Strategic Perspectives from "America's Best Plants"
Strategic Perspectives in High Performance Manufacturing: Evidence from "America's Best Plants"
This executive seminar presents the results from an empirical study of "America's Best" manufacturing plants. The theoretical perspectives stemming from this study were published by Professor Ram Narasimhan and his coauthors in 2005. In this executive presentation Professor Narasimhan will discuss the practices-performance relationship by examining the central role of strategy integration in linking manufacturing practices to manufacturing performance. Based on the empirical results the presentation will then deduce the implications for manufacturing strategy and present the notion of "capability progression theory".
Some motivating questions to consider are: What does high performance manufacturing mean? What should a firm do if its products are "Sharp S curve products?" What should a firm do if its products are "Slow S curve products?". Recognizing these contextual differences is important if firms are to succeed in their manufacturing practice implementations. Other interesting questions to consider are: should allof the best practices be followed in order to derive performance benefits? Which best practices are related to which aspects of performance? How, why and when should a firm choose a subset of these practices in pursuit of specific performance gains?
Drawing upon this discussion, the seminar will discuss the implications for manufacturing strategy and consider questions such as: do manufacturing strategic initiatives have a standard meaning? How should firms strive to achieve high performance manufacturing? Is there a transitional progression? Or can a firm transition to high performance manufacturing in one big thrust? How do these issues relate to the ressource based (RBV) view of the firm? In this seminar we will explore these important and interesting questions. Specific strategic paths will be identified for different contexts. The seminar will conclude with a dialogue and discussion involving the participants.
Program |
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12.00 – 12.15 |
Registration |
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12.15 – 13.00 |
Presentation by Dr. Ram Narasimhan |
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13.00 – 13.15 |
Break |
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13.15 – 14.00 |
Presentation by Dr. Ram Narasimhan |
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14.00 – 14.30 |
Sandwiches, refreshments and networking |
Brief Biography of Ram Narasimhan
Dr. Ram Narasimhan is a University Distinguished Professor and Professor of Operations Management in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain management in the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management. Broad School MBA was recently ranked among the “Best Business Schools of 2006” and the supply chain department was awarded America´s Best in 2006.
He heads the Operations and Sourcing Management Group. He is a recognized leader, researcher and scholar in Operations and Sourcing Management, having published over 100 research papers in peer-reviewed, academic journals. He has published in Management Science, Journal of Operations Management, Decision Sciences Journal, European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Supply Chain Management, Journal of Business Logistics, IEE Transactions on Engineering, International Journal of Production Research, International Journal of Operations and Production Management and other refereed journals.
Dr. Narasimhan has been a visiting scholar, and has lectured in executive seminars and conducted research in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and other countries. Dr. Narasimhan was recently recognized by Michigan State University which awarded him the "Distinguished Faculty Award" for his outstanding scholarly contributions.