For the last 30 years a growing number of scholars and practitioners have been experimenting with concepts and models that facilitate our understanding of the complexities of today’s business challenges. Among these, “stakeholder theory” or “stakeholder thinking” has emerged as a new narrative to understand and remedy three interconnected business problems—the problem of understanding how value is created and traded, the problem of connecting ethics and capitalism, and the problem of helping managers think about management such that the first two problems are addressed. In this article, we review the major uses and adaptations of stakeholder theory across a broad array of disciplines such as business ethics, corporate strategy, finance, accounting, management, and marketing. We also evaluate and suggest future directions in which research on stakeholder theory can continue to provide useful insights into the practice of sustainable and ethical value creation.

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Stakeholder Theory: The State of the Art

https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1270&context=mgmt_fac

Qualitative case studies in operations management: Trends, research outcomes, and future research implications

https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/192648/Ho - The state-of-the-art integrations and applications of the analytic hierarchy process.pdf

The state-of-the-art integrations and applications of the analytic hierarchy process

A supervised machine learning approach to data-driven simulation of resilient supplier selection in digital manufacturing

https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/118648/6.pdf

A decision support system for supplier selection and order allocation in stochastic, multi-stakeholder and multi-criteria environments

https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/118652/10.pdf

Strategic supplier performance evaluation: a case-based action research of a UK manufacturing organisation

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to develop a performance measurement model for service operations using the analytic hierarchy process approach. Design/methodology/approach - The study reviews current relevant literature on performance measurement and develops a model for performance measurement. The model is then applied to the intensive care units (ICUs) of three different hospitals in developing nations. Six focus group discussions were undertaken, involving experts from the specific area under investigation, in order to develop an understandable performance measurement model that was both quantitative and hierarchical. Findings - A combination of outcome, structure and process-based factors were used as a foundation for the model. The analyses of the links between them were used to reveal the relative importance of each and their associated sub factors. It was considered to be an effective quantitative tool by the stakeholders. Research limitations/implications - This research only applies the model to ICUs in healthcare services. Practical implications - Performance measurement is an important area within the operations management field. Although numerous models are routinely being deployed both in practice and research, there is always room for improvement. The present study proposes a hierarchical quantitative approach, which considers both subjective and objective performance criteria. Originality/value - This paper develops a hierarchical quantitative model for service performance measurement. It considers success factors with respect to outcomes, structure and processes with the involvement of the concerned stakeholders based upon the analytic hierarchy process approach. The unique model is applied to the ICUs of hospitals in order to demonstrate its effectiveness. The unique application provides a comparative international study of service performance measurement in ICUs of hospitals in three different countries. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Measuring the operational performance of intensive care units using the analytic hierarchy process approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to help managers to successfully plan, implement, and operate enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects using a risk management framework Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopted a combined literature review and case study method Using literature review, the paper first identified major issues of managing ERP projects and develops a risk management framework for managing those issues The proposed risk management framework was then applied to a ERP implementation project of a UK-based energy services group and its effectiveness for managing ERP projects implementation had been demonstrated Additionally, the risk factors as identified from the case application are compared with the risk factors from the previous researches so as to suggest mitigating measures Findings – All the risk factors are categorized into planning, implementation and operations phases along with project processes, organizational transformation and information technology (IT) perspectives Project implementation phase is the most vulnerable to failure The case study results reveal that the effect of other projects on on-going ERP project, management of overall IT architecture and non-availability of resources for organizational transformation are most critical from likelihood and impact perspectives Managing risk across various phases of project and equal emphasize to effective project management, organizational transformation and IT adoption are the key to success in ERP implementation Practical implications – The risk factors, which were identified using literature review and the case study, have great significance as mitigating measures of those risks may result successful implementation of ERP projects in the industry Additionally, proposed risk management framework could be customized to implement ERP projects elsewhere Originality/value – ERP projects are risky as they are capital intensive, technically complex, and call for organizational transformation There are both success and failure stories However, both researchers and practitioners agree, that if it can be implemented and operated successfully and benefits should be achievable Although there are many studies on ERP implementation, little has been discussed on managing risks of ERP projects Therefore, this paper bridges the gap

