The purpose of this study was to determine the required knowledge and skills of mobile home metalworkers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as compared to the Industrial Arts metalworking curriculum presented in Texas Education Agency, Bulletin 615. Items of significance in Chapter IV appear in findings, conclusions, and recommendations. The "use of basic hand tools" and "safety concepts" were consistently emphasized and required by manufacturing firms. It was found that educational requirements were quite often "some high school" or less. It was found that Industrial Arts metalworking curriculum was closely related to required knowledge and skills of mobile home metalworkers. It was recommended that Industrial Arts course work be extended into lower levels of education.

The thesis aims to examine how the formation of fa&ccedil / ades, that is, the interface with a dual response both to interior functioning and exterior urban fabric, is separated from the totality of architectural design by new technological developments and design intentions. This aim is accomplished in three sections, respectively: analysis of the fa&ccedil / ade, the properties and formation process in time / examining the fa&ccedil / ade formation of the high-rise office buildings in Levent-Maslak area in respect to the analysis and examining the working principles and marketing attitudes of fa&ccedil / ade manufacturing firms in terms of their role in fa&ccedil / ade formation. The focus is on the description of a fa&ccedil / ade and the process that generated the autonomy in time is examined. In this sense, the thesis analyzes that the &amp / #8216 / free-fa&ccedil / ade&amp / #8217 / application, by which physical autonomy is totally gained, transforms the fa&ccedil / ade to a production element by using the technological developments and specifications of curtain-wall system in the Turkish context, in particular in Levent-Maslak area. Besides the technical availability, the representational qualities of the new materials transform this production based character of the free-fa&ccedil / ade to a more representational character as an object-fa&ccedil / ade. Finally, the study investigates how the technical knowledge inherent in the new fa&ccedil / ade systems gives the authority,in formation process of fa&ccedil / ades, to the manufacturing firms instead of the architect. It is therefore stressed that the changing role of the architect in the formation process of fa&ccedil / ades is often based on the working principles and marketing attitudes of fa&ccedil / ade manufacturing firms at present.

During the past decade, growing attention has been given to industrial service offerings in the marketing literature as well as in many manufacturing firms. This phenomenon is often described as a goods-services transition, in which companies increasingly turn to the provision of industrial services in order to achieve competitive advantage, such a closer customer relationships and higher profit margins. Industrial services span a wide range of offerings, from basic after-sales services to process-orientated solutions consisting of both services and capital goods. With industrial service offerings receiving increased attention as their importance is understood, the ability to manage the service business in a manufacturing context becomes ever more vital. The overall purpose of this doctoral thesis is to describe and analyse how capital equipment manufacturing firms strategically manage their industrial service offerings in order to achieve long-term competitive advantage. This includes analysing how to organise the firm for the development and production of service, and, depending on the type of industrial service offering, what the requirements on the service processes are. Furthermore the role of information and communication technologies as enablers for new offerings and processes is analysed. The thesis consists of a compilation of five papers, two case descriptions and an extended summary. The research builds on a multiple case study of the service organisations of market-leading manufacturing firms. The main cases are based on in-depth studies at ITT Water & Wastewater and Toyota Material Handling Group. The results suggest that, as the division between goods and services becomes ever more blurred, there is an increasing need for cooperation between the service and the product organisations. Applying a service logic means that the traditional division between goods sales and after-sales services becomes outdated. Instead, the customer relationship becomes the centre of the offering regardless of its combination of services and goods. Further, the infusion of service in manufacturing firms means that more service processes and interfaces have to be managed simultaneously. Theoretically, this research contributes mainly to the fields of industrial marketing and service as a business logic. One contribution is the proposed typologies for industrial service offerings which make it possible to better understand the dynamics of service processes. Another important contribution of this research is the service function concept. Industrial services must not be equated with the activities of the industrial service organisation only. Although the service organisation most likely is the key entity, it is only one subset of the service function; sales product development, manufacturing, senior management, and other organisational entities, as well as external service providers and customers, are to be seen as part-time service functions that influence the offering. Compared to previously, competitive advantage through industrial service offerings is to a greater extent based on factors outside the service organisation, i.e. in other parts of the service function.

