scholarly journals Initiating quality management in a small company

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Assarlind ◽  
Ida Gremyr
Keyword(s):  
Quality Management ◽  
Single Case ◽  
External Support ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Small Companies ◽  
Small Company ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Scarcity Of Resources

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify critical aspects of quality management (QM) adoption in a small company. QM is more widely applied in large companies than in small ones. Previous research has pointed to QM ideas as sound and valid for small companies, but that many such initiatives fail because of poor implementation. With scarcity of resources and expertise, it is critical to study how QM can be initiated in small companies with often sceptical owner-managers. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on a single case study of a small company; data has been collected through two sets of interviews: one in late 2009 and one in mid-2012, as well as project reports and public financial data. This allows for a study of the adoption process over time. Findings – This study points to four critical areas when initiating QM work in a small company: the importance of initiation, the importance of contextualisation, QM adoption as an iterative process, and the need for external support. Originality/value – This paper highlights the importance of overcoming small business owners’ reluctance towards QM. Most research on QM initiatives in small companies has focused on the stages that follow an actual decision to begin a QM initiative. This paper shows that it is critical to carefully consider the stages leading to the decision. Further, it contributes with a case study on a small company, otherwise uncommon in QM research.

Implementing supplier management strategies for supply chain sustainability risks in multinational companies

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 923-938 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uta Juettner ◽  
Katharina Windler ◽  
André Podleisek ◽  
Maya Gander ◽  
Sandrina Meldau
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Quality Management ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Agency Relationships ◽  
Supplier Quality Management

PurposeIn a time where stakeholders increasingly demand social, environmental, and economic sustainability, mismanaging suppliers can impose substantial sustainability risks for a company and harm its reputation and business severely. This research explores the implementation of a corporate sustainable supplier strategy designed to cope with such risks from an agency theory perspective.Design/methodology/approachA case study of a multinational enterprise, a provider of leading mobility solutions in the realm of escalators, moving walkways and elevators, is conducted. Data is collected from multiple sources of evidence, including strategy documents, a focus group and semi-structured interviews.FindingsThe study identifies several implementation challenges and coping mechanisms in firstly, the agency relationships between the headquarter and the regional subsidiary units and secondly, the relationships between the regional subsidiary units and their suppliers.Research limitations/implicationsA framework conceptualising the implementation of sustainable supplier strategies is proposed. The framework positions the topic at the interface between supply chain sustainability risk, supplier quality management as well as agency relationships and identifies avenues for further research. The key limitations refer to the single case study methodology and the exclusion of suppliers in the data collection approach.Practical implicationsThe proposed framework can support multinational enterprises in developing corporate sustainability strategies and in implementing them in the supplier network.Originality/valueThe originality of the framework lies in the integrated approach combining supply chain sustainability risk, supplier quality management and triadic agency relationships.

Asset management the track towards quality documentation

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 302-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Edana Tyler
Keyword(s):  
Quality Management ◽  
Asset Management ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Document Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Rail Network

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to share the experience of the document discovery process, during the implementation of an asset management system for a rail company. This system will deliver comprehensive enterprise asset management information from a single source, with information provided to mobile devices, for use by field workers. This case study presents the challenges encountered in the search, retrieval and management of documentation for use on a daily basis for civil standard maintenance tasks. Design/methodology/approach Evidence gathered for this paper was a result of direct and participant observation over a period of 18 months from 2014 to 2016. As a member of the project team, certain privileges were accorded to the researcher who was placed in a unique position to act as the main research instrument, able to collect data on the systems used as well as the everyday practices on information capture and document production. Findings Document quality and standards can be overlooked or deemed as not crucial; the value, significance and importance of documentation are lost when no one takes ownership; the understanding and application of standards, quality management and governance can have a direct bearing on the effective management and control of documents and subsequent records produced. Research limitations/implications Research is limited, as this is a single case study. Practical implications By highlighting the challenges faced and the resolutions used, this paper hopes to offer a level of practical guidance with the detection process for maintenance tasks for the civil assets discipline for a rail network. Originality/value This case study contributes to the understanding of quality management and the role it plays in document management and in turn the search and retrieval process. It provides evidence that documents must be systematically managed and controlled to limit risk both internally and externally.