Managing enterprise resource planning projects

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate dependencies that arise between companies during the ramp-up of production volume in the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain. Design/methodology/approach: An inter-company case study method has been used. Data were collected via tours of manufacturing plants, workshops and interviews from multiple tiers in a supply chain, namely, a niche EV manufacturer, as well as two of its tier-one suppliers and five of its tier-two suppliers. Findings: As production volumes increased, a more relational approach was found to be necessary in inter-company relationships. The authors’ research showed that key suppliers, in addition to providing the parts, pursued a supply chain orchestrator’s role by offering direct support and guidance to the niche EV manufacturer in designing and executing its development plans. Research limitations/implications: The resource dependence theory (RDT) is used to analyse and explain the changing dependencies throughout the planning and execution of production ramp-up. Practical implications: This study will help supply chain managers to better manage resource dependencies during production ramp-up. Originality/value: This study explores dependencies during the early stages of the production ramp-up process in the EV sector, which is in itself in the early stages of evolution. RDT is used for the first time in this context. This study has moved beyond a simple dyadic context, by providing empirical insights into the actions taken by an EV manufacturer and its suppliers, towards a multi-tier supply chain context, to better manage resource dependencies.

/pdf/managing-resource-dependencies-in-electric-vehicle-supply-c83i8yj3nm.pdf

Managing resource dependencies in electric vehicle supply chains: a multi-tier case study

Purpose




The purpose of this paper is to know which growth-impeding constraints are perceived to act upon operations of small- to medium-sized (SME) companies by their owner-managers and to recommend transitionary paths to elevate constraints and increase contribution levels made by SMEs’ operations. To do so, this research has been primarily founded upon Hayes et al.’s (2005) operations contribution model for differentiating between different levels of operations’ contribution, and secondarily on the theory of constraints philosophy to explain the perceptions of constraints found at each level – current and future.




Design/methodology/approach




An open-ended survey and a series of group workshops have gathered new empirical data about these perceptions, which were coded using the relational content analysis to identify a parsimonious set of perceptual growth-impeding constraint categories. The most popular transitions were identified and a correlation of frequency rank orders between “perceived current” and “perceived future” constraints categories was calculated, and likely transitionary paths for growth are discussed. Three SME case studies were documented in related action research to contextualise survey findings.




Findings




The most popular transition was from “neutral” to “leading”. A lack of people capability was perceived to be the most commonly reported growth-impeding constraint category, followed by a combined lack of process competence and product and service innovation, further followed by a lack of skills in information technology automation. In addition, a new conceptual model has been generated inductively to address shortcomings found in the original operations contribution model (Hayes et al., 2005) during its application to UK SMEs. The new model is referred to in this paper as the “Operations Growth Rocket”.




Research limitations/implications




This research only used data from UK SMEs.




Practical implications




This work should help SME owner-managers to overcome growth-impeding constraints that act upon their operations and assist them to develop more effective actions and paths to increase the contribution levels made by their operations. This in turn should support growth of their organisations. Findings will also inform teaching about more effective operations management in SMEs.




Social implications




This work should help UK SMEs to grow, which in turn will strengthen the UK economy.




Originality/value




A novel approach and new data from 208 SMEs modify a classical operations contribution model (Hayes et al., 2005). This is achieved by considering transitionary paths to be meta-categories continua abstracted from constraint categories combined with case data for moving towards higher levels of operations contribution, rather than using discrete growth-impeding and growth-constraining “levels”. This research has inductively generated a new version of the classical contribution model that should be more suitable for stimulating growth in (UK) SMEs.

/pdf/perceptions-of-growth-impeding-constraints-acting-upon-smes-kwleol4x32.pdf

Benjamin T Clegg

Papers

Strategic supplier performance evaluation: a case-based action research of a UK manufacturing organisation

Measuring the operational performance of intensive care units using the analytic hierarchy process approach

Managing enterprise resource planning projects

Managing resource dependencies in electric vehicle supply chains: a multi-tier case study

Perceptions of growth-impeding constraints acting upon SMEs’ operations and the identification and use of transitionary paths to elevate them