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Production control can be regarded as a sub-system of the tota1 production system. The development of system theory is a major step forward in the study of organisation: Scott (1967)1 comments upon the systems approach: "The distinctive qualities of modern organisation theory are its conceptual-analytical base, its reliance on empirical research data, and, above all, its synthesising, integrating, nature. These qualities are framed in a philosophy which accepts the premise that the only meaningfu1 way to study organisation is as a system." Simon (1964)2 agrees with this view judging organisations as complex systems of decision-making processes. The term "systems" being used more and more to refer to methods of scientific analysis that are particularly adapted to the unravelling of complexity. Homans (1950)3 considers an organisation as comprising an external environment system and an internal system of relationship which are mutually interdependent. In this context production control can be looked upon as a linking system between the environment represented by customer demaod and the production system seen as a conversion process for transforming raw materials and bought out components into finished goods to satisfy this demand.

The quest for a viable manufacturing planning and control (MPQ system that supports organizational strategy is a crucial issue in operations management. Previous studies on MPC discipline have paid little attention on the basic performance differences that associated with strategic and organization environmental issues. This thesis addresses these issues by exploring the configurations in MPC systems in a macro perspective that integrates several areas, namely: organizational environment, competitive strategy, manufacturing strategy, supply chains, NIPC system and organizational performance. This thesis attempts to shift the conventional research focus of NTC processes and mechanisms to enviromnent-strategy-system-performance (E-S-S-P) paradigm. In this respect, the configurational research in WC systems requires the study of a wider body of knowledge (Chapters 2- 5) including: (1) a detailed assessmenot f the current state-of-the art of MPC practices; (2) the review of the relations between strategies and MPC systems; (3) a study of organization environmental variables and their influences; and (4) an identification of methodological issues relating to configuration research. Thirty hypothesized relationships are proposed (Chapter 6) and tested (Chapters 8 and 9). The research methodology has been concentrated in three distinctive areas. The first area is in the design of instruments (Chapter 7) for the measurement of manufacturing environments, competitive strategy, manufacturing strategy, and MPC systems in several manufacturing industries. Five databases are gathered to test the hypotheses, i.e. trade census and industrial production statistics, published business data, published survey data (for content analysis), data from field visits, and questionnaire survey data. The second area is the construction of a 3-dimensional organization environment (Chapter 7). Besides, a reference model is proposed that takes into account of the theory of autopoiesis and enacted environment, based on several field visits (Chapter 8). The third area is the study of correlations between the organizational environment, competitive strategy, manufacturing strategy, and NIPC systems (Chapter 9). The quantitative analyses are used such as Pearson correlation, linear regression, and causal modeling. There are seven main contributions of this thesis: (1) It is the first study of the configurations in NTC systems that will have significant theoretical implications for the development of NTC practices. (2) It develops the network relationships of E-S-S-P research paradigm. (3) It broadens the knowledge in operations management by exploring the hypothesized relations between organizational environment, strategies, supply chains and MPC systems. (4) It shows the adoption of new thinking, i. e. the theory of autopoiesis, in the configuration study. (5) It develops a reference MPC model that adds to the body of knowledge in this discipline. (6) It constructs the task environment classification framework for the study related to manufacturing environment in Hong Kong. (7) It proposes path modelling analysis to explore the causal relationships of WC system and other organizational variables, which is rarely applied in this field.

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The global trend towards cost minimisation in manufacturing has intensified during the last two decades. Cost reduction can be achieved either, directly, through elimination of waste, or indirectly, through optimisation of production processes and generating more reliable information regarding the costs incurred. The research presented in this thesis considers cost reduction in three aspects: optimisation of production processes, accurate cost estimation and accounting. Due to the increasing number of combinatorial optimisation problems associated with the production of Printed Circuit Boards (PCB), it has attracted the attention of many researchers who tried to solve these problems with the aim of minimising the production cost. Therefore, PCB production is used in this research as a test-bed for the three aspects mentioned above. Regarding cost reduction in PCB manufacturing, three interrelated combinatorial optimisation problems are considered: the component placement sequencing problem, the feeder assignment problem and the board type sequencing problem. Solving these problems ensures cost reduction by reducing the time required for manufacturing PCBs. As for cost reduction in the costing and accounting aspects, the traditional standard costing and standard accounting have some problems that make them unsuitable for today's manufacturing. Standard costing allocates overhead to labour or machine hours, which leads to a distortion of product costs due to the fact that today's manufacturing relies more on technology and less on human power. As for standard accounting, it has some features and characteristics that contradict with the widely spread lean manufacturing. The deficiencies in standard costing and standard accounting may create more waste and lead to the wrong decisions being taken. A framework is developed to provide solution to the above-mentioned problems in an integrated environment. A mathematical formulation for the three PCB manufacturing-related problems is developed and solved using a metaheuristic-based algorithm. In order to deal with the costing and accounting part of the framework developed, Activity Based-Costing (ABC) and Lean Accounting (LA) are implemented on a PCB manufacturing facility using a case study. ABC is used to estimate the costs of manufacturing PCBs and provide detailed information on how the costs are incurred. As for LA, it is used to reduce the costs associated with the accounting system, which is achieved by eliminating and/or replacing accounting transactions and promoting lean measures. Simulation results obtained show an average reduction in total assembly time of 5.96% and 5.43% when Taboo Search (TS) and Genetic Algorithms (GA) metaheuristics are used respectively. The results also show how ABC can be used to identify the activities used in PCB manufacturing and calculate their costs. By targeting the most costly activities identified by ABC, the production costs can be reduced. Regarding LA, the results indicate how the accounting system costs can be reduced by eliminating some accounting transactions and processes or replacing them with less costly alternatives.

