International Operations Management Research Articles

INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

International Operations Management in India is becoming an increasingly important aspect in today's global business era. India, as one of the largest economies in the world, offers significant business opportunities for international companies. However, managing business operations in India also presents various challenges that need to be overcome. In facing this challenge, companies must adopt an effective strategy. The strategy includes local customization, deep understanding of the Indian market, development of local partnerships and the use of advanced information technology. In addition, it is also important to build good relations with the government, business partners and the local community. Through implementing the right strategy, companies can optimize their business operations in India. This includes efficiency in the supply chain, product and service quality improvement, product innovation relevant to the Indian market, and adaptation to consumer needs and local preferences. Management of international operations in India is a complex challenge but also offers great opportunities for companies. In dealing with these problems and optimizing the potential of the Indian market, companies need to adopt strategies that are adaptive, innovative and sustainable. Thus, companies can successfully manage their international business operations in India and gain a competitive advantage in this dynamic market. Management of international operations in India is a complex challenge but also offers great opportunities for companies. In dealing with these problems and optimizing the potential of the Indian market, companies need to adopt strategies that are adaptive, innovative and sustainable. Thus, companies can successfully manage their international business operations in India and gain a competitive advantage in this dynamic market. Management of international operations in India is a complex challenge but also offers great opportunities for companies. In dealing with these problems and optimizing the potential of the Indian market, companies need to adopt strategies that are adaptive, innovative and sustainable. Thus, companies can successfully manage their international business operations in India and gain a competitive advantage in this dynamic market.

Impact of the U.S.–China trade war on the operating performance of U.S. firms: The role of outsourcing and supply base complexity

AbstractMultinational corporations have benefited tremendously from free trade in the past few decades. However, the dynamism of international relations, paired with the global recession, has rekindled the debate over frictionless trade. In this study, we examine how trade friction, created by tariff trade barriers, affects the operational performance of domestic firms which source from the affected countries. We also investigate how various supply chain characteristics and strategies can moderate the impact of such trade friction. Motivated by the 2018 U.S.–China trade war, we conducted a difference‐in‐difference analysis to examine the impact of trade tariffs on performance indicators of U.S. firms with direct supplier connections in China. Specifically, we found that U.S. firms with direct supply partners (i.e., first‐tier suppliers) in China had a worse performance than the U.S. firms without direct supply partners in China in terms of inventory (i.e., days of supply) and profitability (return‐on‐assets). We further found that the negative impacts were more severe for firms with a higher degree of outsourcing, and horizontal and spatial supply base complexity. We discuss the implications for international operations management, supply chain networks, supply risk management, and provide suggestions to supply chain practitioners and trade policymakers.

Unlocking the value of artificial intelligence in human resource management through AI capability framework

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly adopted within Human Resource management (HRM) due to its potential to create value for consumers, employees, and organisations. However, recent studies have found that organisations are yet to experience the anticipated benefits from AI adoption, despite investing time, effort, and resources. The existing studies in HRM have examined the applications of AI, anticipated benefits, and its impact on human workforce and organisations. The aim of this paper is to systematically review the multi-disciplinary literature stemming from International Business, Information Management, Operations Management, General Management and HRM to provide a comprehensive and objective understanding of the organisational resources required to develop AI capability in HRM. Our findings show that organisations need to look beyond technical resources, and put their emphasis on developing non-technical ones such as human skills and competencies, leadership, team co-ordination, organisational culture and innovation mindset, governance strategy, and AI-employee integration strategies, to benefit from AI adoption. Based on these findings, we contribute five research propositions to advance AI scholarship in HRM. Theoretically, we identify the organisational resources necessary to achieve business benefits by proposing the AI capability framework, integrating resource-based view and knowledge-based view theories. From a practitioner’s standpoint, our framework offers a systematic way for the managers to objectively self-assess organisational readiness and develop strategies to adopt and implement AI-enabled practices and processes in HRM.

