According to W. Edwards Deming, American companies require nothing less than a transformation of management style and of governmental relations with industry. In Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982, Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future, he claims, brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved product and service. In simple, direct language, he explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them.

Out of the Crisis

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://www.icesi.edu.co/blogs/semillerosi3/files/2013/12/3-SUPPLY-CHAIN-MANAGEMENT-A-ANALYTICAL-FRAMEWORK-FOR-CRITICAL-LITERATURE-REVIEW.pdf

Supply chain management: an analytical framework for critical literature review


Purpose
Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.


Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.


Findings
As soon as the UK voted to leave the European Union (EU) in 2017, one of the key discussions among businesses throughout Europe centered on what the likely impact would be on supply chains involving UK companies. Whether you were a mainland European country with supply chain partners in the UK, or a UK manufacturer that depended on European companies for supplies, the uncertainty and potential disruption to well-grooved supply chain processes became a major headache. At first, it was the uncertainty that proved the major issue as governments played politics and refused to define the likely deal that would enable supply chain terms to be put in place. As the UK left the EU and the terms of the overall deal became clearer, firms then had to work out how whether any necessary changes to their supply chains were required.


Practical implications
Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.


Original/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


Effective Supply Chain Management

Greening the supply chain is increasingly a concern for many business enterprises and a challenge for logistics management in the 21st century. Of particular concern is how to arouse organizational environmental awareness and put environmental activities into practice in the logistics activities of their supply chains. This paper investigates the correlation of two major factors, organizational learning and management support, with the extent of adoption of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices in Chinese manufacturing firms, where their inbound and outbound logistics activities are potential polluters to the environment. Organizational and operational learning was derived from the firm's experience with programs such as total quality management and environmental management systems. Management support included support for GSCM ideas and practices from top and middle-level management and cooperation across organizational functions. We find significant positive relationships between organizational learning mechanisms, organizational support and the adoption of GSCM practices, after controlling for a number of other influences including regulations, marketing, supplier, cost pressures, industry levels of the relevant practice and organizational size. Implications of our findings on logistics management are discussed.

Firm-level correlates of emergent green supply chain management practices in the Chinese context

This paper examines the extent to which a learning organisation perspective is attainable in small- to medium-sized manufacturing companies. An audit tool is developed from the literature on organisational learning and recognised processes that lead towards becoming a learning organisation. The paper focuses on the application of the audit tool in three UK automotive component suppliers which are all experiencing pressures for change imposed by the major vehicle manufacturers. The main changes are concerned with tiering of the supply chain and substantial delegation of responsibilities to component suppliers including an increasing emphasis on innovation and continuous improvement. The companies presented in the paper are taken from a research project into the impact of changes in supply chain relationships on the operation of small- and medium-sized manufacturing firms in the West Midlands region of the UK. The ways in which the companies are responding to change are presented together with the results of a self-assessment using the developed audit tool. These results suggest that companies of this type tend to focus on change in those areas that involve least challenge to the established power and authority of management.

Technological and organisational change in small‐ to medium‐sized manufacturing companies: A learning organisation perspective

Discusses how firms are seeking new templates of change to remain competitive in the face of the globalization of markets. Presents a model depicting the templates for change such as world‐class manufacturing, lean production, total quality management, and business process re‐engineering followed by larger firms. Identifies some of the operational changes taking place in smaller companies based on the experiences of a larger group in the West Midlands. Explains why such smaller companies are making a more fragmented response to the need for change.

Templates for change with supply chain rationalization

This paper highlights some of the issues faced by smaller manufacturing firms attempting to remain competitive in the face of supply chain rationalisation. It is argued that rather than following the holistic templates of change adopted by many larger firms, the approach of smaller component suppliers tends to involve more partial, short term solutions. Three dilemmas for smaller firms are identified and the experiences of a Best Practice Network of component suppliers illustrate some of the ways in which companies down the supply chain attempt to remain competitive, in the face of rationalisation driven by original equipment manufacturers.

Between a rock and a hard place: some dilemmas for smaller component suppliers

The authors relate approaches to innovation amongst smaller firms to changes confronting component suppliers. The discussion draws on the experiences of four smaller component suppliers who are part of a research project into the impact of changes in supply chain relationships on the operation of some small and medium sized manufacturing firms in the West Midlands. The article explains why such component suppliers in the automotive supply chain are being forced to make strategic decisions regarding their future role. A typology is introduced which distinguishes innovation in work organization with that based upon technological change and strategies based on market concentration or market diversification. The four case studies illustrate why component suppliers are having to make these types of strategic choices and their likely impact upon future competitiveness.

Ian K. Oakes

Papers

Technological and organisational change in small‐ to medium‐sized manufacturing companies: A learning organisation perspective

Templates for change with supply chain rationalization

Between a rock and a hard place: some dilemmas for smaller component suppliers

Approaches to innovation amongst component suppliers: some smaller firm perspectives