“I had no idea until now”: preparing doctoral students in education for the professoriate

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel L. Renbarger ◽  
David Michael Rehfeld ◽  
Tracey Sulak
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Graduate Student ◽  
Single Case ◽  
External Support ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Job Market ◽  
Content Type

PurposeWith the number of doctoral degrees awarded increasing and full-time and tenure-track jobs decreasing, doctoral graduates are entering a fierce job market. Lack of knowledge and support about navigating the job market can impact graduates' mental health and chances of securing long-term employment, but many graduates claim their programs provide little professional development in this area. The purpose of this study is to understand doctoral students' job preparation after participating in a departmental seminar.Design/methodology/approachThe current explanatory sequential mixed methods, single case study investigated students' perceptions following a year-long seminar in job market navigation.FindingsStudents attending the seminar did not differ from those who did not attend on feelings of preparedness, number of application documents completed, or curriculum vita quality scores.Research limitations/implicationsResearchers may have limited ability to implement graduate student interventions given the power structures of faculty life and the lack of graduate student time.Practical implicationsThe results suggest informal seminars may not be enough to support doctoral students' job market skills.Social implicationsThis has implications for department chairs and deans to create faculty development opportunities to pivot to a student-centered culture rather than relying on faculty or external support to help graduate students prepare for the job market.Originality/valueThis case study provides insight as to how graduate students' job market anxieties are at odds with the current demands and structure of educational doctoral programs.

Knowledge transfer roles of subsidiaries in MNCs’ networks

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cigdem Baskici
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Hierarchical Structures ◽  
Knowledge Flows ◽  
Consumer Electronics ◽  
Knowledge Network ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Knowledge Based

Purpose Although there have been a considerable number of studies regarding subsidiary role typology in multinationals’ management literature, there appear to be few studies that consider knowledge-based role typology from the network-based perspective. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap and extend the study of Gupta and Govindarajan (1991). Thus, the study focuses on answering the following research question: Do subsidiaries have different roles in terms of knowledge flows within a multinational company (MNC)? Design/methodology/approach This empirical study has been carried out as an explorative single case study. An MNC with 15 foreign subsidiaries headquartered in Turkey, which operated in the manufacturing of household appliances and consumer electronics, has been selected as the case. Knowledge transfer is analyzed in this MNC from the network perspective. Findings Four role typologies are detected for subsidiaries of the MNC: collector transmitter, collector diffuser, converter transmitter and converter diffuser. Research limitations/implications Findings of this study are specific to this case. Testing the findings in a sample consisting of subsidiaries of MNCs producing transnational products may contribute to the generalizability of these roles. Practical implications This study offers potentially important findings for MNC managers to use. First, in this study, knowledge flows' route could be defined within MNCs’ dual network. Second, role typologies could inform MNC managers to design their MNCs’ knowledge network. Originality/value The suggested typologies are expected to more accurately define the roles of subsidiaries within contemporary MNCs which are accepted to be transformed from hierarchical structures to network-based organizations.

Frozen child: schema therapy for a forensic patient in a service for men with a diagnosis of severe personality disorder

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 254-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asad Ul Lah ◽  
Jacqui Saradjian
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Service User ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Schema Therapy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Protective Strategy ◽  
Personal Reflections ◽  
Participant Observer ◽  
Severe Personality Disorder

Purpose Schema therapy has gone through various adaptations, including the identification of various schema modes. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that there may be a further dissociative mode, the “frozen child” mode, which is active for some patients, particularly those that have experienced extreme childhood trauma. Design/methodology/approach The paper is participant observer case study which is based on the personal reflections of a forensic patient who completed a treatment programme which includes schema therapy. Findings The proposed mode, “frozen child”, is supported by theoretical indicators in the literature. It is proposed that patients develop this mode as a protective strategy and that unless recognised and worked with, can prevent successful completion of therapy. Research limitations/implications Based on a single case study, this concept is presented as a hypothesis that requires validation as the use of the case study makes generalisation difficult. Practical implications It is suggested that if validated, this may be one of the blocks therapists have previously encountered that has led to the view that people with severe personality disorder are “untreatable”. Suggestions are made as to how patients with this mode, if validated, can be treated with recommendations as to the most appropriate processes to potentiate such therapy. Originality/value The suggestion of this potential “new schema mode” is based on service user initiative, arising from a collaborative enterprise between service user and clinician, as recommended in recent government policies.

