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The right manufacturing strategy is vital to maintaining profitability and running an efficient business. Manufacturing, however, is a complex business, and it is often difficult to know where to start when reviewing and developing long term strategic plans. This industry guide explains in clear, simple stages how to review your current processes and procedures, and how to build on this information to develop, present and implement new manufacturing strategies. Based on a uniquely structured approach developed over many years with major industry clients, including Rolls-Royce and Federal Mogul, its holistic approach can be applied to every area of operations from the entire organization down to individual business units or processes. CD included.

Building on the introduction provided in Competitive Manufacturing, this workbook offers a structured approach to manufacturing strategy to help managers focus on long-term business planning and take a pro-active stance to managing their own business.

The right manufacturing strategy is vital to maintaining profitability and running an efficient business. Manufacturing, however, is a complex business, and it is often difficult to know where to start when reviewing and developing long term strategic plans. This industry guide explains in clear, simple stages how to review your current processes and procedures, and how to build on this information to develop, present and implement new manufacturing strategies. Based on a uniquely structured approach developed over many years with major industry clients, including Rolls-Royce and Federal Mogul, its holistic approach can be applied to every area of operations from the entire organization down to individual business units or processes. CD included.

The complex issues faced by management researchers can be described in many ways. However, this richness and variety can lead to a confusion of language. The paper confronts this issue by discussing the manner in which complex management concepts can be represented and approached. It proposes definitions for various related terms: paradigm, system, framework, map, model, process, procedure, technique, and tool. These definitions are presented from the perspective of manufacturing systems management, although they may be widely applicable in other fields. Dimensions for classifying and relating these definitions are identified based on a number of key characteristics. The forthcoming second part of this paper focuses on the development and validation of frameworks, as they play a central role in the research of management issues.

University spin-out (USO) companies play an increasingly important role in generating value from radical, generic technologies, but this translation requires significant resources from other players to reach the market. Seven case studies illuminate how relationships with each type of partner can be leveraged to help the firm create value. We find that most firms in the sample are aware of the importance of corporate partners and actively seek to cultivate these relationships, but may not be taking full advantage of the resources available through nonparent academic institutions and other USOs with similar or complementary technologies.