Benchmarking: An International Journal

Rymaszewska, Anna

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-02-2016-0018

PurposeThis paper proposes, that without acknowledging that lean adoption needs to reach beyond the shop floor, it cannot be sustained, and neither is the transformation into a truly lean enterprise possible. The purpose of this paper is to address the gap in the scientific knowledge regarding the challenges of lean adoption in manufacturing organizations. The underlying assumption is that successful and sustainable adoption of lean should be approached from the perspective of business process change (BPC). By applying the logic of BPC to manufacturing environments, and by exploring the opportunities for lean implementation that reach far beyond manufacturing, the study is expected to contribute to the development of the existing knowledge.Design/methodology/approachThe research objectives were achieved by conducting the qualitative case study. Two case companies were chosen based on their differing approaches to the introduction and implementation of lean initiatives. Data were collected through in depth, semi-structured interviews supported by shop-floor observations.FindingsThe paper provides insights into how can lean implementation be facilitated while a systematic, BPC is utilized. By contrasting the two cases, meaningful conclusions were drawn and certain managerial implications outlined.Originality/valueThis paper presents a new approach to lean implementation and aims to bridge both the theoretical and empirical gaps between the concepts of lean implementation and business process management.

Pandey, Peeyush; Shah, Bhavin J.; Gajjar, Hasmukh

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-11-2015-0110

PurposeDue to the ever increasing concern toward sustainability, suppliers nowadays are evaluated on the basis of environmental performances. The data on supplier’s performance are not always available in quantitative form and evaluating supplier on the basis of qualitative data is a challenging task. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for the selection of suppliers by evaluating them on the basis of both quantitative and qualitative data.Design/methodology/approachLiterature on sustainability, green supply chain and lean practices related to supplier selection is critically reviewed. Based on this, a two phase fuzzy goal programming approach integrating hyperbolic membership function is proposed to solve the complex supplier selection problem.FindingsResults obtained through the proposed approach are compared to the traditional models (Jadidi et al., 2014; Ozkok and Tiryaki, 2011; Zimmermann, 1978) of supplier selection and were found to be optimal as it achieves higher aspiration level.Practical implicationsThe proposed model is adaptive to solve real world problems of supplier selection as all criteria do not possess the same weights, so the managers can change the criteria and their weights according to their requirement.Originality/valueThis paper provides the decision makers a robust framework to evaluate and select sustainable supplier based on both quantitative and qualitative data. The results obtained through the proposed model achieve greater satisfaction level as compared to those achieved by traditional methods.

Sharma, Pankaj; Kulkarni, Makarand S.; Parlikad, Ajith

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-11-2015-0113

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the current spare parts replenishment system of the Army. This exercise is being done with an aim to assess the capability of the current system to implement a time separated lean-agile system of spare parts replenishment.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a survey conducted on people in managerial ranks, working in the field of military logistics. The survey is thereafter summarised to ascertain the current status of spare parts replenishment system in the Army. The findings of the survey are elaborated at the end of the paper.FindingsThe strengths of the current spare parts replenishment system are highlighted. This is followed with the weaknesses of the system in implementing a dynamic lean-agile replenishment system.Originality/valueThe paper is aimed at assessing the capability of the current spare parts replenishment system and its ability to adapt to a novel replenishment system that is lean in peacetime to save money and agile during war to increase reliability of equipment achieved by a certainty of supply. The survey conducted on the persons actually involved in this logistics reveals areas that need emphasis in order to achieve such a time separated lean-agile replenishment system.

C.V., Sunil Kumar; Routroy, Srikanta

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-12-2015-0120

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assist a manufacturer for determining the principal supplier development impediments (SDIs) that are affecting the supplier development programs (SDPs) and yield a basis for drawing the appropriate mitigation strategies.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed approach starts with the application of fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and Pareto analysis to obtain the principal SDIs. Subsequently, the interpretive structural modeling and Fuzzy-Matrice d’Impacts Croisés-Multiplication Appliquée à un Classement analysis are applied on the principal SDIs to explore the root causes inducing ineffectiveness in the SDPs.FindingsThe outcomes of the proposed approach were demonstrated through a case study conducted in an Indian automotive components manufacturing company. The principal SDIs were identified, ranked, classified and structurally related for the said case company’s manufacturing environment. It was found that the lack of competent workforce, level of nascent relationship between manufacturer and suppliers and poor devolution of authority were the main SDIs that the case company has to primarily focus to make its SDPs effective.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the study was conducted in a practical case situation, the obtained results are not indiscriminate to the other case situations. However, the proposed approach can be applied for analyzing the SDIs in any manufacturing environment once the set of SDIs relevant to that environment are carefully chosen.Practical implicationsThe methodology would assist a manufacturer to proactively identify the SDIs that it has to primarily focus and subsequently devise the mitigation strategies for smooth running of its SDPs.Originality/valueBy utilizing the identified SDIs and applying the proposed methodology a manufacturer can find the main SDIs that are making the SDPs ineffective and accordingly fix the hindrances through certain mitigation strategies designed.

Wibowo, Santoso; Grandhi, Srimannarayana

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-01-2016-0013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to formulate the process of measuring and benchmarking the performance of knowledge management (KM) practices as a multicriteria group decision-making problem and present a new multicriteria group decision-making approach for effectively evaluating the performance of KM practices to meet the interests of various stakeholders in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approachA new multicriteria group decision-making approach is developed for evaluating the performance of KM practices of individual SMEs. Intuitionistic fuzzy numbers are used for representing the subjective assessments of decision makers in evaluating the relative importance of the evaluation criteria and the performance of individual KM practices with respect to specific evaluation criteria. A fuzzy multicriteria group decision-making algorithm is developed for measuring and benchmarking the performance of alternative KM practices.FindingsThe proposed multicriteria group decision-making approach is capable of effectively evaluating the performance of KM practices through adequately considering the presence of multiple decision makers, the multi-dimensional nature of the evaluation problem, and appropriately modeling the subjectiveness and imprecision of the evaluation process. The presentation of an example shows that the proposed fuzzy multicriteria group decision-making algorithm is simple to use and efficient in computation.Research limitations/implicationsThe outcome of the multicriteria group decision-making approach is highly dependent on the inputs provided by the decision maker.Practical implicationsThe novelty from this research lies in the utilization of a multicriteria group decision-making approach for evaluating the performance of KM practices in an organization. The outcome from the performance evaluation process allows the enterprise to adopt appropriate KM practices for achieving competitive advantages.Social implicationsThe proposed multicriteria group decision-making approach has a significant social implication as it can be used as a decision-making tool for providing various decision makers in SMEs with useful and strategic information concerning the performance of KM practices in a given situation.Originality/valueThe originality of this paper lies in the development of the multicriteria group decision-making approach for effectively measuring and benchmarking the performance of KM practices of individual SMEs.

Prakash, Anand; Mohanty, Rajendra P.

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-11-2015-0112

PurposeAutomakers are engaged in manufacturing both efficient and inefficient green cars. The purpose of this paper is to categorize efficient green cars and inefficient green cars followed by improving efficiencies of identified inefficient green cars for distribution fitting.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have used 2014 edition of secondary data published by the Automotive Research Centre of the Automobile Club of Southern California. The paper provides the methodology of applying data envelopment analysis (DEA) consisting of 50 decision-making units (DMUs) of green cars with six input indices (emission, braking, ride quality, acceleration, turning circle, and luggage capacity) and two output indices (miles per gallon and torque) integrated with Monte Carlo simulation for drawing significant statistical inferences graphically.FindingsThe findings of this study showed that there are 27 efficient and 23 inefficient DMUs along with improvement matrix. Additionally, the study highlighted the best distribution fitting of improved efficient green cars for respective indices.Research limitations/implicationsThis study suffers from limitations associated with 2014 edition of secondary data used in this research.Practical implicationsThis study may be useful for motorists with efficient listing of green cars, whereas automakers can be benefitted with distribution fitting of improved efficient green cars using Monte Carlo simulation for calibration.Originality/valueThe paper uses DEA to empirically examine classification of green cars and applies Monte Carlo simulation for distribution fitting to improved efficient green cars to decide appropriate range of their attributes for calibration.

