Thesis-2001-Chan.pdf (29.42 MB)
Configurations in manufacturing planning and control (MPC) systems: manufacturing environment perspective
thesis
posted on 2010-12-06, 09:58 authored by Wai Kuen ChanThe 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.
History
School
- Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
Publisher
© Chan Wai KuenPublication date
2001Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.EThOS Persistent ID
uk.bl.ethos.392379Language
- en