scholarly journals Improving through employee participation: The case of a Spanish food manufacturer

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 405
Author(s):  
Iván González-Boubeta ◽  
Iago Portela-Caramés ◽  
J. Carlos Prado-Prado
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Context ◽  
Employee Participation ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Production Lines ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Positive Results ◽  
Food Manufacturer

Purpose: Employee participation is considered a fundamental pillar to implement continuous improvement. Based on this consideration, this article presents an action research case study in a large food manufacturer where employee participation is implemented. The experience has a two-fold objective: improve performance of the production system and make the participative philosophy deep-rooted among workers.Design/methodology/approach: The authors implement a structured participation system, establishing an approach of empowerment and focusing on the creation of suitable organizational structures. Under those premises, improvement teams were created on each of the firm’s production lines. Once the participation of the workers is finished, they were given a questionnaire to assess how deep-rooted the participative culture had become.Findings: The results show a remarkable improvement in the efficiency of manufacturing processes, as well as the consolidation of a participative philosophy. However, there are notable differences in the results obtained for each improvement team.Research limitations/implications: The differences obtained in the results highlight certain issues that future research must tackle. These include the way in which the staff should be rewarded for their participation or what the influence of the organizational context is when setting improvement objectives.Practical implications: The positive results obtained support the methodology proposed by the authors for structuring participation. Organizations can set up projects of this type to improve their competitiveness while at the same time strengthening the commitment of their personnel.Originality/value: This is one of the first studies in the field of employee participation that jointly assess the economic area and the cultural and organizational plane.

scholarly journals Digital Twin for Monitoring Ergonomics during Manufacturing Production

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (21) ◽  
pp. 7758
Author(s):  
Alessandro Greco ◽  
Mario Caterino ◽  
Marcello Fera ◽  
Salvatore Gerbino
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Production Lines ◽  
Work Activities ◽  
Digital Twin ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Operational Issues ◽  
Smart Factories

Within the era of smart factories, concerning the ergonomics related to production processes, the Digital Twin (DT) is the key to set up novel models for monitoring the performance of manual work activities, which are able to provide results in near real time and to support the decision-making process for improving the working conditions. This paper aims to propose a methodological framework that, by implementing a human DT, and supports the monitoring and the decision making regarding the ergonomics performances of manual production lines. A case study, carried out in a laboratory, is presented for demonstrating the applicability and the effectiveness of the proposed framework. The results show how it is possible to identify the operational issues of a manual workstation and how it is possible to propose and test improving solutions.

scholarly journals Physiological Demands of Extreme Obstacle Course Racing: A Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (16) ◽  
pp. 2879
Author(s):  
Timothy Baghurst ◽  
Steven L. Prewitt ◽  
Tyler Tapps
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Cognitive Demands ◽  
Unique Nature ◽  
Physiological Demands ◽  
Road Races ◽  
Training Opportunities

Obstacle course races are a popular source of recreation in the United States, providing additional challenges over traditional endurance events. Despite their popularity, very little is known about the physiological or cognitive demands of obstacle course races compared to traditional road races. The purpose of this study was to investigate the physiological effects of participation in an extreme obstacle course race. The participant was a 38-year-old Caucasian male, who completed an extreme obstacle course race over a 24-h period. Exercise intensity, steps taken, energy expenditure, and heart rate were recorded over the event’s duration using an Actigraph Link GT9X-BT accelerometer and a Polar heart rate monitor. Results reflected the unique nature of obstacle course racing when compared to traditional endurance events, with ups-and-downs recorded in each variable due to the encountering of obstacles. This case study provides a glimpse into the physiological demands of obstacle course racing, and suggests that the cognitive demands placed on competitors may differ to traditional endurance events, due to the challenges of obstacles interspersed throughout the event. With the popularity of obstacle course racing, and to enhance training opportunities, improve performance, and decrease the incidence of injuries, future research should further investigate the physiological and cognitive demands of obstacle course races of various distances and among diverse populations.

Digital Twin of manufacturing systems: a case study on increasing the efficiency of reconfiguration

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 435-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Behrang Ashtari Talkhestani ◽  
Michael Weyrich
Keyword(s):  
Manufacturing Systems ◽  
Manufacturing System ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Future Research ◽  
System Availability ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Digital Twin ◽  
System A ◽  
Set Up

AbstractThe added value of a Digital Twin for reconfiguring manufacturing systems promises an increase in system availability, a reduction in set-up and conversion times and enables the manufacturing of customer-specific products. To evaluate this claim, this paper selects an architecture of the Digital Twin and realizes it on the basis of an application scenario for a cyber-physical manufacturing system. A case study is used to test the reconfiguration of a manufacturing system by comparing two different methods, one without and one with use of the Digital Twin. In this paper, the process steps of both reconfigurations are described and discussed in detail and a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the reconfiguration results is presented. Finally, this paper gives an outlook on future research on intelligent automation of manufacturing systems using the Digital Twin.

