Improvement of production process capability — a case study of two furniture companies

The article aims to assess the improvement of the process capability by implementing the Six Sigma methodology in furniture enterprises with different levels of the quality management system (QMS) and ownership. The implementation of the Six Sigma methodology according to the DMAIC steps, also analysis, evaluation, and comparison of the implementation results were performed to improve the process performance. The implementation of the Six Sigma methodology was carried out in an international enterprise with foreign capital and a certified Quality Management System (QMS) and in a domestic enterprise with purely domestic capital without an established Quality Management System. The implementation results confirmed the positive development in the key indicators of critical processes, namely, in the reduction of DPMO, the increase of efficiency and the level of Sigma Process, and the values of process capability indices. The positive effects were more pronounced in the international enterprise compared to the domestic. The application of the Six Sigma methodology brings better results in manufacturing companies with international management skills and implemented certified QMS. These two aspects can be key success factors by managing and improving process capability. The practical contribution of the paper can be seen in the proposal of suitable methods and tools by implementing Six Sigma conception in furniture manufacturing regardless of the ownership or level of quality management systems.

EVALUATING ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS COMPLEMENTARY WITH ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS

Implementation, deployment and maintenance of enterprise software pre-configured products are one of the key challenges managers need to address in order to stay competitive in the never ending search to find better ways of conducting business. In the literature there are discovered two general approaches through which managers can use for a successful implementation, deployment and maintenance of enterprise software products. First approach is based on the internal re-deployment of the managerial practices that are already used to manage other fields in the enterprise. Second – the deployment of “world-wide” industry “best practices” that international vendors of enterprise software and their local representatives sell as part of their pre-configured software products. This paper presents a novel model that enables enterprises to systematically evaluate the fit between their specific organizational characteristics and the organizational characteristics complementary with successful deployment of international pre-configured enterprise software products. The proposed model is tested through a comparison of two groups of enter-prises from the population of 1000 biggest enterprises in Slovenia. The first group mostly invests in local, while the second group mostly invests in international enterprise software products. The paper finds that on average there are significant and relevant differences in 44% of the examined organizational characteristics between the groups of enterprises that mostly invest in international or local enterprise software products. The model serves as a comprehensive organizational risk checklist for enterprises that are about to invest in enterprise software products.

Developing Joint R&D Institutes between Chinese Universities and International Enterprises in China’s Innovation System: A Case at Tsinghua University

This paper examines the role of joint R&D institutes co-established by Chinese research universities and international enterprises. Guided by an analytical framework of institutional logics in the evolution of the Triple Helix model, this study aims to explore the institutionalization process of a joint R&D institute in the contexts of global and Chinese innovation systems; further, it analyzes which mingling institutional logics, respectively carried by a Chinese research university and an international enterprise, affect the collaboration between both parties moving from informal R&D collaboration toward an institutionalized organization. The case study method enabled the author to understand the complexity of the interlacing of international and national actors with regards to the joint R&D institutes. The contribution of the study to the existing literature is two-fold: on the conceptual front, it advances theoretical understandings of the interactions of institutional logics which result in varied patterns of joint R&D institute in a national context with transnational factors; on the empirical front, it examines the evolutionary path of a joint R&D institute established by a Chinese research university and an international enterprise.