Search results for "operations management"
showing 10 items of 239 documents
The impact of ad hoc teams in the automobile industry
2006
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of training on ad hoc teams in an industrial setting.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, data were collected from 11 Spanish automobile manufacturer suppliers and included the assessment of the current situation, the creation and holding of different workshops followed by the collection of the results.FindingsThe paper finds that ad hoc teams are really effective especially in lean companies.Originality/valueThis paper breaks new ground in analysing the effect of training ad hoc teams in an industrial setting.
Driving human resources towards quality and innovation in a highly competitive environment
2013
Purpose – Intense competitive environments demand the combination of quality and innovation. The potential of human resource management practices within the total quality framework for promoting innovation is under debate, particularly in relation to radical innovation. The purpose of this paper is to enhance and extend the analysis of the role of cultural change as a mediator. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical study examines a sample of Spanish firms in highly competitive environments in their search for a combination of quality and innovation. To this end, the investigation includes structural equation analysis through partial least square path modelling. Findings – According t…
The architecture of employee attitudes to safety in the manufacturing sector
2002
This study examines the relationships between components of organisational safety climate, including: employee attitudes to organisational and individual safety issues; perceptions of the physical work environment and perceptions of workplace hazards; and relates these to self‐reported levels of safety activity. It also attempts to replicate the explicative model derived by Cheyne et al. in a similar study within the manufacturing sector. Data were collected from a large manufacturing organisation using a questionnaire. A total of 708 valid questionnaires were returned and formed the basis for the subsequent analyses. These data showed that a common structure of attitudes to safety issues a…
Organizational technology as a mediating variable in centralization‐formalization fit
2012
PurposeWith a view to contributing to a better understanding of the interactions between design dimensions, the authors aim to present a formal model that analyzes the internal fit relationship between centralization and formalization, taking into account organizational technology and the “systems approach”.Design/methodology/approachBased on the study by Zeffane, the authors develop an alternative, formal model that introduces organizational technology and assumes that greater structural control does not necessarily lead to better organizational integration. The model equally considers the possibilities of underfit and overfit.FindingsThe proposed formal model provides a sound rationale on…
Congestion analysis to evaluate the efficiency and appropriateness of hospitals in Sicily
2015
Over the past twenty years, important changes in the Italian National Health System have been made in order to obtain significant improvements in the efficiency, appropriateness and quality of health care delivery, while reducing health expenditure. In this paper we proposed a multidimensional approach to assess the impact of organization inappropriateness on the efficiency evaluation of hospitals in Sicily for the year 2009. This study was based on cross-sectional data for 116 (out of 129) short-term, acute-care hospitals. The analysis considered beds, physicians, nurses and other personnel as inputs, ordinary discharges and day-hospital admissions as desirable outputs and inappropriate di…
Changes in the Scheduling Process According to Observed Activity-travel Flexibility
2014
Abstract In this work we analyze the reasons for changing pre-planned activities and travels episodes considering the type of modification observed during the scheduling process. Specifically we selected a small sample from those pre-planned episodes that are no executed at all as a pilot study. The data analyzed was collected in the first wave of a weekly activity-travel panel survey carried out in Valencia (Spain) in 2010. Each survey wave consisted on a face-to-face interview to generate a pre-planned activity agenda for the following week, an activity-travel diary implemented on mobile phones to collect activities and travels as they are executed, and in-depth telephone interviews to in…
Designing Outcome-Based Performance Management Systems to Assess Policies Impacting on Caesarean Section Rate: An Analysis of the Sicilian Maternity …
2017
The reduction in Caesarean sections (CSs) is widely considered a priority in the public decision makers agenda. Though the World Health Organisation has strongly encouraged countries to implement policies to reduce CSs to 10–15%, after almost thirty years this goal appears still far from its achievement. The literature depicts CS as a multifaceted phenomenon whose causes involve different factors, ranging from the patient sphere to the health care level of services provided, and the societal preference of CS practice. Policy makers aiming to standardise cares and to reduce CSs often implement maternity pathways (MP). By investigating the MP introduced in the Sicilian region, the authors hig…
The effects of using participatory working time scheduling software on sickness absence: A difference-in-differences study.
2020
Abstract Background Participatory working time scheduling is a collaborative approach to scheduling shift work. As a potential way of improving work time control, it may provide a means to reducing sickness absence in shift work. So far, experimental and quasi-experimental studies on the effects of increased work time control on sickness absence are lacking. Objective To investigate the effects of using digital participatory working time scheduling software on ward-level sickness absence among Finnish hospital employees. Participants and methods This quasi-experimental study compared the amount of sickness absence in hospital wards using a participatory working time scheduling software (n=1…
Improving the prediction of air pollution peak episodes generated by urban transport networks
2016
Abstract This paper illustrates the early results of ongoing research developing novel methods to analyse and simulate the relationship between trasport-related air pollutant concentrations and easily accessible explanatory variables. The final scope is to integrate the new models in traditional traffic management support systems for a sustainable mobility of road vehicles in urban areas. This first stage concerns the relationship between the hourly mean concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and explanatory factors reflecting the NO2 mean level one hour back, along with traffic and weather conditions. Particular attention is given to the prediction of pollution peaks, defined as exceedanc…
Converging Analysis of the Concept of Strategic Group in the Spanish Lighting Industry
2008
Strategic group literature does not seem to offer strong enough theoretical bases to state the very existence of strategic groups and their effects on firm’s conduct and performance. The empirical validation of the existence of strategic groups has been usually done trying to contrast their predictive validity in relation to performance, obtaining conflicting evidence. Other papers have decided to contrast the convergent validity of the strategic group concept using different definitions and measures of this construct. Our work belongs to the second type of studies. It tries to make progress in the development of a theoretical model, able to state the industry features which affect the prob…