scholarly journals Global sales and operations planning: A multinational manufacturing company perspective

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0257572
Author(s):  
Marcelo Xavier Seeling ◽  
Tobias Kreuter ◽  
Luiz Felipe Scavarda ◽  
Antônio Márcio Tavares Thomé ◽  
Bernd Hellingrath

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the global Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) process and investigate the steps to support consolidated business planning in worldwide operations and large-scale supply chains. The paper conducts a case study at a multinational manufacturing company applying an abductive approach. It combines the deductive logic from theory and the inductive logic from field observation in an attempt to elaborate further on theory on global S&OP. The analysis is structured and guided by a novel framework for global S&OP, which is developed based on the theoretical background and the case study findings. The research findings characterise the S&OP process for global operations and identify challenges related to the need to synchronise the subsidiaries’ S&OP efforts worldwide to deal with different contingencies of these subsidiaries, and to manage and analyse a large amount of information gathered. The research reveals how the subsidiaries’ performance is analysed by top executives along the global S&OP process, feeding strategic initiatives in the organisation and identifying business opportunities like benchmarking among subsidiaries, synergies with other management practices, and global gains. This paper offers a novel investigation of the global steps on S&OP in a real-life setting, offering a well-documented characterisation of the process that goes beyond the traditional local approach. Moreover, it is the first study to reveal challenges and expected outcomes of such a global perspective for S&OP. The theoretical advancements of S&OP research offered herein aid scholars, opening avenues for middle-range theorising, highlighting the cross-disciplinary nature of the domain, and discussing the use of concepts from related disciplines like Economics, Psychology, and Information Systems. The research findings can also assist executives, especially from multinational manufacturers, in their efforts to consolidate global planning.

Author(s):  
Ilda Vagge ◽  
◽  
Gioia Maddalena Gibelli ◽  
Alessio Gosetti Poli ◽  
◽  
...  

The authors, with the awareness that climate change affects and changes the landscape, wanted to investigate how these changes are occurring within the metropolitan area of Tehran. Trying to keep a holistic method that embraces different disciplines, reasoning from large scale to small scale, the authors tried to study the main problems related to water scarcity and loss of green spaces. Subsequently they dedicated themselves to the identification of the present and missing ecosystem services, so that they could be used in the best possible way as tools for subsequent design choices. From the analysis obtained, the authors have created a masterplan with the desire to ensure a specific natural capital, the welfare of ecosystem services, and at the same time suggest good water management practices. It becomes essential to add an ecological accounting to the economic accounting, giving dignity to the natural system and the ecosystem services that derive from it.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8755
Author(s):  
Hsiu-Chin Hsieh ◽  
Xuan-Huynh Nguyen ◽  
Tien-Chin Wang ◽  
Jen-Yao Lee

Due to its unpredictability, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has changed the global business climate and commercial management practices in unprecedented ways. As a direct result of the pandemic, the hospitality and tourism sectors have shut down, and business failure rates have occurred exponentially. The franchise hospitality industry has experienced significant impact and challenged a basic understanding of knowledge management (KM) implementation in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak. A strategic KM implementation practice can not only guide a large-scale operation, but also adjust an organization’s performance and competitiveness. The purpose of this study is to examine the influential criteria of success through effective KM implementation and to predict the probability of successful KM in a post-pandemic era. The conceptual framework for KM applies an analytic hierarchical prediction model reliant upon consistent fuzzy preference relations to assist the franchise hospitality sector’s consciousness of the influential criteria. An empirical case study is used to apply pairwise comparisons used to determine the priority weights and two possible outcomes. The case study will assist franchise organizations to analyze whether or not to implement KM, interdict application, or adopt revised actions. This assistance will enhance the success possibility of KM implementation within such a crisis environment. This study uses a case setting by assessing 15 franchises hospitality experts’ opinions in Taiwan relevant to KM implementation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-112
Author(s):  
S. M. Chaturika Seneviratne ◽  
◽  
Gayasha Kalpani ◽  

Abstract Purpose: This study examines how Environmental Management Accounting practices are related to waste management practices and how the organization in the case study is influenced in adopting the waste management practices Research methodology: The case study method was used in examining the applicability of Environmental Management Accounting to waste management in one large manufacturing company. Interviews, observations and archival documents were used as data collection methods. Results: The study observed that the company had reinvigorated environmental management and waste management practices due to the influence of the major stakeholders. These motivations can be categorized into three main pillars including coercive, mimetic, and normative isomorphisms. Limitations: As the research is directed towards the selection of in-depth inquiry of specific settings infused with culture, values, beliefs, stories, language, perception, politics and ideology, it might cause to diminish the researcher's analytical objectivity and independence of the research. Contribution: Policies, practices and motivations promote the future development of environmental management accounting and waste management practices in the Sri Lankan context.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 2109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Alenius ◽  
Tomi Roinila

Grid-connected systems often consist of several feedback-controlled power-electronics converters that are connected in parallel. Consequently, a number of stability issues arise due to interactions among multiple converter subsystems. Recent studies have presented impedance-based methods to assess the stability of such large systems. However, only few real-life experiences have been previously presented, and practical implementations of impedance-based analysis are rare for large-scale systems that consist of multiple parallel-connected devices. This work presents a case study in which an unstable high-frequency operation, caused by multiple paralleled grid-connected rectifiers, of a 250 kW data center in southern Finland is reported and studied. In addition, the work presents an experimental approach for characterizing and assessing the system stability by using impedance measurements and an aggregated impedance-based analysis. Recently proposed wideband-identification techniques based on binary injection and Fourier methods are applied to obtain the experimental impedance measurements from the input terminals of a single data center rectifier unit. This work provides a practical approach to design and implement the impedance-based stability analysis for a system consisting of multiple paralleled grid-connected converters. It is shown that the applied methods effectively predict the overall system stability and the resonant modes of the system, even with very limited information on the system. The applied methods are versatile, and can be utilized in various grid-connected applications, for example, in adaptive control, system monitoring, and stability analysis.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Shen ◽  
Qiang Deng ◽  
Rebecca Lao ◽  
Simon Wu

Abstract In this paper, we focus on inventory management in a manufacturing company in China. This study aims to identify the key factors that influence inventory management practices, investigate efficient and effective inventory management approaches, and examine the impact of supplier cooperation on supply chain improvement. A case study approach is used to identify the key factors that influence inventory management in a factory. Efficient and effective inventory management practices are derived from the case study and may provide practical guidance for foreign manufacturers in China. This study provides a valuable tool for identifying the key factors in inventory management which can be applied to similar problems encountered in actual manufactories.


2013 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kent G. Lightfoot ◽  
Lee M. Panich ◽  
Tsim D. Schneider ◽  
Sara L. Gonzalez ◽  
Matthew A. Russell ◽  
...  

AbstractThis article advocates for a comparative approach to archaeological studies of colonialism that considers how Native American societies with divergent political economies may have influenced various kinds of processes and outcomes in their encounters with European colonists. Three dimensions of indigenous political economies (polity size, polity structure, and landscape management practices) are identified as critical variables in colonial research. The importance of considering these dimensions is exemplified in a case study from California, which shows how small-sized polities, weak to moderate political hierarchies, and regionally oriented pyrodiversity economies played significant roles in the kinds of colonial relationships that unfolded. The case study illustrates how the colonial experiences of Native Californians differed from those of other tribal groups that confronted similar kinds of colonial programs involving Franciscan missionaries elsewhere in North America. The article stresses that the archaeology of colonialism is not simply an arcane academic exercise but, rather, has real-life relevancy for people who remain haunted by the legacies of colonialism, such as those petitioning for federal recognition in California.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabricio Stocker ◽  
Gustavo Abib ◽  
Ronaldo de Oliveira Santos Jhunior ◽  
Helio Arthur Reis Irigaray

