scholarly journals The Relationship between Manufacturing and Service Provision in Operations Management

Author(s):  
Xin Jiang
Author(s):  
Zhongqi Wang ◽  
Qi Han ◽  
Bauke de Vries ◽  
Li Dai

AbstractThe identification of the relationship between land use and transport lays the foundation for integrated land use and transport planning and management. This work aims to investigate how rail transit is linked to land use. The research on the relationship between land use and rail-based transport is dominated by the impacts of rail projects on land use, without an in-depth understanding of the reverse. However, it is important to note that issues of operation management rather than new constructions deserve greater attention for regions with established rail networks. Given that there is a correspondence between land use patterns and spatial distribution of heavy railway transit (HRT) services at such regions, the study area (i.e., the Netherlands) is partitioned by the Voronoi diagram of HRT stations and the causal relationship between land use and HRT services is examined by structural equation modeling (SEM). The case study of Helmond (a Dutch city) shows the potential of the SEM model for discussing the rail station selection problem in a multiple transit station region (MTSR). Furthermore, in this study, the node place model is adapted with the derivatives of the SEM model (i.e., the latent variable scores for rail service levels and land use characteristics), which are assigned as node and place indexes respectively, to analyze and differentiate the integration of land use and HRT services at the regional level. The answer to whether and how land use affects rail transit services from this study strengthens the scientific basis for rail transit operations management. The SEM model and the modified node place model are complementary to be used as analytical and decision-making tools for rail transit-oriented regional development.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Ladas ◽  
Stylianos Kavadias ◽  
Christoph Loch

We present a model that suggests possible explanations for the observed proliferation of “pay-per-use” (PPU) business models over the last two decades. Delivering “fractions” of a product as a service offers a cost advantage to customers with lower usage but requires extra delivery costs. Previous research focused on information goods (with negligible production costs) and predicted that PPU, when arising as a differentiation to selling in equilibrium, would fundamentally achieve lower profits than selling. We extend the theory by covering goods with any production cost in duopolistic competition. We show that PPU business models can be more profitable than selling (especially at midrange production costs), as long as their delivery costs are not too high, a requirement that is more easily fulfilled as new technologies reduce these costs. Moreover, if firms are imperfectly informed about their customers’ usage profiles, PPU’s effective pricing of customers’ varying usage offers an additional advantage over selling. This requires companies to employ accounting methods that do not inappropriately allocate production costs over stochastic usage levels. If PPU service provision suffers from queueing inefficiencies, this does not fundamentally change the relative profitability of the PPU and selling models, provided that PPU providers can attract sufficiently high demand to benefit from pooling economies. This paper was accepted by Charles Corbett, operations management.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Plous Kresch

This paper documents how regulatory uncertainty may undermine public service when different levels of government share a mandate on public service provision. I examine the Brazilian water and sanitation sector, which presents a natural experiment of shared provision between state and municipal companies. Using a difference-in-differences framework, I study a legal reform that clarified the relationship between municipal and state providers and eliminated any takeover threat by state companies. I find that after the reform, municipal companies almost doubled their total system investment, leading to significant increases in system access and decreases in child mortality. (JEL H77, L95, O13, O18, Q53)


2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 244-255
Author(s):  
Jeremiah W. Jaggers ◽  
Emily Beerbower ◽  
David Kondrat ◽  
Matthew C. Aalsma ◽  
James A. Hall

The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of county-level variables on services offered to children who have guardian ad litem/court-appointed special advocate (GAL/CASA) representation. An email survey was sent to GALs and CASAs inviting them to participate in the study. A total of 473 GALs/CASAs completed the survey, with 437 meeting criteria for the study. Our sample represents 33 of 92 Indiana counties. We found the number and types of services ordered were strongly influenced by county contextual characteristics. Families served by a GAL/CASA in urban counties with more poverty received more services. In contrast, families with a GAL/CASA residing in counties with a greater percentage of minorities generated fewer services. Future research should focus on why environmental conditions influence GAL/CASA recommendations for services. Lastly, the relationship between the GAL/CASA race and the race of the families they serve should be explored.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikihisa Nakano ◽  
Kazuki Matsuyama