scholarly journals Innovation and cross-functional teams

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 84-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Marasquini Stipp ◽  
Márcio Lopes Pimenta ◽  
Daniel Jugend
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Incremental Innovation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Tax Management ◽  
Functional Teams ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The aim of this paper is to characterize how innovation may happen through cross-functional teams (CFT) in an organization of the public sector. Design/methodology/approach A case study helped to characterize several behavior patterns, team structures and respective links with generating innovation in internal processes and public answering contexts. Findings The results highlight that formal-temporary teams present a higher capacity to generate incremental innovation in products, whereas permanent-informal teams have a higher capacity to generate innovation in the internal processes and public answering contexts. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this research relate to the fact that this is a single case study, and although it is an important case to examine innovation and CFTs, by its very nature, it is not possible to extend and generalize the obtained data to other organizations. The evaluation of its propositions was merely qualitative, and future research is needed to validate its characteristics. Practical implications Several settings of CFTs are presented, as well as their ability to generate different types of innovation, such as the computerization of documents, petitions and papers, which decreases the time to answer the taxpayer. Moreover, CFTs can help to create products, such as computer programs that can be used not only locally but also in several public organizations related to tax management. Originality/value The field research provides the perceptions of the respondents regarding CFT characteristics that can lead to specific types of innovation, as well as the types of products or services that can be generated by these processes.

Implementation of lean in IT SME company: an Italian case

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Torri ◽  
Kaustav Kundu ◽  
Stefano Frecassetti ◽  
Matteo Rossini
Keyword(s):  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Lean Implementation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Italian Case ◽  
Lean Practices

Purpose In spite of huge advancement of Lean in the manufacturing sector, its advantage in the service sector is not fully investigated. The purpose of this paper is to cover this gap in particular for the information technology (IT) sector through the implementation of the Lean philosophy in a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME), operating in the IT sector. Design/methodology/approach A case study is conducted and following the A3 model, Lean is deployed in the case company. Data were collected through on-site interviews, waste sources were identified and then countermeasures for their reduction were proposed and adopted. Findings This study reveals that the implementation of the Lean practices in an SME operating in the IT sector offers good operative and financial results, thanks to the higher productivity obtained through the reduction of non-value-added activities. Research limitations/implications This paper reports a single case study, not enough to generalize the results. Moreover, more Lean tools and practices should be tested in IT companies to assess their effectiveness. Practical implications This paper increments the knowledge base for the application of Lean and A3 model outside the manufacturing industry. This paper should assist practitioners and consultants who have the desire to understand a better way of Lean implementation in fast-growing IT industry and in SME. Originality/value Research on Lean implementation in an SME company and in IT sector is scarce. This study aims to assess the efficiency of the adoption of Lean practices following the A3 model. The results could be highly valuable for similar companies (dimension or sector), especially those that are facing transition situations in terms of size and at the same time want to improve their operations performance, efficiency and avoid waste.

