Management

This study shows the interplay of culture development and the implementation of a new production system based on the principles of Kaizen and Total Productive Maintenance of a Business Unit of a German medium sized company. The analysis of the strategic reorganization highlights the importance of management sensitivity in regard to the cultural dimension of organizational change. The paper sheds light on the activities that put strategic change into practice.

Communication is the elementary base of a company’s process flows. Its influence on employees and the company itself is vital and any deficiency leads to a decreased company success. Based on the aims of communication, a procedure to establish and implement a communication concept as a component of a company-specific communication culture is introduced.

Multinational companies operate under the dual imperative of global integration and local responsiveness. This tension results in control problems that can be effectively mitigated by corporate governance. The aim of the paper is to discuss these issues and to offer potential solutions in the form of governance mechanisms at the headquarters’ disposal. These include direct control by boards of directors and indirect control by means of incentive systems. The main argument is that the choice between these mechanisms is largely determined by a subsidiary’s level of autonomy and its strategic role within the corporate network.

The paper highlights the importance of standards and standardisation especially for multinational enterprises. At the same time the threat of a not adequately reflected over-standardisation is recognised which is tied to risks like transaction costs and “idle power”. In the paper it is discussed to what extend it is possible to evaluate standards and standardisation in multinational enter- prises in terms of effort and benefits. This evaluation is anchored within a concept of standard management at a strategic level.

The integration of mechanical, electronical and informational components characterizes modern technical products. These mechatronic systems usually provide high product functionality by which the product complexity is increased. Handling this complexity confronts the manufacturer with technical but also organizational challenges. The improvement potentials of the existing development processes are analyzed as a possibility of facing the organizational aspects. For that reason a maturity model is developed that identifies the weaknesses in detail and shows the next steps for improving the interdisciplinary development process.

Oftentimes top management neglects the fuzzy front end of product development. Marketing is not involved in fuzzy front end activities. At the same time there is evidence that investments in the fuzzy front end pay off during the latter process. Late involvement of top management or the marketing function leads to unnecessary rework and delays and leaves developers frustrated. This paper discusses particularities of the fuzzy front end of product development and a leverage effect of the fuzzy front end on product development success. Implications for managers are derived.

The research project “Open Innovation in Life Sciences” (project duration May 2008-April 2011) aims at the development and implementation of new innovation strategies and concepts for SMEs in the life sciences segment. In particular inside-out and outside-in processes in joint innovation projects beyond firm boundaries are analyzed. The life sciences segment is known as being highly research intense and interdisciplinary. As a result of the growing complexity of innovation processes, the development of cooperative, i.e. open innovation strategies for SMEs has become more important. SMEs can gain the capability to tap crucial innovation potentials by bundling distributed complementary knowledge. The article describes the development of a method which might help to evaluate opportunities and risks of different innovation concepts. This may serve as basis for decision-making regarding the implementation of a predefined innovation process. Project outcomes are expected to be an ...

The self-learning search engine improves the search for relevant information in enterprises by using a profile of the searcher and a context, that has to be chosen for each search request. Case-based reasoning is used to figure out which information sources contain relevant information for the given combination of profile and context. These information sources are further preferred in enterprise search.

Confronted with intensive product price competition in China, industrial firms are forced to invest in extending the service business. Extending the service business is far from easy. Chinese competitors offer faked spare parts. Local service skills are very poor and service requirements force industrial firms to invest in logistic infrastructure. This article offers a guideline for managers seeking to professionalize the human resource management in the service organization, to adapt service offerings to the local customer needs, and to set-up a logistic infrastructure.

The ability of reacting to expected changes in markets in a robust manner and the design of flexible supply chains as reaction to ongoing changes and challenges helps gaining advantages for companies with these capabilities. To achieve this, the early involvement of internal and external expertise is as important as the principal underlying correct method. In this contribution the design of a robust distribution system and a flexible supply chain was as much crucial as the choice of the optimal locations in the USA and Europe.