledge gained from solving local problems throughout the company as a whole Create managers invested in developing everyone's capacity to continually innovate and improve

Whatever kind of company you operate-- from technology to fi nance to healthcare-- mastery of these four key capabilities will put you on the fast track to operational excellence, where you will generate faster, better results--using less capital and fewer resources.

Apply the lessons of Steven J. Spear and gain a high-velocity edge over every competitor in your industry.

As companies and organizations continue to grow economically, it has become pertinent to also implement business and management practices that help relieve environmental and social stressors created by manufacturing processes. Strategic Management of Sustainable Manufacturing Operations features an inclusive overview of various management practices that contribute to the sustainability efforts of an organization. Highlighting successful techniques being implemented and utilized by different companies, this publication is an essential reference source for researchers, academics, consultants, policy makers, and practitioners interested in sustainable performance measurement, supply chain design, and operations management.

This book explains supply chain management (SCM) using the strategy-structure-process-performance (SSPP) framework. Utilizing this well-known framework of contingency theory in the areas of strategic management and organizational design, SCM is firmly positioned among management theories. The author specifically proposes a theoretical foundation of SCM that will be relevant to such areas as operations management, logistics management, purchasing management, and marketing. Both the static and dynamic sides of SCM are reported. On the static side, supply chain strategies are divided into three patterns: efficiency-oriented, responsiveness-oriented, and the hybrid efficiency- and responsiveness-oriented pattern. For each strategy, suitable internal and external supply chain structures and processes are proposed. On the dynamic side, the big issue is to overcome performance trade-offs. Based on theories of organizational change, process change, and dynamic capabilities, the book presents a model of supply chain process change. On structure, the focus is on the role of an SCM steering department. Illustrative cases are included from such diverse industries as automobiles (Toyota and Nissan ), personal computers (Fujitsu), office equipment (Ricoh), air-conditioning (Daikin), tobacco (Japan Tobacco), chemicals and cosmetics (Kao), and casual fashion (Fast Retailing and Inditex).The strategy and organization of SCM is systematically presented on the basis of the SSPP framework. In particular, the relationships among three management elements-strategy, structure, and process-can be identified in an SCM context. From many of the cases contained in this volume, there emerges an understanding of how to analyze the success and failure factors of SCM using the SSPP framework. In addition, the reader sees not only the static side SCM such as process operation but also its dynamic side such as process innovation and process improvement.

"Corporate and investor needs for profits are being met with painful cost cutting and a blind adoption of outsourcing. Our organizations look for successes and advantages onshore, offshore and, in fact, "anyshore." We struggle for change, success, and sustainability, but we persistently underestimate and misalign the resources, skills, and efforts needed. The changes based in the fundamentals of realignments and innovations have been lost, and as a result, so has our collective ability to sustain the initiatives. We've lost our innovative abilities.

"Innovative Relevance" is not just about increases in productivity, loss of domestic jobs, cultural differences, cash flow, and most recently the certification of our financial statements. It also addresses the focused utilization of multiple disciplines that are seldom practiced today--ethics, integrity, passion, and consistency.

"Innovative Relevance" represents the pragmatic prescription for globalized workforces and operations. It creates the sustainable, repeatable, and measurable roadmap for change. Without relevance, many an approach or set of facts will suffice."

The aim of this book is to present quantitative and qualitative aspects of logistics operations supporting recycling and reuse. In individual chapters, the authors address various issues related to reverse network configuration and the organization of collection, transportation, warehousing and reprocessing activities. Moreover a number of best practice examples from different countries and industries are provided. This book will be a valuable resource for both academics and practitioners who want to deepen their knowledge of logistics operations and management for recycling and reuse.

Building on the foundations of the first edition, this comprehensive textbook remains a vital tool for postgraduate students seeking to understand the principles of service operations management, and for undergraduate students specializing in hospitality, tourism and public sector management. With services accounting for 70 percent of employment and growth in our economy, this textbook explains what is needed to ensure the most efficient and effective service operations are delivered. Covering not-for-profit agencies, charities, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and utilities alongside finance, healthcare and commercial companies, this guide explores the essentials of service operations management with its innovative approach to delivering customers' imperatives in services. Written in a clear and accessible manner this updated second edition: takes an increased international perspective on service operations is updated to reflect the most significant changes in service operations management, and to provide enhanced coverage of areas touched on in the first edition includes new and updated international case studies in each chapter, ideal for use in the classroom, reflecting the increased globalisation of service operations, with internationalising updates to include content suitable for a global audience covers mobile technology and presents the author's own research embracing big data analytics and neurolinguistics in building customer service systems expands coverage of process-reengineering and service flows, business process assessments, and developing economies.

Business Processes: Operational Solutions for SAP Implementation deals with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation, and also business operations/processes and information systems to support business operations/processes. There are a large number of books treating ERP implementation, operations management and information systems separately, but books dedicated to all three topics applied to practical issues of ERP implementation are scarce. However, teaching ERP merely as software does not work. Uniting these three topics in one book allows the reader to avoid the problems of teaching separate fields and then connecting them in one complex solution, providing the opportunity to better educate students.

This book provides a consistent and holistic managerial approach to product management and presents a practical and comprehensive methodology (roles, processes, tasks, and deliverables) that covers all aspects of product management. It helps students of product management, product management practitioners, product management organizations, and corporations understand the value, theory, and implementation of product management. It outlines a practical approach to clarify role definitions, identify responsibilities, define processes and deliverables, and improve the ability to communicate with stakeholders. The book details the fundamentals of the Blackblot Product Manager's Toolkit (R) (PMTK) product management methodology, a globally adopted best practice.

In this book we have introduced the basics of the federal budget process, provided an historical background on the foundation and development of the budget process, indicated how defense spending may be measured and how it impacts the economy, described and analyzed how Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution System (PPBES) operates and should function to produce the annual defense budget proposal to Congress, analyzed the role of Congress in debating and deciding on defense appropriations and the politics of the budgetary process including the use of supplemental appropriations to fund national defense, analyzed budget execution dynamics, identified the principal participants in the defense budget process in the Pentagon and military commands, assessed federal and Department of Defense (DoD) financial management and business process challenges and issues, and described the processes used to resource acquisition of defense war fighting assets, including reforms in acquisition and linkages between PPBES and the defense acquisition process.