The impact of business networks on foreign subsidiaries development

IMP Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-443
Author(s):  
Enrico Baraldi ◽  
Francesco Ciabuschi ◽  
Olof Lindahl ◽  
Andrea Perna ◽  
Gian Luca Gregori
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Foreign Market ◽  
Business Networks ◽  
International Expansion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Automatic Control Systems ◽  
Industrial Networks ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore two specific areas pertaining to industrial networks and international business (IB). First, the authors look at how business relationships influence the internationalization in time, from the establishment of the first subsidiary in a foreign market to the following ones, and in space, that is, across different markets. Second, the authors investigate how an increasing external network dependence of subsidiaries in their internationalization may cause a detachment of a subsidiary from the mother company as its knowledge becomes insufficient to guide a subsidiary’s internationalization. Design/methodology/approach This paper utilizes an exploratory, longitudinal, single-case study of Loccioni – a manufacturer of measuring and automatic control systems for industrial customers – to illustrate the specific dynamics of the influences of industrial networks on the internationalization of subsidiaries. Findings The case study helps to elucidate the roles, entailing also free will and own initiative, of small suppliers’ subsidiaries which operate inside several global factories, and how “surfing” on many different global factories, by means of several local subsidiaries, actually supports these suppliers’ own international developments. This notion adds to our understanding of the global factory phenomenon a supplier focus that stresses how the role of suppliers is not merely that of being passive recipients of activities and directions from a focal orchestrating firm, but can also be that of initiative-takers themselves. Originality/value The paper contributes to the IMP tradition by providing a multi-layered and geographically more fine-grained view of the network embedding companies that operate on internationalized markets. This paper thereby sheds light on a less investigated area of research within the IMP tradition: the link between internationalization in different countries and the interconnectedness between the industrial networks spanning these countries. At the same time, this paper contributes to IB theories by showing how a late-internationalizing SME can enter highly international markets by “plugging into” several established “Global Factories” as a way to exploit further opportunities for international expansion.

scholarly journals How performance measurement influences stakeholders in not-for-profit organizations

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1164-1184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haley Allison Beer ◽  
Pietro Micheli
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Performance Goals ◽  
Content Type ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Not For Profit ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the influences of performance measurement (PM) on not-for-profit (NFP) organizations’ stakeholders by studying how PM practices interact with understandings of legitimate performance goals. This study invokes institutional logics theory to explain interactions between PM and stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach An in-depth case study is conducted in a large NFP organization in the UK. Managers, employees, and external partners are interviewed and observed, and performance-related documents analyzed. Findings Both stakeholders and PM practices are found to have dominant institutional logics that portray certain goals as legitimate. PM practices can reinforce, reconcile, or inhibit stakeholders’ understandings and propensity to act toward goals, depending on the extent to which practices share the dominant logic of the stakeholders they interact with. Research limitations/implications A theoretical framework is proposed for how PM practices first interact with stakeholders at a cognitive level and second influence action. This research is based on a single case study, which limits generalizability of findings; however, results may be transferable to other environments where PM is aimed at balancing competing stakeholder objectives and organizational priorities. Practical implications PM affects the experience of stakeholders by interacting with their understanding of legitimate performance goals. PM systems should be designed and implemented on the basis of both their formal ability to represent organizational aims and objectives, and their influence on stakeholders. Originality/value Findings advance PM theory by offering an explanation for how PM influences attention and actions at an individual micro level.

Supply chain integration and coordination for international sourcing in the context of China’s processing trade

2018 ◽  
Vol 118 (9) ◽  
pp. 1730-1748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingu Kang ◽  
Kihyun Park ◽  
Ma Ga (Mark) Yang ◽  
Mark H. Haney
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Supply Chain Integration ◽  
Processing Trade ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
International Sourcing ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
Simple Assembly

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how a foreign invested manufacturing company’s (FIMC) components sourcing process evolves in order to improve its supply chain outcomes in the context of China’s processing trade. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in the theory bases of the international sourcing process and supply chain integration, this study utilizes a single-case-study approach with a small- to medium-sized FIMC engaged in China’s processing trade. Findings This study identifies three stages of the components sourcing process: simple assembly stage, components localization stage and supply chain integration stage. In addition, the case study suggests that the type of processing trade evolves from processing with supplied materials to processing with imported materials as the sourcing process proceeds through the three stages and the internal and external environments change. Originality/value To our knowledge, this paper is the first to focus on an FIMC’s components sourcing process in the context of China’s processing trade. It contributes to a better understanding of how FIMCs progress through the components sourcing process and apply different types of processing trade in China to maximize their supply chain outcomes.

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