For manufacturing companies active on the global market, high-performance production systems that contribute to the growth and competitiveness of the company are essential. Among a wide range of industries it is increasingly acknowledged that superior production system capabilities are crucial for competitive success. However, the process of designing the production system has received little attention, ignoring its potential for gaining a competitive edge. Designing production systems in an effective and efficient manner is advantageous as it supports the possibility to achieve the best possible production system in a shorter time. One way to facilitate the design of the production system is an effective management of design information. Without managing design information effectively in the production system design process the consequences may be devastating including delays, difficulties in production ramp-up, costly rework, and productivity losses. The objective of the research presented in this thesis is to develop knowledge that will contribute to an effective management of design information when designing production systems. The empirical data collection rests on a multiple-case study method and a survey in which the primary data derive from two industrialization projects at a supplier in the automotive industry. Each industrialization project involved the design of a new production system. The findings revealed ten categories of design information to be used throughout the process of designing production systems. The identified design information categories are grouped in the following way: (1) design information that minimizes the risk of sub-optimization; (2) design information that ensures an alignment with the requirements placed by the external context; (3) design information that ensures an alignment with the requirements placed by the internal context, and (4) design information that facilitates advancements in the design work. In order to improve the management of the broad variety of design information required, a framework is developed. The framework confirms the necessity to consider the management of design information as a multidimensional construct consisting of the acquiring, sharing, and using of information. Further, the framework is based on six characteristics that influence the management of design information. These characteristics are information type, source of information, communication medium, formalization, information quality, and pragmatic information. Supported by the findings, guidelines for the management of design information are outlined to facilitate an effective and efficient design of the production system and thus contribute to better production systems. The guidelines are of value to those responsible for or involved in the design of production systems.

This thesis reports an exploratory, quantitative study into the implementation of strategic decisions. Implementation was viewed as a discontinuous organisational activity involving strategic change. The organisational vehicle of change is seen as "the project" and the specific unit of analysis adopted is the capital investment project. Manufacturing organisations were studied because these were shown to most frequently undertake such projects. Adopting a theoretical perspective derived from systems theory and cybernetics a model of implementation was developed which recognises two dimensions of implementation success (modes of organisational change) to be contingent upon a dimension of project uncertainty and two dimensions of information. From this model ten hypotheses were developed. Data on 45 projects was collected from a diversity of manufacturing companies. This was obtained using a structured questionnaire instrument administered to a single informant during a retrospective personal interview. Initially the data was analysed using principal components factor analysis to determine the factorial compositions and reliabilities of scales measuring theoretical constructs. Subsequently, causal modelling and stepwise regression techniques were employed to test the hypotheses. Analysis demonstrated that the essentially structural approach to implementation taken in the study adequately explained many of the observed associations between constructs. Hypothesised associations between organisational structure and implementation success could not, generally, be supported. Finally, the theoretical model adopted was not able to account for a number of empirically observed associations. These associations were explicable in terms of a behavioural or social dimension. The wider implications of the study are also discussed.

This study deals with direct foreign investment (DFI) in Turkish manufacturing industry with two main objectives: First, the reasons of the failure of Turkish economy in attracting sufficiently high levels of DFI is analysed as compared to the experiences other developing countries that have been successful on this count. Second, the impact of DFI in Turkish manufacturing industry is analysed in terms of export, employment, and technology contribution as well as the comparative behaviour of domestic and DFI firms. In addition to various data sets, the study utilized the results collected from two separate surveys that were implemented to domestic and DFI firms operating in Turkish manufacturing industry. Firstly, it turned out that the failure of Turkish economy in attracting high inflows of DFI cannot be attributed to investment climate problems, as the experiences of other developing countries have shown. Secondly, there does not seem to be a significant difference between the performances of domestic and DFI firms. While DFI seemed to contribute positively to exports, insufficient contribution of DFI on employment and negative balance of payments effects as well as the lack of its contribution in terms of research and development and innovative activities were also notable. Then, the study argues that rather than focusing solely on improvements in investment climate and liberalizing eagerly the development regime, it seems more appropriate to have a broad development strategy, in which both domestic investment and DFI are handled in an integrated approach, within the framework of appropriate industrial, trade and technology policies.

Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk., 2004.

This study explores the factors that affect the corporate sustainability behaviour of UK manufacturing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). To date, SMEs have been reported as being generally reluctant to engage in corporate sustainability activities. However, due to their significant negative environmental impacts, volume, and the contributions they make to economic growth and stability, no meaningful progress can be made towards corporate sustainability without SMEs’ involvement. As extant literature has focused more on the corporate sustainability activities of large or multinational companies with limited focus on SMEs, this study contributes to addressing this gap by adopting an SME perspective to exploring the factors affecting their corporate sustainability behaviour. The study was conducted as a qualitative study and data was collected through semi-structured interviews with a total of forty SME owner-managers from manufacturing companies in the South-East region of the UK and a focus group conducted with an additional twelve SME owner-managers from the same sector and region. Based on the study’s findings and an elaboration of the Responsible Environmental Behaviour (REB) framework, a framework for exploring the factors affecting SMEs’ corporate sustainability behaviour was developed. This framework suggests that SME Capacity Building in the form of information on corporate sustainability issues as they relate to SMEs, action strategies they can employ for corporate sustainability and transparency of the corporate sustainability business case, as well as Organisational Attitude, Stakeholder Influence and Resource Constraints are the main factors affecting UK manufacturing SMEs’ corporate sustainability behaviour.

The socioeconomic impact of industrial activity on the women of Mazahua: The case of Municipio de IxtlahuacaThe objective of this paper is to reveal the socioeconomic impact of industrial activity on women at the Municipio de Ixtlahuaca, State of México.The manufacturing industry at the State of Mexico by the end of 2009 represented 16.6% of the total population occupied, of which men participated with 66.9% and women with the 33.1%. The industrial activity loses importance in the percentage redistribution of the occupied population by economic sectors, where commerce and services gain importance.Notwithstanding, the economic dynamics of the region continues being determined by the industrial sector. If it is true that job increment in the industrial activity is at fewer rates than the others in the tertiary sector, the job market on industrial activities continues incrementing in much due to the women participation.Since the 1990s the interregional labor markets are increasing, and the modern industry maintains its leadership in the accumulation process in the region. Since then, the productive heterogeneity deepens, that is, the breach between the globalized industry and the rest of it is widest. The Toluca-Lerma region and the nearby municipalities are sites where modernization processes or productive restructuring have been implemented, and the installation of industrial capital with new interregional mobility to give way and control new regional labor markets, is made by the strategy of productive fractioning.At the Ixtlahuaca Municipality the manufacturing activity is relatively recent. Viewing the women labor from the perspective of activity sectors, they have some spaces in the industrial sector. Here we examine the repercussions of socioeconomic changes occurred from the 1990s on, where there was a period of economic restructuring and openness. The analysis based on economic censuses is clear to indicate the role of industry in providing employment by incrementing the participation of women / El objetivo del trabajo es revelar el impacto socioeconómico de la actividad industrial en la población femenina del municipio de Ixtlahuaca, Estado de México.La industria manufacturera del Estado de México representó a fines del 2009 el 16,6% de la población ocupada de la entidad federativa, en la que participaron los hombres con el 66,9% y las mujeres con el 33,1% de la población ahí ocupada. La actividad industrial pierde importancia en lo que se refiere a la redistribución porcentual por sector económico de la población ocupada, donde ganan terreno el comercio y los servicios. No obstante, la dinámica económica de la región sigue estando determinada por el sector industrial. Si bien el crecimiento del empleo en la actividad industrial se produce a un ritmo menor comparado con el que presentan las actividades del sector terciario, los mercados de trabajo industriales siguen aumentando ahora con el incremento de la participación de las mujeres.Desde los años noventa crecen los mercados de trabajo interregionales, donde la industria moderna mantiene el liderazgo del proceso de acumulación de la zona. A partir de entonces se profundiza la heterogeneidad productiva, es decir, se ahonda la brecha entre la industria globalizada y el resto de la industria. La región Toluca-Lerma y los municipios aledaños constituyen un espacio donde se han instrumentado procesos de modernización o de reestructuración productiva e instalación de capitales industriales con nueva movilidad interregional, conformando y controlando nuevos mercados de trabajo regionales mediante la estrategia del fraccionamiento productivo.En el municipio de Ixtlahuaca la actividad de la industria manufacturera es relativamente reciente. Visto el trabajo femenino desde la perspectiva de los sectores de actividad, las mujeres cuentan con algunos espacios en el sector industrial. Examinamos las repercusiones de los cambios socioeconómicos ocurridos a partir de los años noventa, etapa de reestructuración económica y apertura. El análisis basado en los censos económicos es claro al señalar el papel de la industria en la generación de empleos con el incremento de la participación de las mujeres en dicho sector.

