摘要:

This research compares Material Requirements Planning (MRP), Kanban, and Period Batch Control (PBC) as alternative approaches to the planning and control of multi‐cell manufacturing involving flow cells and assembly. Since previous research on performance of these systems in cellular manufacturing has been primarily conceptual, the experiments reported here provide new insights into their comparative performance.The results show that the production environment is a major factor in system choice. Three operating factors—Master Production Schedule (MPS) volume variation, MPS mix variation, and setup time/lot size—clearly affect system choice. All systems performed well under Justin‐Time (JIT) conditions; there was no advantage to Kanban. Under the mixed conditions of high MPS variation, but small setup time/lot sizes, PBC produced superior performance compared to Kanban and MRP. Under non‐JIT conditions, MRP was seen as clearly more effective. Finally, the results indicate that when conditions permit very small lot sizes relative to requirements, Kanban may perform best, even when MPS variatio

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1995.tb00835.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Product bundling has become increasingly prevalent not only in consumer goods but also in the industrial sector. We study a purchasing problem in which a buyer must obtain necessary numbers of various stock items from a variety of vendors who charge different prices, have limited capacities and different levels of quality, and offer bundled products at discounted prices.We examine relationships among different bundling scenarios and show that the most general scenario is one in which free items are given to the buyer when sufficient quantities are purchased. We develop a mixed integer linear program that finds the purchasing strategy for the buyer that minimizes the total purchase cost. We present computational results which indicate that the problem is very tractable to solve optimally on a personal computer with standard optimization software. Finally, three extensions of the model are discussed.

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1995.tb00836.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The conduct of information technology (IT) planning processes has been of dominant managerial concern in public and private organizations. Yet, current IT planning research offers little guidance on the types of planning actions and behaviors that are appropriate to organizational contexts. We focus on the conduct of the IT planning process by describing an exploratory research project. The project empirically examined a number of issues associated with managing IT planning within a single large public enterprise, particularly identifying actions and behaviors related to producing quality IT plans.The results of the study yield some useful set of guidelines; most interesting is the importance of building IT infrastructure based on IT sophistication and innovativeness for large agencies to improve plan quality. Other recommendations include having a focused, balanced technology and business planning orientation that incorporates a strategic outlook, support of top management, attention to business planning, and early consensus among planning members.

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1995.tb00837.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In recent years, the decision to outsource information systems (IS) functions has become a viable strategic alternative in managing the increasingly complex IS functions. In this study, the IS outsourcing phenomenon is conceptualized as a strategic decision in the organization. Drawing on resource‐based theories, resource dependence theories, and other theories of strategic management, a discrepancy model of this decision is developed. Relationships between a number of strategy‐theoretic factors and the IS outsourcing decision are hypothesized. These factors include IS resource performance discrepancies manifested in the form of gaps in information quality, IS support quality, IS cost effectiveness and financial performance, as well as the strategic orientation of the firm. Results of the study indicate that, while cost consideration and the firm's financial performance are not associated with the IS outsourcing decision, difficulties in providing good information outputs and IS support services are associated with the decision. Overall, the findings suggest that the current trend toward outsourcing represents a continuing evolution of the IS function as it attempts to fulfill its traditional mission of providing high quality information resource to the firm. When the performance of the delivered resource begins to slip in the current environment of rising expectation and technological complexity, outsourcing may become a strategic response of necessity. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the results for practicing managers and suggestions for future resea

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1995.tb00838.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

A method for validating expert systems, based on validation approaches from psychology and Turing's “imitation game,” is demonstrated using a flexible employee benefits expert system. Psychometric validation has three aspects: the extent to which the system and expert decisions agree (criterionrelated validity), the inputs and processes used by experts compared to the system (content validity), and differences between expert and novice decisions (construct validity). If these criteria are satisfied, then the system is indistinguishable from experts for its domain and satisfies the Turing Test.Personal Choice Expert (PCE) was designed to help employees of a Fortune 500 firm choose benefits in their flexible benefits system. Its recommendations do not significantly differ from those given by independent experts. Hence, if the system‐independent expert agreement (criterion‐related validity) were the only standard, PCE could be considered valid. However, construct analysis suggests that re‐engineering may be required. High intra‐expert agreement exists only for some benefit recommendations (e.g., dental care and long‐term disability) and not for others (e.g., short‐term disability, accidental death and dismemberment, and life insurance). Insights offered by these methods are illustrat

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1995.tb00839.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The evaluation of strategic alternatives is a particularly difficult task. This difficulty is due to the complexities inherent in the evaluation process and the lack of structured information. The evaluation process must consider a multitude of relevant information from both the internal and external environments of the organization. Various analytical and normative models have helped decision makers utilize large volumes of information in strategic evaluation; however, most of these models have some limitations. We present a multiple criteria decision support system, called strategic assessment model (SAM), that addresses some of the limitations inherent in the existing models. SAM captures the decision maker's beliefs through a series of sequential, rational, and analytical processes. The environmental forces—decomposed into internal, task, general opportunities, and threats—are used along with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), subjective probabilities, the entropy concept, and utility theory to enhance the decision maker's intuition in evaluating a set of strategic alternati

ISSN:0011-7315    

DOI:10.1111/j.1540-5915.1995.tb00840.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY