Exploring the phenomenon of company-specific production systems: one-best-way or own-best-way?

This explorative study investigates the phenomenon of the company-specific production system (XPS). It has been a strong and recent trend across many manufacturing industries to develop and deploy such a corporate improvement programme. Five propositions regarding the uniqueness of XPSs are derived from universalistic versus contingent perspectives on improvement programmes. The main XPS principles of 30 renowned multinationals are analysed for similarities and differences. In conclusion, XPSs largely represent variants of the same in content. They represent an own-best-way approach to the one-best-way paradigm. Even though a tight relationship to the Toyota Production System (TPS) and lean production is established, the findings raise a red flag that XPSs might suffer under a too rigid, path-dependent development process from what has become an overly technical understanding of the TPS. This study also questions whether modern manufacturers have sufficiently integrated other essential elements of modern operations such as the use of ERP, automation and real-time response technologies in their XPSs. These findings have direct implications for practitioners and provide interesting opportunities for further research.

[1]  Harry Boer,et al.  Jump‐starting continuous improvement through self‐assessment , 2003 .

[2]  Jt Black,et al.  Design rules for implementing the Toyota Production System , 2007 .

[3]  Sylwia Męcfal.  Recenzja książki. Robert K. yin, Case Study Research. Design and Methods (fourth Edition), thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2009 , 2012 .

[4]  Uwe Dombrowski,et al.  Ganzheitliche Produktionssysteme , 2010 .

[5]  Andrew R.J. Dainty,et al.  Path dependent constraints on innovation programmes in production and operations management , 2011 .

[6]  S. Winter,et al.  An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change.by Richard R. Nelson; Sidney G. Winter , 1987 .

[7]  Steve New,et al.  Celebrating the enigma: the continuing puzzle of the Toyota Production System , 2007 .

[8]  C. Voss,et al.  QUALITY MANAGEMENT: UNIVERSAL OR CONTEXT DEPENDENT? , 2001 .

[9]  B. Wernerfelt,et al.  A Resource-Based View of the Firm , 1984 .

[10]  D. Teece,et al.  DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT , 1997 .

[11]  大野 耐一,et al.  Toyota production system : beyond large-scale production , 1988 .

[12]  Asbjørn Rolstadås,et al.  Knowledge and manufacturing strategy–how different manufacturing paradigms have different requirements to knowledge. Examples from the automotive industry , 2010 .

[13]  H.-J. Jo,et al.  The mutation of the Toyota Production System: adapting the TPS at Hyundai Motor Company , 2007 .

[14]  Håkan Wiklund,et al.  A statistical approach to real-time quality control , 1999 .

[15]  W. Bodmer.  Principles of Scientific Management , 1993, FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

[16]  Srilata Zaheer,et al.  Building a process model of local adaptation of practices: A study of Six Sigma implementation in Korean and US firms , 2010 .

[17]  Angappa Gunasekaran,et al.  Knowledge management in 21st century manufacturing , 2007 .

[18]  Peter T. Ward,et al.  Lean manufacturing: context, practice bundles, and performance , 2003 .

[19]  Christopher A. Voss,et al.  Case research in operations management , 2002 .

[20]  J. Barney.  Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage , 1996 .

[21]  Constanze Clarke,et al.  Automotive Production Systems and Standardisation: From Ford to the Case of Mercedes-Benz , 2005 .

[22]  Christopher A. Voss,et al.  Contingency research in operations management practices , 2008 .

[23]  Christopher J. Hemingway,et al.  The importance of context in programme management: An empirical review of programme practices , 2007 .

[24]  Ann Terlaak,et al.  Vicarious Learning And Inferential Accuracy in Adoption Processes , 2008 .

[25]  Matthias Holweg,et al.  The genealogy of lean production , 2007 .

[26]  Eric Abrahamson.  Managerial Fads and Fashions: The Diffusion and Rejection of Innovations , 1991 .

[27]  J. Barney.  Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage , 1991 .

[28]  Norman Bodek,et al.  Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production , 1988 .

[29]  Jeffrey K. Liker,et al.  The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process And Technology , 2006 .

[30]  Computer Staff,et al.  The Machine That Changed the World , 1992 .

[31]  R. Cagliano,et al.  How improvement programmes of manufacturing are selected , 2000 .

[32]  Ralf Neuhaus,et al.  Ganzheitliche Produktionssysteme : Gestaltungsprinzipien und deren Verknüpfung , 2002 .

[33]  Jeffrey K. Liker,et al.  The Toyota way : 14 management principles from the world's greatest manufacturer , 2004 .

[34]  Richard Cooney,et al.  Is “lean” a universal production system?: Batch production in the automotive industry , 2002 .

[35]  N. Bateman.  Sustainability: the elusive element of process improvement , 2005 .

[36]  Peer C. Fiss,et al.  Made to Fit: How Practices Vary as They Diffuse , 2014 .

[37]  Denis Royston Towill,et al.  Exploiting the DNA of the Toyota Production System , 2007 .

[38]  Mohan V. Tatikonda,et al.  Dynamic capabilities through continuous improvement infrastructure , 2009 .

[39]  Everett E. Adam,et al.  Quality improvement practices and the effect on manufacturing firm performance: Evidence from Mexico and the USA , 2001 .

[40]  Christina A. Fader,et al.  The set of just-in-time management strategies: An assessment of their impact on plant-level productivity and input-factor substitutability using variable cost function estimates , 2002 .

[41]  R. Schroeder,et al.  Strategic, structural contingency and institutional explanations in the adoption of innovative manufacturing practices , 2004 .

[42]  Christopher A. Voss,et al.  Alternative paradigms for manufacturing strategy , 1995 .

[43]  James P. Womack,et al.  Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation , 1996 .

[44]  B. Wu,et al.  The design of business processes within manufacturing systems management , 2000 .

[45]  V. Chau,et al.  Dynamic capabilities: top executive audits and hoshin kanri at Nissan South Africa , 2008 .

[46]  J. van Iwaarden,et al.  The Six Sigma improvement approach: a transnational comparison , 2008 .

[47]  Paul M. Swamidass,et al.  The effect of TPS on US manufacturing during 1981–1998: inventory increased or decreased as a function of plant performance , 2007 .

[48]  T. S. Raghunathan,et al.  A post-industrial paradigm: To integrate and automate manufacturing , 1997 .

[49]  Jörn-Henrik Thun,et al.  Empowering Kanban through TPS-principles – an empirical analysis of the Toyota Production System , 2010 .

[50]  Paul S. Adler,et al.  Designed for Learning: A Tale of Two Auto Plants , 2007 .

[51]  Rachna Shah,et al.  In pursuit of implementation patterns: the context of Lean and Six Sigma , 2008 .