"The purpose of this study is to compare the existing selection plans for salesmen which are being used in Dallas with the selection plans which are suggested by certain of the accepted authorities in the field of sales management..Twenty-six manufacturing firms were included in the list of firms to be visited personally. Of these twenty-six firms, only six refused to give the specific data requested...Chapter I will introduce the study...Chapter II will deal with the discussion of the tools and techniques which are generally accepted as being more desirable by the authorities in the field. Chapter III discusses the procedure used and the results of the personal survey...Chapter IV will deal with the presentation and evaluation of the selection techniques now being used in Dallas. Chapter V will present the conclusions and recommendations to be made for the improvement and suggestions for eliminating the weaknesses in those selection techniques now being used in the area around Dallas, Texas "-- leaves 2,7

Research from the international business field have demonstrated that firms operating both in domestic and foreign markets have a greater exposition to market turbulences and disturbances. The literature has established that dynamism, flexibility and agility are crucial capabilities. In fact, firms displaying the previously listed capabilities have a greater chance to survive to turbulent and disturbing market events. Given the current Covid-19 crisis impacting the global market, this paper is further justified by the need for diverse and deeper research on how firms develop so-called “resilience” to survive to disruptive events such as the current pandemic. Furthermore, Business Model Innovation is proposed by the literature as a way to build that organizational resilience. Especially, the adaptation of the Business Model to a more Digital Business Model. The literature presented Digital Business Model as a way for firms to build flexibility and agility capabilities. More specifically, the study aims to analyze how Swedish international manufacturing SMEs develop organizational resilience. Thanks to the four semistructured interviews carried out with four top manager part of Swedish international manufacturing SMEs, this qualitative study has been able to answer the given research question: “How can international manufacturing SMEs develop resilience through adapting a digital business model in order to survive during disruptive market changes?” The primary and secondary data were collected and analyzed according to the constructed conceptual framework. In conclusion, it can be noticed that the findings, based on empirical data, are aligned with the literature and demonstrate that in order to navigate in those turbulent international market environments firms need have a flexible and agile organizational structure. Furthermore, those findings highlight that the implementation of a Digital Business Model enables firms to develop that flexibility and agility, therefore leading to organizational resilience. However, surprisingly, the data shows that if most of the firms did implement Digital Business Model, those Business Model Innovation are not permanent but rather temporary.

Digital transformation represents an unprecedented strategic challenge for established manufacturing companies, but the theoretical understanding of its implications is still lacking. It is accordingly difficult for management to develop an adequate digital transformation strategy and decide on appropriate organisational implementation measures. The aim of this work is therefore to address the organisational management challenges related to digital transformation of manufacturing companies through strategic digital transformation programmes. It is based on the input of 39 managers with diverse backgrounds, digital and non-digital, within the manufacturing industry. This study enhances the open systems organisational theory approach and the concepts of temporary organisations. It identifies 21 different organisational management factors that are relevant for the digital transformation of a manufacturing company. Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) has been applied to derive an empirical model that organises those factors according to their level of influence. The factors related to organisational leadership, internal organisational structures and operational capabilities have the strongest influence on the digital transformation challenges. This includes the understanding that in the context of digital transformation, a strategic programme cannot be conceived separately to the embedding company organisation. The practical implications of the empirical model on management are derived by this study as well. It suggests that the non-linear nature of digital transformation requires management to continuously embrace and not restrict organisational and operational complexity. Instead, focus should be placed on establishing frameworks that provide operational guidance, supported by substantial management efforts to foster commitment across all organisational levels towards digital transformation goals.

Lean manufacturing is one of the most developing manufacturing philosophies through which firms can minimise waste in the production process. Implementing lean practices successfully enables firms to lower unit costs of production and maximise value to the customer, which in turn helps them to increase their competitive edge over rivals. The emerging literature considers organisational culture as a necessary intangible source for achieving a competitive advantage for companies, and to have a critical role in the success or failure of lean practices implementation. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the effect of organisational culture on lean technical practices in the manufacturing firms in Jordan. More specifically, four conceptual models have been developed in the current study highlighting the effect of each type of organisational culture on lean technical practices implementation. In addition, more emphasis was on understanding the mechanism through which customers' involvement, employees’ involvement and suppliers’ involvement affect the relationship between organisational culture and lean technical practices. Thus, the four conceptual models bring to light the potential intervening role of the human lean practices in the organisational culture/ lean technical practices association. After identifying and reviewing the relevant literature, the socio-technical system theory, contingency theory and RBV are adopted to develop the conceptual models and associated hypotheses. A Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) techniques have been adopted to analyse a dataset of over 200 manufacturing firms in Jordan, collected by using a self-administered survey. The findings of this study indicate that the hierarchical culture has the highest substantial positive effect on lean technical practices followed by developmental culture, group culture and rational culture respectively. In addition, it is found that each type of organisational culture (group, developmental, hierarchical and rational) affects positively lean human practices (customers' involvement, employees’ involvement and suppliers’ involvement) in different statistical levels. For example, all types of organisational culture affect suppliers’ involvement more than customers’ involvement and employees’ involvement respectively. Moreover, it is found that customers’ involvement and suppliers’ involvement have the highest positive effect on lean technical practices in the rational culture and the least positive effect in the hierarchical culture. Furthermore, it is found that the positive effect of each type of organisational culture on lean technical practices is partially mediated by customers' involvement and partially mediated by suppliers’ involvement. The highest significant mediating effect of customers' involvement and suppliers’ involvement lies in the rational culture/lean technical practices link whereas the lowest significant mediating effect of customers' involvement and suppliers’ involvement lies is in the hierarchical culture/ lean technical practices link. Finally, it is found that employees’ involvement does not mediate the relationship between organisational culture and lean technical practices. These findings provide new evidence from Jordan to support the hypotheses that the organisational culture can act as a crucial pre-condition for lean technical practices to be fully effective. Additionally, the findings reinforce the notion that emphasizing the human side of lean especially for customers' involvement and suppliers' involvement can promote the effectiveness of lean implementation. The current study contributes to the current literature at two levels. First, at the theoretical level, this study develops multiple conceptual models which crosses two streams of literature mainly, organisational culture literature and lean manufacturing literature with a focus on the human side of lean. Unlike previous studies, the models integrate the direct effect of organisational culture on lean technical practices and the intervening role of lean human practices due to which the organisational culture is assumed to have also an indirect effect on lean technical practices. Furthermore, employing a powerful statistical technique (Analysis of Moment Structure-SEM) provides more credibility to the results reported in this study. Second, at the empirical level, this study is conducted in the Jordanian context. As such, this study is one of the first, to our knowledge, that examines the effect of organisational culture on lean technical practices, as well as having examined the mechanism of how each type of organisational culture affects lean technical practices using empirical survey data from this context.