There are modernizations or productive re-structuring processes in the Mexican industrial sector, with changes in labour relations and new profiles in labour force. The new industrial logic is underlined by the workers characteristics and labour market, that is, it appears linked to local specifications, some times important, such as the growing labour insertion of rural otomí women from the nearby municipios to the factories, mainly in the textile, food and export maquila sectors, that attend works with great flexibility. This condition forces us to reconsider the insertion of labour strategies of rural families in the State of Mexico. / En el sector industrial mexiquense se han instrumentado procesos de modernización o de reestructuración productiva con cambio en las relaciones laborales y nuevo perfil de la fuerza de trabajo. La nueva lógica industrial se ve matizada por características de los trabajadores y del mercado de trabajo, es decir, aparece vinculada a especificidades locales a veces importantes, como la creciente inserción laboral de la mano de obra femenina en la manufactura y la amplia flexibilización de las relaciones laborales. La presencia de mujeres en la industria se vincula al traslado al mundo productivo de mujeres de origen rural, otomí, de los municipios colindantes a las fábricas, principalmente a los sectores textil, alimentos y maquila de exportación, que deben hacer frente a trabajos con alto grado de flexibilidad, situación que obliga a reconsiderar las estrategias de inserción laboral de familias rurales del estado de México.

This diploma thesis is focusing on analysis of indebtedness and productivity at company level. The main aim is to analyse these two variables and find their relationship. The thesis is divided into two main parts, theoretical and practical. The theoretical part includes information about indebtedness and productivity issues, whereas the practi-cal part is focusing on analysing of these two variables and finding their relationship. It is focused on companies producing furniture. In the introduction of the practical part is a characteristics of furniture manufacturing industry according to the CZ-NACE and a summarization from a macroeconomic perspective. These companies are than cate-gorized by their size into micro, small, medium and large companies. The following chapters are aimed on a produc-tivity and indebtedness analysis according to each category and on analysis of their relationship. The last chapter is aimed on hypothesis that is supposed to find out, if the companies, that have long-term asset and indebtedness growth, have also a productivity growth. The conclusion includes a summary of all the analysis. According to the analysis was found out, that in some small groups of companies exist a significant relationship between productivity and indebted-ness. It is mainly about a medium and large companies.