Natarajan, Thamaraiselvan; Periaiya, Sridevi; Balasubramaniam, Senthil Arasu; Srinivasan, Thushara

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-01-2016-0010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse the typology of employee branding in an airline company using fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering to improve the quality of employee brand (EB).Design/methodology/approachData were collected from employees of Air India, Chennai division, using a questionnaire and analysed using FCM to find the optimum cluster number. The nature of each cluster was analysed to know its type.FindingsThe results prove the presence of four types of EB, namely, all-stars, injured reserves, rookies and strike-out kings in the aviation company. It is proven that employees in all-star have high level of knowledge of the desired brand (KDB) and psychological contract (PC), those in injured reserves have high KDB and low PC, rookies have low KDB and high PC and strike-out kings have low KDB and PC.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of this study are limited to the Air India employees. This study contributes to employee branding by empirically substantiating the proposed typology using FCM. It proposes the need to analyse organisations individually before comparisons.Practical implicationsThe management must focus on the quality of training and development programmes to enhance the position of rookies and strike-out kings. It must also receive regular feedback from injured reserves and strike-out kings to evaluate their perception of PC.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to empirically prove the typology of employee branding and to implement FCM in clustering employees for enhancing the EB’s quality.

Sufian, Fadzlan; Kamarudin, Fakarudin; Md. Nassir, Annuar

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-09-2014-0090

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a new empirical evidence on the impact of economic globalization on the efficiency of the banking sector. The paper also investigates to what extent the internal (i.e. bank specific characteristics) and external (i.e. macroeconomic conditions) factors influence the efficiency of banks while controlling for the impact of the different dimensions of globalization.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is confined into two stages. In the first stage, the authors employ the bias-corrected data envelopment analysis method to compute the efficiency of individual banks during the period 1999-2012. The authors then use bootstrap regressions to examine the impact of economic globalization on bank efficiency, while controlling for the potential impacts of contextual variables.FindingsThe empirical findings indicate that the impacts of personal contacts, information flows, and cultural proximity seem to work in favor of Malaysian banks’ efficiency. A plausible reason could be due to the fact that capital account liberalization is usually accompanied by liberalization of the financial services sector, resulting in a greater competition and subsequently eroding monopolistic profits. The empirical findings also bring forth the importance of and political globalization in determining the efficiency of banks operating in the Malaysian banking sector.Originality/valueThe present study aims to provide for the first time empirical evidence on the performance of the banking sector and to establish new empirical evidence on the impact of globalization. The empirical evidence on the impact of globalization on the banking sector is completely missing from the literature.

Acar, Mehmet Fatih; Zaim, Selim; Isik, Mine; Calisir, Fethi

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-11-2015-0116

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the interactions among enterprise resource planning (ERP) practices, supply chain orientation (SCO), and operational performance (OPER) by forming a macro perspective based on a scientific foundation powered by a resource-based view.Design/methodology/approachExploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to verify the underlying dimensions of SCO and ERP practices. The covariance-based structural equation modeling was employed to test the direct and indirect effects of SCO and ERP practices constructs on OPER.FindingsResults revealed that SCO has significant and positive effects on OPER, whereas ERP practices do not. Moreover, the indirect effect of ERP practices with the mediating effects of SCO is stronger than their direct effects. In addition, the origin of the ERP practices is found to be an important critical success factor.Originality/valueAlthough much research has investigated the direct effect of ERP practices on performance, this study points out the importance of SCO in observing the stronger impacts of ERP practices.

Joshi, Sarang; Kharat, Manoj; Raut, Rakesh; Kamble, Sachin; Kamble, Sheetal

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-01-2016-0006

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between supplier development practices (SDPs) and supplier-buyer relationship practices from the supplier’s perspective (SBRSP), and seek to understand how specific SDPs may impact a buyer’s operational performance as well as supplier-buyer relationship practices.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a survey of 512 respondents from the different manufacturing firms in India and applied structural equation modelling to test a structural model that proposes the impacts of various efforts of SDPs on a buyer’s performance as well as SBRSP.FindingsThe study concludes that SDPs and SBRSP together improve the relationship between a buyer and supplier, and this improved relationship leads to competitive advantages (CAs) followed by profitability. Results indicate that supplier perspective of buyer-supplier relationship can be improved under the condition of SDPs and SBRSP together. SDPs are driven by productive measure and competitive pressure, whereas customer uncertainty is found to be statistically insignificant.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was carried out in North Maharashtra Industrial Zone of India, where the auto sector and machine/components manufacturing firms have been established for a considerable period of time. Results of the study are limited to manufacturing organizations predominantly focussing on the automobile sector and machine/components manufacturing firms.Practical implicationsThis study provides significant insights into the specific impact of various SDPs and SBRSP for both academics and practitioners. SDPs along with SBRSP practices lead to improvement in the relationship leading to CAs. SBRSP suggests that trust, long-term commitments and the supplier’s perspective are important practices for relationship improvement.Originality/valueThe current study attempts to identify what are the success factors for the supplier-buyer relationship from the supplier’s perspective and SDPs and how the supplier-buyer relationship can be improved under the condition of SDPs and SBRSP. Hence, the aim is to develop a more thorough understanding of the outcomes of a supplier-buyer relationship improvement from both buyer’s and supplier’s perspective, under the conditions of supplier development to achieve CAs leading to profitability. Furthermore, the study analyses the effect of the improved supplier-buyer relationship for achieving CAs leading to profitability.