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze how the internationalization process of Brazilian microbreweries takes place, especially in factors of propensity to internationalization, competition and survival in the national and international market.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopted qualitative approach research, using a multiple case study strategy, analyzing seven Brazilian craft breweries. The authors developed this study through documentary research, semi-structured interviews and nonparticipant observation.FindingsThe research findings made it possible to characterize the internationalization process motivated by the background and international experience of entrepreneurs that adopted different strategies for expansion in the international market. The authors noticed that the networks developed in production partnerships, festivals and international missions represent an increase in the ease of internationalization and helps to reduce the risk perception.Research limitations/implicationsThe contributions refer to the conjecture that the born global's evolution related to the high competitiveness of the market is influenced by the international background of the founders and by the influence of the international network, overcoming institutional and market challenges in emerging countries, assuming risks associated with rapid and early entry into the international arena.Practical implicationsThe paper is potentially useful for managerial practice and policymakers by providing insights into the characteristics of entrepreneurs and companies considering their propensity to internationalize, presenting how entrepreneurs and managers can seek resources and develop their skills and capacities to manage such companies and processes of internationalization.Originality/valueThe research is presented as a complementary study to the limited number of studies examining born globals from emerging markets, also challenging the arguments of the dominant theory regarding gradual and nonlinear internationalization.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-292
Author(s):  
Bakari Maligwa Mohamed ◽  
Geraldine Arbogast Rasheli ◽  
Leonada Rafael Mwagike

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify and assess the regulatory and institutional constraints in managing procurement records in Tanzania’s procuring entities. Design/methodology/approach This study used a mixed study design. There were explorative case study and questionnaire survey study methods used sequentially. In total, 15 procuring entities were used for exploratory case study, while 200 respondents were administered with questionnaires. A 75 per cent response rate was realised. Findings Results indicated that management and care of procurement records is constrained by regulatory and institutional constraints. The identified and assessed constraints were inter alia: incapacity of institutional actors, inadequate regulatory and institutional arrangements, inadequacy of storage space, equipment and facilities and insufficiency of security and safety measures. Research limitations/implications This research focussed on the procuring entities found in Dar es Salaam, which accounts for 40.72 per cent of the total procuring entities in Tanzania. Based on this, the generalisation of research findings can be sought in that particular context. Practical implications Findings imply that procurement records management and care is highly influenced by the constraining factors that hinder efficient records keeping in most procuring entities in Tanzania. Social implications Majority of procurement management units and user departments’ staff were found to possess inadequate knowledge, skills and competences in management and care of procurement records. The procuring entities should ensure that procurement staffs are trained in records and archives management practices. Originality/value This study contributes towards adding knowledge to the existing body of knowledge on the procurement records and archives management systems.


1970 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmin B. Kafai ◽  
Nina H. Fefferman

In this article, we put forward the proposal to use virtual epidemics as learning laboratories for players to develop a better understanding of infectious disease, its social implications, and inquiry process. In the case of virtual epidemics, players can use their own experiences and observations of the community to learn about processes of infection and immunity, the interactions of social behavior, and reactions to perceived health risk – investigations difficult to replicate in real life due to ethical considerations. Different learning laboratories can engage students in testing different parameters in epidemic simulations, identifying and developing vaccines, analyzing archival records of past epidemics, and discussing ethical issues. Such laboratories would allow students to become epidemiologists using the very same tools that professional scientists now use to model and study the outbreak of an infectious disease. These are not unreasonable expectations given prior experiences with the virtual epidemic Whypox in Whyville.net, a large-scale virtual world with over 2 million youth ages 10-12 years. This article reviews past research findings and outlines new approaches for students in K-12 education to learn about and with virtual epidemics.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 9245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tena Žužek ◽  
Žiga Gosar ◽  
Janez Kušar ◽  
Tomaž Berlec

In today’s highly dynamic and unpredictable project environment, companies need to be able to manage changes quickly and effectively, otherwise, the final product will not be current and will only go to waste. Traditional project management approaches that focus on planning are no longer efficient and companies are forced to adopt new ways of working. As a result, more flexible agile project management (APM) approaches have emerged over the last decades. Originally developed for the software industry, APM is now increasingly recognized and adopted also by other industry sectors. However, due to some discipline-specific differences, the adoption of APM by non-software companies is challenging and requires many adjustments and high financial input. While the larger organizations have sufficient resources to make such a transition, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) generally cannot afford to do so, and therefore need alternative strategies to increase their agility and stay competitive on the global market. In this paper, we present a case study of a Slovenian medium-sized manufacturing company that implemented only certain APM practices separately and not as part of a structured APM methodology, and still managed to achieve significant benefits: improved communication, faster detection of discrepancies, more effective problem-solving and greater flexibility. The results also suggest that APM practices, even when implemented separately, positively impact project success in terms of both efficiency and stakeholder satisfaction, and can thus help in establishing an economically, socially, and environmentally more sustainable workplace.


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