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the roles of a supply chain management (SCM) department. To achieve that, this study empirically examines the relationship between internal supply chain structure and operational performance, using survey data collected from 108 Japanese manufacturers. Design/methodology/approach Based on a literature review of not only organizational theory but also other fields such as marketing, logistics management, operations management and SCM, this study focused on two structural properties, formalization and centralization and divided operational performance to firm-centric efficiency and customer-centric responsiveness. To examine the analytical model using these dimensions, this study conducted a structural equation modeling. Findings The correlation between centralization of operational tasks and centralization of strategic tasks, the impacts of centralization of both tasks on formalization and the effect of formalization on responsiveness performance were demonstrated. In addition, the reasons for formalization not positively influencing efficiency performance were explored through follow-up interviews. Practical implications Manufacturers need to formalize, as much as possible, a wide range of SCM tasks to realize operational excellence. To establish such formalized working methods, it is effective to centralize the authorities of both operational and strategic tasks in a particular department. In addition, inefficiency due to strict logistics service levels is a problem that all players involved in the supply chain of various industries should work together to solve. Originality/value The theoretical contribution of this study is that the authors established an empirical process that redefined the constructs of formalization and centralization, developed these measures and examined the impacts of these structural properties on operational performance.


Author(s):  
Nikolaos Loutas ◽  
Konstantinos Tarabanis ◽  
Vassilios Peristeras

The rising importance of service for the global economy has resulted in a significant number of efforts to define and interpret its meaning. In this vein, this article identifies and organizes related literature following a holistic approach. The authors study service from different perspectives, both business-related and technical ones, e.g., marketing, operations management, and computer science. A total of 47 definitions of service are finally reviewed. They’ve found out: (1) How is service perceived and defined by different disciplines and (2) What are the common service species according to related literature. The authors observe that in the business realm service falls under either of the following two categories: service as a set of value-creating activities and service as a transformation. Due to ICT revolutionizing service provision, significant work has also been conducted in order to study technology-enabled services. The authors identified different types of technology-enabled services, namely e-services, SOA services and Web services. The main contribution of this article lies in the broadness, completeness and cross-disciplinarily of the literature covered, thus being able to stand as a reference source of knowledge for service analysts, engineers and practitioners.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niklas Jakobsson ◽  
Andreas Kotsadam ◽  
Marta Szebehely

In an international comparison, the Nordic countries are generous care spenders and a relatively large proportion of the populations receive formal care services. However, in respect of service provision, the Nordic countries are less similar today than they were some decades ago. Using survey data from three Nordic countries, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, we first document the differences in informal care between the countries, and then we assess its impact on the relationship between informal caregiving and formal employment. We find that informal care is most common in Denmark and least common in Sweden. However, those who provide care in Sweden provide care more often than people in both Norway and Denmark. There is a negative correlation between being a caregiver and the probability of being employed in Norway and Denmark, but not in Sweden. With specific regard to parental care, there is no general relation between the provision of parental care and employment, but those providing substantial care are clearly less likely to work than others. Caring for a disabled child is less common than caring for a parent, but the negative effects on employment are even stronger.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 690-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayanth Jayaram ◽  
Keah Choon Tan ◽  
Tritos Laosirihongthong

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct influence of three types of operations management practices, namely total quality management (TQM), lean manufacturing (LEAN), and supply chain management (SCM) on operational performance. Design/methodology/approach – Cluster analysis is used to classify data collected from Thai manufacturing firms into three business strategy clusters of cost leadership, differentiation, and focussed strategy. Next, multiple-regression analysis was used to test the relationships between operations management practices and performance in each of the three strategy clusters. Findings – Results show that all three operations management practices were significantly associated with performance including the interaction of TQM and SCM. Also, the interaction of LEAN and SCM significantly affected performance for firms pursuing focussed business strategy. Practical implications – Manufacturers in developing nations can use this result to deploy appropriate operations management practices to enhance their competitive edge. Originality/value – This study explores the cross-functional alignment between strategies and practices, which have been transferred from developed to developing countries.


2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
RHYS ANDREWS ◽  
SEBASTIAN JILKE

AbstractIn this article, the authors evaluate whether the provision of good quality social services has the potential to create social cohesion. In addition to examining the relationship between social services and social cohesion, the authors expand institutional theories of social capital by investigating whether this potential for building social solidarity may be resilient to the corrosive effects of economic strain. Multilevel analyses of variations in the perceptions of social cohesion amongst Europeans were conducted for 27 member countries of the EU using the Eurobarometer 74.1 on poverty and social exclusion from 2010. The results suggest that individuals receiving better quality social service provision perceived higher levels of social cohesion within the country in which they live. By contrast, individuals living in households experiencing economic strain perceived lower levels of cohesion. Further analysis revealed that the experience of economic strain does not weaken the positive relationship between social services quality and perceptions of cohesion.


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