Despite its obvious benefits and its potential for improving productivity and sharpening an organization's competitive edge both locally and internationally, SMEs are still reluctant to deploy the emerging technology of e-business. This lack of enthusiasm may be due to difficulties in identifying and measuring costs, benefits and risks associated with the adoption of e-business. Recent studies have shown, however, that many SMEs have engaged in e-business in order to catch up with their larger counterparts who have adopted such solutions. The contribution of SMEs to their national economies cannot be overemphasized. These organizations account for some 99 per cent of private sector growth in Jordan, including most of the growth in employment. The present study was undertaken in response to the lack of empirical data, as well as to determine the stages of growth in the uptake of e-business by SMEs and to discover the factors influencing their decisions to adopt it. It supplies the deficiency of relevant evidence, which will improve understanding of the current state of affairs in this regard. In order to achieve the objectives of this research, data was collected according to a quantitative research paradigm in order to provide exhaustive descriptions of how SMEs currently use e-business and of the factors involved in their decisions. A questionnaire with 42 questions was distributed personally to a sample of 55 personnel in SMEs in the communications sector. The overall response rate was 87 per cent. Several analysis methods including descriptive statistics analysis, factors analysis, biavariate analysis, bar charts were applied to the data using SPSS. The results validate the six-stage model, developed from previous studies, for the Jordanian context, and show that respondents' use of e-business is still in the first two stages. Some have reached the third stage, but the last three more complex levels have yet to be utilized to any significant extent. The results also provide empirical evidence that enablers (market, external and organizational) of, and barriers (technological, organizational and external) to, the use of this technology, as well as organizational size, play a significant role in decisions as to whether or not to adopt it, as well as the degree of its success in SMEs. This study has important implications for research and practice. Specifically, it offers a useful framework with which to assess the six stages of growth in each factor in order to better pursue the adoption of e-business. The results will constitute a guide for the conduct of empirical studies based on the framework foundation of e-business adoption, and will give practitioners an understanding of how these factors influence such adoption, thereby improving that process.

The manufacturing environment and markets in recent times are becoming increasingly dynamic, diverse and unpredictable, due mainly to fast evolution of products and technology, erratic customer behaviour and high consumerism and an increasingly shorter lead-time. The burden of the impact falls on organisational structures built on centralized, rigid manufacturing architecture, because they cannot cope or adapt to the highly uncertain or unpredictable nature of the market. Enterprises who wish to survive these challenges need to rethink their business and manufacturing models, and most importantly reinvent their tactical, operational and organizational formulas to leverage their strategic long term visions. Newer manufacturing systems to curb the effects of this upheaval have to promote an entirely decentralised, flexible, distributed, configurable and adaptable architecture to ameliorate this condition. Many philosophies are proposed and studied towards planning, monitoring, and controlling the 21st century manufacturing system. These include - Bionic manufacturing system (BMS), Holonic manufacturing system (HMS), Fractal manufacturing system (FrMS), Responsive manufacturing etc. This research program focuses on the FrMS, which has vast conceptual advantageous features among these new philosophies, but its implementation has proved very difficult. FrMS is based on autonomous, cooperating, self-similar agent called fractal that has the capability of perceiving, adapting and evolving with respect to its partners and environment. The fractal manufacturing configuration uses self regulating, organisational work groups, each with identical goals and within its own area of competence to build up an integrated, holistic network system of companies. This network yields constant improvement as well as continuous checks and balances through self-organising control loops. The study investigates and identifies the nature, characteristic features and feasibility of this system in comparison to traditional approaches with a detailed view to maximising the logistical attribute of lean manufacturing system and building a framework for 'leagile' (an integration of lean and agile solutions) networked capabilities. It explores and establishes the structural characteristic potentials of Fractal Manufacturing Partnership (FMP), a hands-on collaboration between enterprises and their key suppliers, where the latter become assemblers of their components while co-owning the enterprise's facility, to create and achieve high level of responsiveness. It is hoped that this architecture will drive and harness the evolution from a vertically integrated company, to a network of integrated, leaner core competencies needed to tackle and weather the storm of the 21st century manufacturing system.

The area of project management has been the focus of intensive research for the last three decades. There are a number of studies which have focused on multi-project management, but very few have tackled the need for a tracking system to control and monitor the project in an integrated environment. Some of these studies have covered the multi-project management from the contractor's perspective; or they have tackled one or two of its aspects, such as priority selection, resource allocation, or risk management. The researcher has attempted to show the need for multi-project management systems in which an integrated framework for multi-project planning and control tracking systems (from the owner's perspective rather than the contractors' perspective) is developed; to planning and control under conditions of uncertainty and change. Analytical hierarchy process, mathematical modelling and computer simulation techniques are applied to develop the proposed framework. In multi-project management, each project has its own objective(s) that should be optimised. The analytical hierarchy process is applied to prioritise projects that are received from the applicant accordingly; so that decisions can be made on which project(s) should be launched first. The Mathematical modelling is another method used to solve complex problems, when many projects are running simultaneously. Goal programming is used to minimise the cost and manpower required in a multi-project environment which is usually subject to different constraints. Then simulation is used to manage and control the risk expected in running these projects. In addition, simulation allows project managers to obtain a wide spectrum system on the effects of local changes on the project.