The paradox of stability and change: a case study

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-213
Author(s):  
Haifen Lin ◽  
Tingchen Qu ◽  
Li Li ◽  
Yihui Tian
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Organizational Development ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Tight Coupling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Stability And Change ◽  
Set Up

Purpose The traditional dualism view regards stability and change as opposites and separate, two essential but largely incompatible and mutually exclusive elements in an organization, and it advocates contingency theories to handle the paradox situation; more recent research has adopted the paradoxical lens to highlight both the contradiction and the interdependence between the two elements. This paper aims to address how an organization pursues stability and change simultaneously, i.e., how stability and change contradictorily enable each other to promote the development of an organization. Design/methodology/approach By adopting a case study on the strategic and structural change of Signcomplex in China, this paper attempts to explore the paradoxical relationship between stability and change, especially their interdependence. Multiple approaches were used during data collection to meet the criteria for trustworthiness, and the data analysis went through a five-step process. Through this analysis, the main mechanisms of stability and change were identified. An analysis was also conducted on how these stable and variable mechanisms enable each other, and finally, a framework was set up to show this paradoxical relationship. Findings The results confirm the paradox of stability and change: stability enables change by supplying security and consistency, offering reserved knowledge and skills and enabling commitment and the provision of resources for a better realization of the change. Change enables a firm to set up a new state of stability through variable mechanisms such as trial-and-error and exploration activities. The results also indicate that the nature of organizational change is to help an organization reach a new stable stage with higher efficiency and that organizational development relies on the paradoxical effects of both stability and change. Research limitations/implications This research is constrained by several limitations. The findings need to be further confirmed through the investigation of more organizations; other stable mechanisms, such as habits, tight coupling, commitments, control and low variance, and variable mechanisms, such as search, mindfulness, redundancy and openness, should be considered. As an organization may experience many cross-level or cross-department changes which struggle with each other for resources and with stable mechanisms, to explore the paradox, future research may need to conduct a more in-depth examination of the system of change. Originality/value The findings offer some valuable insights for further research and hold important implications for management practices, especially management practices in a Chinese context. The findings extend the existing paradox theory by further revealing how stability and change enable each other and offer a paradoxical perspective to look into the nature of organizational change and organizational development. The results remind managers to rethink the relationship between stability and change, to factor these coexisting concepts into their decision-making and to accept, understand and use this paradoxical relationship to realize synergistic effects for the firm.

scholarly journals The difficult assessment of the financial inclusion policies in India

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-37
Author(s):  
Aurelie Larquemin
Keyword(s):  
Financial Development ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Pension System ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Positive Results

Evidence of the importance of financial inclusion for economic growth and development are now well established and documented but little is known about the role institutions and policies can play and how institutional frameworks can support inclusive financial development. This paper is a case study on India, aiming to highlight the successes and difficulties encountered in the country financial development path. The results presented are based on an in-depth literature review and analysis of public secondary data. In the first section we discuss Indian initiatives for financial inclusion which started a decade ago, while in the second section we focus on more recent initiatives centered on digitization. Most of the oldest initiatives, through several changes and evolutions, have played a key role in expending financial inclusion in India, for instance the National Pension System or SHG groups. Public authorities are aware of the value of these schemes and have constantly tried to improve their features, expand their positive results and tackle identified issues. However they had too limited effects to allow the country to reach its goal towards financial inclusion. Moreover new technologies have appeared, opening new scope for financial inclusion, through innovative tools and schemes recently put in place by the public authorities. While we are lacking perspective to evaluate their effects, their preliminary results are encouraging and new schemes and regulations are being set up in this path.Int. J. Soc. Sci. Manage. Vol-3, issue-1: 31-37

INDIVIDUAL EXPOSURE THERAPY FOR DELUSIONAL DISORDER IN THE ELDERLY: A CASE STUDY OF A 71-YEAR-OLD MAN

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Townend
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Challenge Test ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Electrical Equipment ◽  
Delusional Disorder ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cognitive Behavioural ◽  
Positive Results

A single case study is described of a cognitive behavioural approach with an elderly man with a delusional disorder of 6 years. Successful treatment, case conceptualization and engagement issues are reported. The delusion was that household electrical equipment was giving out dangerous rays and giving him cancer. Self-report measures and a cognitive challenge test evaluated results. Rapid and positive results were achieved. Recommendations for future research are made.