Background: Globalization has created new opportunities for firms to import and export goods across the world, international trade has gained significant importance to many. Although global trade between countries has many positive aspects, it has also demanded the right type of warehousing to store the goods as cost-efficiently as possible. Warehousing is the second largest cost within a company’s logistics areas after transportation. One way of lowering logistics costs is to implement a bonded warehouse. A bonded warehouse is a storage location where companies can store imported goods where the payment of duty costs to be postponed as long as needed, which provides companies with more liquidity and yield many cost-saving benefits. However, bonded warehouse operations and implementation are more complex than that of a non-bonded warehouse because special requirements for monitoring and auditing must be followed and executed correctly. It is, therefore, vital to choose a suitable strategy and proper implementation in order not to waste valuable resources. Manufacturers and retailers could as a result benefit from a resource and implementation framework to mitigate the risk of an inadequate implementation process. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the requirements for implementing a bonded warehouse from a resource-based perspective. The aim is to derive a set of resources that are necessary for the implementation of a bonded warehouse. Further, the study will examine both tangible and intangible resources. Lastly, a framework that will illustrate the steps and requirements to implement a bonded warehouse is created. Method: This study takes on a qualitative research method, guided by a constructionist perspective this exploratory study uses a multiple case study approach to obtain thorough knowledge on the topic. Through semi-structured interviews with several companies, the topic of bonded warehouse implementation is explored. Moreover, the analysis was consistent with a grounded analysis approach where themes could emerge and provide answers to our research questions. Conclusion: The results illustrate the ten key resources required for bonded warehouse implementation: 1) Bonded Warehouse Project Plan 2) Bonded Warehouse Administration 3) Bonded Warehouse Reporting 4) Bonded Warehouse Layout Specifications 5) Bonded Warehouse Project Team 6) Bonded Warehouse Process Knowledge 7) Customs Knowledge 8) Customs IT-system.

Working capital optimization, as an act of balancing liquidity and profitability, presents significant challenges when small businesses lack managerial expertise and access to affordable capital and credit facilities. To remain successful through efficient utilization of working capital, small business leaders need to understand the association between working capital management (WCM), working capital policy (WCP), and business profitability (PFT). Anchored in the cash conversion cycle theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between WCM, WCP, and PFT. The study employed a retrospective secondary analysis of financial data from 2004 to 2013 from a random sample of 176 publicly traded small U.S. manufacturing companies. The regression results incorporating 3 models were significant in predicting profitability in terms of gross operating profit (GOP), return on asset (ROA), and Tobin's q (TBQ). The regression results showed that WCM and WCP were significant predictors of GOP, F (5, 170) = 8.580, p < .000, R2 = .201; ROA, F (5, 170) = 4.079, p < .002, R2 = .107; and TBQ, F (5, 170) = 6.231, p < .000, R2 = .155. The overall result confirmed that WCM and WCP predicted PFT significantly (p < .05). Small business leaders may incorporate working capital optimization practices into overall corporate strategy, thereby aligning working capital needs with the changing business requirements. The implications for positive social change included the potential to provide small business leaders with knowledge of WCM and WCP as drivers of PFT. Profitable businesses may provide employees and communities with better jobs; stock ownership; and development infrastructures such as road, healthcare, and educational facilities.

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