A indústria de transformação brasileira recebeu rigorosos apoios públicos com a reintrodução da política industrial na década de 2000, através da Política Industrial Tecnológica e de Comércio Exterior – PITCE – (2003) e, posteriormente da Política de Desenvolvimento Produtiva – PDP – (2008). No entanto, a queda da produtividade – que sinaliza diminuição do produto por trabalhador, encarecimento dos bens produzidos e, assim, perda de competitividade – vai de encontro aos objetivos daquelas políticas, que propunham aumento da escala produtiva, ampliação da inovação privada e incremento da competitividade da indústria doméstica no mercado internacional. Perante o desse decrescimento desse indicador, propôs-se investigar se algum mecanismo econômico operou na relação entre política industrial e produtividade ou se as políticas introduzidas nesse recorte de tempo falharam. Para tanto, foram utilizados dados sobre incentivo público, emprego, produção e inovação, e foi proposto um modelo que relaciona a introdução de uma política industrial com a produtividade do trabalho, a qual teve sua variação calculada através da técnica shift-share. Concluiu-se que o decrescimento da produtividade ocorreu em uma fase de transição, da ausência para a presença de política, na qual a variação dos custos ampliou-se mais do que a da produção. Na fase de plena utilização dos benefícios da política industrial pelas firmas houve aumento da produtividade, e a oscilação da produção superou a de custo. / Brazil’s Manufacturing Industry has received considerable amounts of public resources since the issuing of the industrial policies in the 2000’s, through PITCE1 (2003), and PDP2 (2008). However, the decrease of productivity – which implies reduction on the quantity of products made by worker, inflation on the goods produced, therefore, loss of competitiveness – goes against the goals of such policies, which aimed at enhancing the production scale, expanding private innovation, and increasing competitiveness of the national industry in the international market. In the face of such negative factors, this research sought to investigate whether there had been an economic agent on the association of industrial policy and productivity or the policies applied during this period just failed. In order to explain this, data has been used, relating to public incentives, employment, production and innovation, and a model has been suggested, in which its variables were calculated through the shift-share technique. It can be inferred that the decrease of productivity occurred during a transition period, in which the variation of costs grew higher than the production one. On the stage in which the firms benefitted from the policy, the swing of production surpassed the costs, thus, enhancing the productivity.

Manufacturing companies are currently going through exciting times. Technological developments follow each other up in high pace and many opportunities occur for companies to be smarter than their competitors. The disruptive notion of these developments is so big that people talk about a new, fourth, industrial revolution. This industrial revolution, that is being characterized and driven by seven drivers is called industry 4.0. The popularity of this industrial revolution is seemingly apparent everywhere and is being described, by some, as “manufacturing its next act”. Even though this sounds promising and applicable to every company, the practical consequences and feasibility are, most of the times, being overlooked. Especially a theoretical foundation on differences in feasibility between small and medium - sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms is missing. In this thesis, we are going to take the reader through a journey that will help readers understand the positioning and perspective of firms regarding industry 4.0 and eventually the practical effects of industry 4.0 on business models of manufacturing firms will be presented. This research provides enough clarity on the topic to answer the follow research questions. This thesis aims to fill the gap in available research in which business model change is being linked to industry 4.0. Due to the novelty of industry 4.0 few researches on the practical effects are not yet fully explored in the literature. Business models, a more traditional area of research, has not yet touched upon the effects industry 4.0 has on the business models of company. Our purpose is to combine these two topics and provide both SMEs and large firms an overview on what the effects of industry 4.0 are in practice. Furthermore, the perspectives and positioning of our sample firms can provide clarity for potential implementers, since wide range of participants provide different insights on the topic and therefore give clarity on the practical use of industry 4.0. During this, the researchers, by converting observations and findings into theory, follow an inductive approach. The study uses a qualitative design and semi-structured interviews has been conducted to collect the data. Our sample firms consist of both SMEs and large firms and are all located within Europe. The researchers found that there are some key differences in the positivity on industry 4.0 between the academic and business world. Companies might be highly automated and have implemented some of the drivers of industry 4.0, but the definition itself is not popular. Where some of our sample firms are convinced industry 4.0 is the new way of working, most of them are using the technologies simply because it is the best in the market and helps them to follow their strategy. Industry 4.0 can be seen as an interesting tool for firms to become smarter and achieve better results, but not at all costs. Especially for SMEs implementing industry 4.0 should not be the sole goal of the company, since it is decided by many factors whether or not industry 4.0 will succeed in the company. In terms of business models, industry 4.0 causes many changes. The role of industry 4.0 can be seen as an enabler for change, rather than the reason to build a business model around. / Social science; Business Administratiom