Caridi, Maria; Pero, Margherita; Sianesi, Andrea

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-04-2016-0059

PurposeResearchers ascertain that the more the activities of new product development (NPD) process are outsourced to partners, the higher the need for integration. The purpose of this paper is to study: the extent to which the amount of information shared with the partners during NPD projects (DC visibility) depends on the degree of outsourcing (DC virtuality), and what are the context variables (product features and business relationship features) that influence this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis paper provides two sets of quantitative indexes to measure: the relevance of the activities outsourced during the NPD project (i.e. virtuality), in terms of the spread of the outsourced technological knowledge, and in terms of outsourced workload; and the amount of information that a focal company shares with product development partners (i.e. visibility). Seven NPD projects in different companies have been analyzed to investigate visibility, virtuality, and the implications of contingencies.FindingsThe cross-case analysis shows that the amount of information shared with the partners during the NPD project varies with the relevance of outsourced activities. In particular, the higher the relevance, the higher the amount of information shared with the partner. Partner location and integration, trust, and ICT support have a role in determining the amount of information shared with each single partner.Originality/valueThis study adopts an original network perspective in that the whole set of partners involved in the NPD process is analyzed. New quantitative indexes of visibility and virtuality of NPD projects are proposed, along with original insights about the impact of context variables. The quantitative indexes also provide a useful managerial tool to evaluate whether a focal company has the possibility to build competitive advantages that exploit unique resources beyond the boundaries of the company.

Chakraborty, Shankar; Boral, Soumava

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-07-2016-0103

PurposeSubtractive manufacturing process is the controlled removal of unwanted material from the parent workpiece for having the desired shape and size of the product. Several types of available machine tools are utilized to carry out this manufacturing operation. Selection of the most appropriate machine tool is thus one of the most crucial factors in deciding the success of a manufacturing organization. Ill-suited machine tool may often lead to reduced productivity, flexibility, precision and poor responsiveness. Choosing the best suited machine tool for a specific machining operation becomes more complex, as the process engineers have to consider a diverse range of available alternatives based on a set of conflicting criteria. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachCase-based reasoning (CBR), an amalgamated domain of artificial intelligence and human cognitive process, has already been proven to be an effective tool for ill-defined and unstructured problems. It imitates human reasoning process, using specific knowledge accumulated from the previously encountered situations to solve new problems. This paper elucidates development and application of a CBR system for machine tool selection while fulfilling varying user defined requirements. Here, based on some specified process characteristic values, past similar cases are retrieved and reused to solve a current machine tool selection problem.FindingsA software prototype is also developed in Visual BASIC 6.0 and three real time examples are illustrated to validate the application potentiality of CBR system for the said purpose.Originality/valueThe developed CBR system for machine tool selection retrieves a set of similar cases and selects the best matched case nearest to the given query set. It can successfully provide a reasonable solution to a given machine tool selection problem where there is a paucity of expert knowledge. It can also guide the process engineers in setting various parametric combinations for achieving maximum machining performance from the selected machine tool, although fine-tuning of those settings may often be required.

Digalwar, Abhijeet K.; Mundra, Nidhi; Tagalpallewar, Ashok R.; Sunnapwar, Vivek K.