Development and Construct Validation of the German Workplace Trust Survey (G-WTS)

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nale Lehmann-Willenbrock ◽  
Simone Kauffeld
Keyword(s):  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Affective Commitment ◽  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Organizational Trust ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Reliable Assessment ◽  
Workplace Trust

In research on trust in the organizational context, there is some agreement evolving that trust should be measured with respect to various foci. The Workplace Trust Survey (WTS) by Ferres (2002) provides reliable assessment of coworker, supervisor, and organizational trust. By means of a functionally equivalent translation, we developed a German version of the questionnaire (G-WTS) comprising 21 items. A total of 427 employees were surveyed with the G-WTS and questionnaires concerning several work-related attitudes and behaviors and 92 of these completed the survey twice. The hypothesized three-dimensional conceptualization of organizational trust was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The G-WTS showed good internal consistency and retest reliability values. Concerning convergent validity, all of the three G-WTS dimensions positively predicted job satisfaction. In terms of discriminant validity, Coworker Trust enhanced group cohesion; Supervisor Trust fostered innovative behavior, while Organizational Trust was associated with affective commitment. Theoretical and practical contributions as well as opportunities for future research with the G-WTS are discussed.

The Effect of Internal Corporate Social Responsibility on Job Satisfaction: An Empirical Study on Jordanian Pharmaceutical Companies

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Sura Altheeb ◽  
Kholoud Sudqi Al-Louzi
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Results

The current research investigates the impact of internal corporate social responsibility on job satisfaction in Jordanian pharmaceutical companies. Quantitative research design and regression analysis were applied on a total of 302 valid returns that were obtained in a questionnaire based survey from 14 pharmaceutical companies among employees, supervisors and managers. The results showed that internal corporate social responsibility was significantly related to job satisfaction and three of its dimensions, namely working conditions, work life balance and empowerment contributed significantly to job satisfaction, whereas employment stability and skills development had no contribution. This study implies that Jordanian pharmaceutical companies have to try their best to promote and facilitate internal corporate social responsibility among their employees in an effort to improve their job satisfaction, which will eventually yield positive results for the company as a whole. In light of these results, the research presented many recommendations for future research; the most important ones were the application of this study in other sectors, cultures, and countries, and using of multi method for collecting data.

The use of ICT by SMMEs in a Digital Economy: A case study in Buffalo City Metropolitan in South Africa [Abstract]

10.28945/4314 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Common Knowledge ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Wealth Creation ◽  
Underdeveloped Areas ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Set Up

Aim/Purpose: The goal of this study is to advance understanding of ICT utilization by SMMEs by checking access, ability (in terms of technological skills) and usage of ICT among some SMMEs entrepreneurs operating their businesses in an underdeveloped areas to enhance their business activities in order to utilizes the digital opportunities 21st century digital economies present. Background: In today’s world no nation or region is untouched by the forces of globalization and digital economy. One of the key pioneering forces of globalization is the advances of ICT like internet, social networks, etc. In the sphere of business, this pioneering force has also altered the way businesses and organizations communicate and interact with customers and society at large. Such alternation presents obvious opportunities for wealth creation and growth for businesses and organizations that are well-equipped to take advantages of them. But for those that are less-equipped, particularly SMMEs, globalization can easily lead to fore-closures and marginalization. It is a common knowledge that SMMEs entrepreneurs mostly rely on ICT gadgets like mobile phone, Laptops, Tablets to conduct their business activities as many of them don’t have enough capital to set up offices with necessary equipment. Therefore, using various ICT functions/programs on these ICT devices to enhance their business activities are critical to their businesses in the 21st century digital economies. Methodology: Purposeful sampling was used to approach fifty-four SMMEs entrepreneurs operating their businesses in underdeveloped areas locally called Townships in Buffalo City Metropolitan. Microsoft excel was used in the descriptive statistics. Contribution: This research will add to the growing knowledge ICT usage in SMMEs in the 21st century digital economies. Findings: The results indicate that the participating SMMEs entrepreneurs need to be educated, trained and supported in the use of the ICT applicable to enhance their business activities in order for them to take advantages of 21st century digital economies present. Recommendations for Practitioners: The agencies tasked with looking after SMMEs in South Africa needs to consider the lacked of utilisation of ICTs by SMMEs entrepreneurs operating their businesses in underdeveloped areas as one of the barrier to growing of their businesses and take necessary steps to address it. Recommendation for Researchers: Since age and gender have been proven to be key-moderating variables in many technology acceptance models. There is a need to explore in depth whether the factors of gender and age also act as barriers. Impact on Society: The research will assist stakeholders, policy makers and agencies tasked with looking after SMMEs to identify the barriers hindering SMMEs to grow and address them accordingly. Future Research: More work needs to be done to check whether gender, age of the SMMEs entrepreneurs have some effects on their attitude towards the integration of ICT into their business activities.

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