Towards the Digitally-Enabled Multinational Inner Network (DEMIN)

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the advancement of International Operations Management in the digital era. Theories and models that address how multinationals organize international operations were generated in the 1990s, a time when Kasra Ferdows wrote his HBR’s seminal article “Making the Most of Foreign Factories”. Despite the critiques, that simple and insightful model, a fruit of Ferdows’ experience, remains as paradigm but must now be updated to become aligned to the features of the digital world. In this theory-building paper, we disclose how Digital Transformation will change the location, coordination, and role of the organizational units that constitute the multinational’s inner international network (IIN). We first synthesize the digital trends into three statements that are contrasted with the assumptions of Ferdows’ model, leading to a new taxonomy. We then display pieces of evidence collected from the recent literature in different management fields. This article brings new perspectives for the understanding of how multinationals reorganize their operations, now and in the future, in times of deglobalization accelerated by pandemics.

Disseminative capabilities and manufacturing plant roles in the knowledge network of MNCs

Manufacturing plants operating within the international manufacturing network (IMN) of a multinational company (MNC) frequently participate in the intra-company creation and distribution of knowledge, thereby contributing to the competitive advantage of the whole company and at the same time strengthening their own position within the MNC. International business and operations management literature suggests that plants taking up a knowledge-sending role within their IMN have a stronger position within the company. Nevertheless, literature offers little guidance on how to become a knowledge disseminator within the IMN.This article proposes to fill an important gap in the literature related to the concept of disseminative capacity, aiming (1) to explore how the knowledge-sending and knowledge-receiving roles of manufacturing plants can be assessed in an IMN context, and (2) to identify the capabilities needed for a plant to become a knowledge-sending unit within the IMN. To reach this objective, thirteen case studies were analyzed involving plants in four different countries.Results from the case studies show that (1) manufacturing plants can be positioned along a continuum from predominantly knowledge-receiving to predominantly knowledge-sending units, with multiple intermediary positions coexisting; (2) several plants have a strategic intent to change their positions, moving mainly along this continuum towards a higher intensity of knowledge-sending roles; (3) three elements are identified as necessary preconditions to develop disseminative capabilities, namely a knowledge-sharing-oriented organizational culture, incentive systems and organizational structures that reward knowledge sharing, and the intensity of inter-plant human interactions.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Humanitarian Organizations in Disaster Response

Not only do the authors in this special issue address three different problems humanitarian organizations could encounter while doing their job, they also show that each problem is characterized by a need to find balance. A balance between security and the speedy deliverance of aid; a balance between what is needed, what can be asked for and what can be processed; and a balance between humanitarian norms and values and professional conduct when facing regulations that go against the grain of humanitarian aid. Though no solution has yet been found for any of the problems, the articles show the diverse ways in which humanitarian aid workers try to find a balance. That in and by itself could be helpful for humanitarian aid workers when they discuss and decide on how to deal with these issues.

The influence of triple bottom line on international operations management

This paper takes a triple bottom line perspective to analyze how the international operations literature integrates economic, social, and environmental issues. Additionally, it shows the main drivers of and barriers to the adoption of triple bottom line practices by companies in an international context. We conducted a literature review in English language journals which publish research of production and operations management and sustainability, resulting in a final sample of 29 papers. Results show that social and legal pressure for companies to adopt a responsible behavior prompts an isomorphic process that leads them to conduct their operations on behalf of triple bottom line goals. Behavioral differences between spin-offs in various countries caused institutions to create mechanisms that can press and change private standards through regulation and enforcement. There is room for progress in studies that seek to analyze the company’s relationships in its international experience and its multi-institutional relations.

INFORMATION SUPPORT OF MANAGEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS

The article summarizes the constituent elements of the information provision of management of international operations. The key problems faced by enterprises in implementation of international activities under the conditions of instability of economic and political processes were identified

Research in global operations management: some highlights and potential future trends

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to shortly overview the research in international operations management (OM), to provide background to the papers published in this special section.Design/methodology/approachAs a literature review, the paper investigates the past, present, and future of international OM. It is not a systematic review; the paper just highlights the most important international operational management research networks, streams and concepts in the field.FindingsThe paper finds that there is a time lag in the field of international OM compared to other research areas within international business and management. It provides some ideas for the future to be researched.Originality/valueThe paper gives a focused review on international research networks which has not been done before. It also identifies two different streams of researches in international OM: the stream investigating OM differences among geographical areas, and the stream dealing with issues of international manufacturing networks.