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-08-2015-0084

PurposeGreen manufacturing (GM) has received growing attention in the last few years. As today’s business environment is highly competitive, dynamic and volatile in nature, GM is seen as the winning strategy to be adopted by manufacturers. In this scenario, successful implementation of GM by manufacturers can give them an edge over their competitors. The purpose of this paper is to identify and develop the structural relationship among different factors for the successful implementation of GM.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire-based survey and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) approach has been applied in this study. In this research, 12 factors have been identified, such as top management commitment, supplier and materials management, green product and process design, employee training and empowerment, etc. On the basis of survey results and opinions of experts from industry and academia, a structural relationship model has been developed through an ISM approach.FindingsTop management commitment has the highest driving power for the implementation of GM. Effective implementation of GM will improve organization performance in terms of product cost and quality. For effective implementation of GM, management should not ignore development of people, product and processes.Practical implicationsThe developed model will be useful to managers, decision makers and practitioners of GM in prioritizing their resources more effectively.Originality/valueCritical success factor play a pivotal role for the assessment and implementation of GM practices. Identification of key success factors and their mutual relationship can help in implementation of GM practices in various organizations. It is probably one of the leading attempts to provide road map to the implementation of GM practices in Indian manufacturing industries.

Chand, Mahesh; Raj, Tilak; Shankar, Ravi; Agarwal, Aashish

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-09-2015-0090

PurposeRisk management in supply chain (SC) is not an easy task due to different uncertainty and intricacy. Management of risk is necessary for smooth operation of SC. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approaches to select the best SC which has minimum risks.Design/methodology/approachIn proposed methodologies different steps, i.e. goal, risk attributes, risk sub-attributes and alternatives are identified for the selection of best SC using analytical network process which is being followed by the Multi-Objective Optimization by Rational Analysis method.FindingsFindings of this paper are highly valuable for Indian manufacturing industries for risk management in SC. It helps the researchers and managers to deal with different types of uncertainty and risks associated with SC.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is limited only for risk management in SC. Other issues in SC can be analyzed and further extended by other MCDM approaches.Originality/valueThis paper identified the different risks in SC and a systematic way to find out the best SC which helps the researchers and managers in risk mitigation.

Veleva, Vesela; W. Cue Jr, Berkeley

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-01-2016-0003

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to benchmark current adoption of green chemistry (GC) practices by the innovative and generic pharmaceutical companies and examine the drivers, barriers and future opportunities.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examined publicly available data for the top 10 “big pharma” and top ten generic drug manufacturers. Using the IQ Green Chemistry working group framework for effective GC programs, they scored each of the 20 companies in seven key areas.FindingsThe study finds that generic drug companies have not embraced GC at the level of the innovative pharmaceutical companies (average GC score of 2 vs 11 for “big pharma”). Top two barriers for them include: lack of pressure and incentives, and the burdensome regulatory process for making changes in the manufacturing process.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is based on publicly disclosed information. It is possible that some generic drug manufacturers have begun to work internally on GC but have not disclosed externally yet. Future research should include a survey or interviews of generic drug manufacturers.Practical implicationsThe company-level analysis, benchmarking framework and results are of value for researchers and practitioners interested in advancing greater adoption of GC by the pharmaceutical industry.Originality/valueThis study provides the first company-level benchmarking of GC adoption by the largest innovative and generics drug manufacturers. It contributes to the literature on the barriers and drivers for greater adoption of GC.

Mishra, Ruchi; Pundir, Ashok K.; Ganapathy, L.

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-07-2015-0077

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a novel integrated approach using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) methods for evaluation and prioritization of appropriate manufacturing flexibility type required in the face of multiple environmental uncertainties.Design/methodology/approachUsing a case study of an Indian fashion apparel firm, the study demonstrates the application of the proposed integrated framework for evaluation and prioritization of manufacturing flexibility. The study uses AHP method to determine importance weight of environmental uncertainty criteria and subcriteria and then employs TOPSIS method to determine the final ranking of manufacturing flexibility types required to cope up with these uncertainties.FindingsThe findings of the case suggest that the proposed integrated approach is feasible and practically implementable for manufacturing flexibility assessment.Research limitations/implicationsAHP has been extensively studied and used, but the major limitation of this proposed approach is the involvement of large number of pairwise comparisons leading to difficulty in maintaining consistency in pairwise comparisons.Practical implicationsThe proposed approach can work as a benchmarking tool to practitioners in evaluating and prioritizing manufacturing flexibility alternatives and to suggest strategic allocation of resource by prioritizing different manufacturing flexibilities types.Originality/valueUnlike conventional approaches, the study provides meaningful knowledge to decision makers by demonstrating a simple, flexible, and efficient method to evaluate and rank the appropriate manufacturing flexibility types.

2017 Benchmarking: An International Journal

doi: 10.1108/BIJ-07-2017-139