published_or_final_version / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Also available in print.

Thesis (PhD) -- University of South Australia, 1999

The continued assimilation of advanced computing and information technologies in the workplace in the midst of rapidly changing socioeconomic conditions has led many corporations to transform their corporate culture and structure. These profound changes are implicating corporate functions such as planning, design, manufacturing, and marketing. A significant form of corporate re-structuring has been in the computer and information technology mediated integration of these functions which is sometimes labeled Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). Fundamental questions are provoked regarding the reshaping of these emerging modes and relations of production. Do these developments represent a departure from traditional Taylorist or Fordist workplace operations and organization? Are these emerging modes of work which generally are interwoven with Japanese inspired quality improvement programs and associated manufacturing methods producing a more human-centered workplace? Do these shifts in corporate re-structuring support the possible unfolding of forms of human-centered workplace democracy? To critically inquire and address the above questions, a case study was conducted involving a large manufacturing firm which has been undergoing a radical re-structuring of all its corporate operations. The case study method involves an analysis of the internal discourse(s) and practice(s) of an emerging manufacturing facility called the Factory of the Future (FOF) in the context of a changing corporate culture mediated by computer and information technologies and changing organizational practices. Many sources of information were appropriated to construct a collage of textual material in order to present FOF's unique genealogy and to provide a detailed description of the emerging phenomenon of CIM. Among these were internal documents, videos, and interviews conducted with factory and office workers. Based on a critical interpretation of the case study findings a number of provisional conclusions were reached and may be summarized as follows: • Certain neo-Taylorist and neo-Fordist modes of production are emerging both in the factory and office as the transformation of the corporation proceeds toward a CIM mode of operation. • More human-centered organizational practices have marked the changing corporate culture although they are at times subject to conflicts and contradictions. • Managerial power has grown in the midst of computer and information mediated systems, even though worker participation and involvement in work related decisions has also been enhanced.

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This thesis examines the relevance of current cost accounting systems to the manufacturing environment. Egyptian manufacturing companies in the ex-public industrial sector have suffered from relatively various obstacles, with problems in production planning and control in particular. These impediments were responsible for negative effects on costs and caused low profitability for these companies in most years. Cost accounting systems were basically established for the purpose of preparing financial statements not for operational control.The literature was reviewed to explore changes in the manufacturing environment with emphasis on the developments in production planning and control systems and also to investigate the developments in cost accounting systems.To examine this research phenomenon empirically, a case study was conducted in an Egyptian EI-Nasr automotive manufacturing company. Data was collected from published and unpublished reports and by semi-structured interviews within the case company.The thesis is divided into two main parts: Part I to cover the literature review in this area. Part II for the case study analysis. The study covered three major areas of analysis. First is an overview of all factors which shape the old and new manufacturing environments and the developments in the systems of production planning and control. Second is a detailed investigation of the traditional and new cost accounting systems. Third is the main findings and conclusion including exposing the relationship between the different planning and control systems and the various cost accounting systems. It also includes a wide range of suggestions for improving the cost accounting systems of the studied case company.The major findings of this study were that manufacturing environment played a significant role in designing cost accounting systems. It concluded that planning capabilities of the company and suppliers play a significant role in the process of cost reduction and improve the competitive position.