Developing an analytical framework for study of emerging country multinationals’ operations management

The rise of emerging country multinationals (EMNEs) is opening new perspectives for the study of international operations management (IOM). Research may address issues which are inexistent when the object of study is long-established developed country multinationals (DMNEs). One of the issues that may be noticed, and will be studied in this article, has to do with the design and implementation of new international operations networks. In contrast to DMNEs, internationalisation of EMNEs is strongly influenced by two further factors: country-of-origin effects and role in global production networks. Therefore, studies of EMNEs’ international operations networks must embrace two other analytical levels besides the network level: the strategic level of the headquarters and the operational level of the subsidiaries. The analytical framework in this study has been developed through the use of constructs and concepts from both IOM and international business literatures. Such framework applied to three Brazilian multinationals leads to relevant insights on the internationalisation of EMNEs as well as the design and implementation of international operations networks for such late-moving firms.

Does the Institutional Context Shape International Operations Strategy? Country-Level Analysis

Recent literature has proposed that institutions play a pivotal role in corporate andbusiness strategies. We argue that this role holds for manufacturing strategy as well. Despite extensiveliterature regarding international operations management (OM), few studies verify how importantvariables in OM vary across different institutional contexts. This scarcity of comparative crosscountryresearch reveals an important gap both for research and practice. In this paper we addressthis gap by providing a data analysis of a recent survey collected in Canada and Brazil. We replicateand extend previous research by comparing important variables of manufacturing strategy in thesetwo institutional contexts such as knowledge exchange, green process management, environmentalsupplier management and the traditional manufacturing performance dimensions.DOI: 10.12660/joscmv6n1p106-121URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.12660/joscmv6n1p106-121

Performance measurement systems: A consensual analysis of their roles

Competitive pressures and advances in product and process technologies challenge performance management systems in terms of their design and their strategic and operational use. Understanding the roles of such systems is a first step in developing and employing the appropriate system capabilities and functions. This paper first identifies the roles a performance measurement system can perform. A synthesis is then used to capture expert views through interviews and a Delphi exercise. Twenty international operations management experts participated in the study—eleven academics and nine industry professionals. The study resulted in a refined list of proposed roles of performance measurement systems from the existing operations literature. The findings from the study show that continuous improvement, organisational learning and change management are new elements that characterise the refined measurement system roles, and that the appropriate PMS roles are contingent on design recommendations. The study provides insights for the design, management and use of PMS in organisations.

Organisational design alternatives within international operations networks: a transaction cost perspective

This paper shows, through multiple case studies of Moroccan textile apparel offshore factories, that one organisational design does not fit all within international operations networks. Whereas previous research about managing networks of foreign factories has focused on fully owned production affiliates, a considerable diversity of organisational arrangements is shown to exist. Analysed in the light of transaction cost theory, this diversity suggests that the cost of coordination of foreign factories operating in culturally different countries is high, and has possibly been overlooked in international operations management research. As this paper is primarily a piece of exploratory research, its aim is to document the hybrid arrangements, between markets and hierarchies, that are used by multinationals to cope with coordination costs in practice. Moreover, the potential of 'supply chain outposts', as an organisational innovation used to cope with high coordination requirements, is highlighted.

Modeling National Identities and Cultural Change

This article examines cultural change in the triad regions, Japan, the United States, and Western Europe. In doing so it attempts to respond to calls to incorporate contextual and temporal factors in the analysis of national culture and their implications for the management of international operations. A four-stage model of development is proposed, derived in dialogue with conceptualizations from anthropology and sociology and with the specialist literature on nationalism. Created by narrow elites over the 19th century, the national cultures of the triad became arenas of violent confrontation in the early twentieth century, and then fragmented into a postmodern diversity in the generation following the Second World War. These tensions reflect broader processes of development that have transformed culture, especially the global forces of rising incomes, rising educational levels, and expansion of the public sphere. In the triad regions these processes have led through a series of stages to a world where individuals choose their own culture. The model therefore predicts in broad outline the likely course of development in emerging nations. The concluding section outlines some possible directions of development and implications for researchers and practitioners.

Barriers and success factors in the management of international operations: Mexico and China overview

This study provides answers to a number of important questions of value to businesses deciding to locate manufacturing operations in China and/or Mexico. One aspect of the analysis involves highlighting comparative advantages and disadvantages between Mexico and China as possible venues for relocating manufacturing. The analysis also includes an overview of the NAFTA agreement focused on Mexico and the accession of China to the WTO. It also comments briefly on the potential that India has of becoming an attractive low cost country for outsourcing especially operations within the service industry.

