Dimensions Of Agility Research Articles

A fuzzy QFD approach to achieve agility

In modern business environments, agility is advocated as the fundamental characteristics for competitiveness. Little research, however, exists which provides integrated methodologies suitable to be practically adopted to enhance agility of companies. This paper presents an original approach, which, by linking competitive bases, agile attributes and agile enablers, aims at identifying the most appropriate enablers to be implemented by companies starting from competitive characteristics of the related market. The approach is based on the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology, and, in particular, on the house of quality (HOQ), which has been successfully adopted in the new product development field. The whole scaffold exploits fuzzy logic, to translate linguistics judgements required for relationships and correlations matrixes into numerical values. An illustrative example, grounded on data available in literature, is proposed and discussed to show the application of the tool developed.

Supplier Selection in an Agile Supply Chain Environment using Fuzzy Axiomatic Design Approach

Abstract In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the design and implementation of agile supply chains (ASCs). Competitive ASCs requires suppliers to also demonstrate agile attributes. Therefore, maximum benefit will be attained from ASC if each company of the chain can identify suitable agile suppliers. This paper proposes to use an analytical model, more precisely an axiomatic design based fuzzy group decision making approach, in order to support the effective evaluation of ASC suppliers. The applicability of the proposed approach is verified through a case study.

Supplier selection in an agile manufacturing environment using Data Envelopment Analysis and Analytical Network Process

Supplier selection is one of the most important activities of organisations, where the short- and long term success of a buyer's organisation depends upon proper selection of its suppliers. The current competitive environment has placed increasing competitive pressures on suppliers to match the needs of buyer(s) in terms of quantity, quality, product mix, cost, time and place of delivery, to name a few performance measures. The focus on competitive supply chains and extended enterprises requires the adoption of agile manufacturing practices requiring their suppliers to have agile attributes. This study designs and implements a procedure for judging the suitability of suppliers for an organisation competing on agile manufacturing characteristics. Quantitative and qualitative factors are used to appraise and select appropriate suppliers to fit within an organisation's agility practices. In seeking to achieve this task, the synergistic integration of two techniques, the Analytical Network Process (ANP) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is applied in a multi-phased supplier selection approach. Initially, ANP is executed to appraise suppliers on their qualitative benefits, generating quantitative data from these qualitative dimensions. Secondly, DEA is used to synthesise the data to arrive at a ranking of the suppliers. The technique is validated in a small company case study.

Agility and Discipline: Critical Success Factors for Disaster Response

For more than thirty years, the U.S. emergency management community has been increasing its ability to structure, control, and manage a large response. The result of this evolution is a National Response System based on the National Response Plan and the National Incident Management System that is perceived to have failed in the response to Hurricane Katrina. Over the same period, social scientists and other disaster researchers have been documenting and describing the nonstructural factors such as improvisation, adaptability, and creativity that are critical to coordination, collaboration, and communication and to successful problem solving. This article argues that these two streams of thought are not in opposition, but form orthogonal dimensions of discipline and agility that must both be achieved. The critical success factors that must be met to prepare for and respond to an extreme event are described, and an organizational typology is developed.

Strategic decisions in supply‐chain intelligence using knowledge management: an analytic‐network‐process framework

PurposeTo investigate the linkage between organization performance criteria and the dimensions of agility, e‐supply‐chain drivers and knowledge management.Design/methodology/approachThe analytic network process is applied as the research methodology in the context of executive decisions that include qualitative and quantitative attributes. The decision model is presented, along with a case study with an e‐supply chain of a global telecommunications company.FindingsThe study develops a framework for measuring the relative importance of a particular dimension based on the application of theoretical concepts from the information systems and management science literature to the digital, knowledge economy. Since contextual factors play a critical role in the design of effective knowledge‐management (KM) systems, technical and process solutions need to be customized to fit the organization performance criteria, dimensions of agility and supply chain drivers.Research limitations/implicationsThe model presented is dependent on the perceptual weightings provided by the decision‐maker and the generalizability of findings based on our model to other organizations may be limited.Practical implicationsThis paper addresses the need for a strategic decision‐making tool to assist management in determining which knowledge management construct is most beneficial in the development of an agile supply chain.Originality/valueThis paper fulfils an identified information need and offers practical help in a dynamic and competitive environment by providing a decision model that assists in determining which construct of KM is most important based on an organization's performance criteria, dimensions of agility and supply‐chain drivers.

The effects of agile attributes on competitive priorities: a neural network approach

Considering the significance of organisational attributes and competitiveness, it is necessary to explore how the attributes affect enterprise competitive capabilities. This paper intends to identify the dominant and critical attributes with the greatest influence on each priority. The present research intends to identify the potential for the use of a neural network in the area where statistical modelling approaches have traditionally been used. A method of artificial neural network (ANN) has been proposed. For the ANN, capability of a multi‐layer perceptron with back propagation algorithm is made use of. The proposed network configured can detect, classify and estimate the extent of effects of agile attributes on competitive capabilities. The potential of the above approach is illustrated with an empirical study to show that a neural network approach is a very promising tool for the manufacturing enterprise design.

Contributions of Speed, Agility and Body Composition to Anaerobic Power Measurement in College Football Players

ABSTRACT Fifty-three football players were evaluated to determine the contributions of speed, agility and body composition to anaerobic power output. Speed was evaluated from the 10- and 40-yard dashes. Agility was measured from a specifically designed pattern requiring change of direction. Body composition was estimated from skinfolds using general and sports-specific equations. Power was determined from the Margaria-Kalamen stair run test. Body weight made the biggest contribution to power estimation (r = 0.82). Ten-yard dash speed (r = 0.16) and agility (r = 0.21) made only minor contributions to power output; however, when the effect of body weight was removed statistically, faster (r = −0.54) and more agile (r = −0.31) players produced greater power outputs. The relationship between strength, as measured from the bench press, and power (r = 0.68) was reduced substantially when controlled for the effect of body weight (r = 0.33). Multiple regression analysis indicated that body size and speed were the major contributing factors to power production. Factor analysis isolated size/strength/power, speed/fat and agility dimensions, further illustrating the independence of these fundamental characteristics among football players. The Margaria-Kalamen power test appeared to be related to size and strength in college football players, moderately dependent on speed and relatively unrelated to agility.