Operations managers’ individual competencies for mass customization

Purpose The development of mass-customization capability (MCC) is crucial for a growing number of manufacturing firms nowadays and presents great challenges, especially in the area of operations management. The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into which individual competencies (ICs) of an operations manager (OM) are important to the MCC of the manufacturing organization the OM works for. Design/methodology/approach A multiple-case study was designed, involving eight machinery manufacturers in one European country, to collect data on their MCC and on the ICs of their OMs. Empirical case data were triangulated with analytical conceptual arguments grounded in the existing literature. Findings The study provides empirical evidence of, and logical explanations for, the fact that OMs working in high-MCC manufacturing organizations use the ICs of negotiation, information seeking, efficiency orientation, analytical thinking and pattern recognition significantly more often than OMs employed by low-MCC organizations. Research limitations/implications Future research could replicate this study in other industries and countries, as well as for other managerial roles. Practical implications The study provides indications for OM selection and training in companies that are pursuing a mass-customization strategy. Originality/value While the literature on technological and organization-level enablers of MCC has grown considerably, the understanding of its individual-level enablers is still limited and concerns mostly the workforce. This is the first study that relies not on practitioners’ opinions, but on data regarding manufacturers’ MCC and their managers’ ICs to shed light on which managerial competencies are important to a manufacturer’s MCC.

Innovation on the example of logistics

Businesses operating in turbulent environments must look for ways that will allow them to survive, grow, succeed and increase efficiency. The need to be effective, flexible and innovative is imperative for the functioning and development of modern enterprises. Efficiency is characterized by a wide range of content, as it relates to effects, goals, expenditures and costs in terms of structure and dynamics. Efficiency is an ambiguous and differently interpreted notion of economy, business, process, finance, motivation or logistics. Logistics is an efficiency orientation based on the comprehensive analysis and shaping of the optimum level and structure of outlays and their transformation into costs, where the primary role is to strive for the right level and quality of service and customer service. Considering the effectiveness issue it should be noted that it has not only a real but also a potential dimension. It is therefore important in the systemic sense of the effectiveness of logistics to study not only actual effectiveness but also potential effectiveness. In terms of the subject matter studied, the following basic characteristics of the system are important: stability, adaptability and innovation. Therefore, the article describes the theoretical bases of effectiveness and the place and importance of innovative in efficiency, with particular emphasis on logistics.

PENGARUH PERSEPSI KETIDAKPASTIAN LINGKUNGAN TERHADAP ORIENTASI EFISIENSI, PENDELEGASIAN WEWENANG, PENGENDALIAN AKUNTANSI DAN KINERJA MANAJER

The aim of this study is to empirically test the influence of the perceived environmental uncertainty on the efficiency orientation, delegation of authority, accounting controls and manager performance of the airlines corporations of scheduled domestic passengers in Indonesia. The present research is an explanatory research because the focus is to find out causal relationship between the exogenous and endogenous variables. Data were collected using the survey through questionnaires, which were sent directly by post. To speed up data collection, each district manager was contacted by the district office telephone. The data were also obtained from the airline magazine from district offices of each company in Surabaya. The research results have showed that there is a significant positive relationship between exogenous variables of the perceived environmental uncertainty on the endogenous variables of the efficiency orientation. There is no significant relationship between the perceived environmental uncertainty and the delegation of authority. There is no significant relationship between the perceived environmental uncertainty and suitability of accounting controls. There is a significant positive relationship between delegation of authority and manager performance. There is a significant and positive relationship between the suitability of accounting controls and manager performance. Efficiency orientation can act as variable that mediates relationship between the perceived environmental uncertainty and the delegation of authority and suitability of accounting control. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to the development of contingency theory in management accounting perticularly in the manager behavior in using management accounting information.

THE CLASSICAL MODEL OF CONTROL IN THE ACCOUNTING LITERATURE

This paper outlines a classical management model of control based upon concepts identified in the writings of Frederick Taylor and Henry Fayol. The classical model's constituent concepts are found to be replicated in early accounting literature. The accounting model persisted right through the 1970s with only one conceptual change that reflected a concept discussed by Fayol. A number of factors which may have influenced the accounting model's replication of the classical management model are then considered. These include the linguistic derivation of the term “budget”, historical approaches to budgeting by governments, the scientific and efficiency orientation of accountants in the past and their perception of the corporate budget.