The importance of national culture in operations management research

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to test the validity of national culture as an explanatory construct for international operations management decision‐making.Design/methodology/approachNational culture is multi‐dimensional thereby allowing for much finer grained comparisons than are possible when examining differences based purely on geography or the level of industrialization. This proposition is examined from the theoretical standpoint then empirically investigated using an existing database.FindingsThis article finds that national culture significantly explains international operations management behaviors among similar manufacturing plants in the same industry located in different cultures.Originality/valueThis study represents a first attempt at using national culture to explain differences of operations decision‐making.

Globalisation and manufacturing strategy in the TCF industry

PurposeThe textiles, clothing, and footwear (TCF) industry has struggled in Australia since the government commenced dismantling tariffs. By sourcing from Asia, middlemen undercut established suppliers, and retail chains set benchmark low prices with their imported “house” labels. The policy‐makers predicted that local producers would become more efficient, and export to make up for lost sales, but the media paints a picture of rising imports, retrenchments, and factory closures. The research objective was to discover what strategies the survivors (actually) employ in adapting to the pressures of globalisation.Design/methodology/approachMore than 30 companies were involved in the study, ranging from small family businesses to subsidiaries of big multinationals. Each case study was based on an interview with a senior executive, normally followed by a plant tour. This methodology suits a fresh topic, as it avoids preconceptions and imposes no bounds.FindingsResults show that the policy change was based on “pie in the sky” forecasts. Increasingly, TCF production is transferred to cheap offshore locations, generally via subcontracting plus the “badging” of foreign designs. To survive, local factories should focus on quality and customer service, preferably in niche markets (like uniforms), or for specific customer groups, and develop technologically advanced products. A move down the supply chain into retailing can also assist. Large multinational corporations that engage in foreign direct investment dominate the management literature.Originality/valueThis paper presents a different perspective, neglected in international operations management, whereby domestically oriented businesses attempt to defend themselves against the adverse consequences of globalisation.

THE EVOLUTION OF STRATEGIES AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMPETENCIES IN THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY

The aim of this paper is to analyze how competencies are built and strategies are formulated in companies that are part of the international interorganizational networks. The theoretical framework merges concepts from Strategic Management, Resources Based View of the Firm and International Operations Management literature. The paper introduces an analytical model that enables a preliminary assessment of a firm's organizational competencies, starting from the analysis of its product/market configuration and competitive strategy. Based on data about the evolution of the telecommunications industry, a comprehensive picture is drawn consisting of: (i) the modifications in the competitive regime since the beginning of the privatization process, (ii) the strategies followed by Network Operators and Specialized Equipment Suppliers. Empirical evidence comes from field research carried out in the Brazilian Telecommunications industry which, due to its specific characteristics, allows for an assessment of the current situation of the world telecommunications industry. The findings show that there has been a radical shift in the strategic relevance of organizational competencies in the last 10 to 15 years. This led both Network Operators and Specialized Equipment Suppliers to move from strategies based on technology and operations towards strategies based on service delivery.

Financial service firms’ entry‐mode choice and cultural diversity: Spanish companies in Latin America

Emerging markets in newly industrialised countries have caught the attention of managers of manufacturing companies facing heavy domestic and global pressure. Key barriers to the effective management of international manufacturing operations need to be identified. The same applies to the management of international service operations. The share of services in international trade, the amount of foreign direct investments made and the number of multinational service‐sector enterprises has been increasing rapidly in the last two decades. Existing studies on service internationalisation apply a fairly broad theoretical base. This paper contributes by examining the internationalisation behaviour of Spanish financial service‐sector companies in Latin America to find out if general internationalisation patterns are applicable or if the manufacturing sector influences their internationalisation behaviour.

Sustainability, greenhouse gas emissions and international operations management

This paper focuses on the terms of reference of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was drafted to support environmental sustainability through the mitigation of global warming. The paper provides information on the main features of the protocol, especially the commercial incentives for companies in industrialised countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Particular attention is paid to the role of the operations manager and strategist in the selection of processes, plant and equipment to meet these commercial incentives, and the location of industrial facilities under conditions of political and economic uncertainty. The paper demonstrates the importance of the political and economic factors influencing environmental investment decisions, particularly those factors which often lie outside the usual terms of reference of operations managers.