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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - On the integration of manufacturing strategy
T2 - Deconstructing Hoshin Kanri
AU - Thurer, Matthias
AU - Fredendall, Lawrence
AU - Gianiodis, Peter
AU - Maschek, Thomas
AU - Deuse, J.
AU - Stevenson, Mark
N1 - This article is (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
PY - 2018/11/22
Y1 - 2018/11/22
N2 - PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show that Hoshin Kanri has the potential to integrate the operations strategy literature into a coherent structure. Hoshin Kanri’s planning process is typically described as a top-down cascading of goals, starting with the senior management’s goals and moving to the lowest organizational level. The authors argue that this misrepresents a firm’s actual cognitive processes in practice because it implies reasoning from the effects to the cause, and assumes a direct causal relationship between what the customer wants and what is realizable by the system.Design/methodology/approachThis study is conceptual, based on abductive reasoning and the literature.FindingsThe actual strategic thought process executed in an organization consists of three iterative processes: (i) a translation process that derives the desired customer attributes from customer/stakeholder data, (ii) a process of causal inference that predicts realizable customer attributes from a possible system design and (iii) an integrative process of strategic choices whereby (i) and (ii) are aligned. Each element relies on different cognitive processes (logical relation, causal relation and choice).Research limitations/implicationsBy aligning the thought and planning processes, the competing concepts of manufacturing strategy are integrated into a coherent structure.Practical implicationsDifferent techniques have to be applied for each of the three elements. As each element relies on different cognitive processes (logical relation, causal relation and choice), the use of unifying tools (e.g. in the form of matrices, as often presented in the literature) is inappropriate.Originality/valueThis is the first study to focus on the thought processes underpinning manufacturing strategy.
AB - PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show that Hoshin Kanri has the potential to integrate the operations strategy literature into a coherent structure. Hoshin Kanri’s planning process is typically described as a top-down cascading of goals, starting with the senior management’s goals and moving to the lowest organizational level. The authors argue that this misrepresents a firm’s actual cognitive processes in practice because it implies reasoning from the effects to the cause, and assumes a direct causal relationship between what the customer wants and what is realizable by the system.Design/methodology/approachThis study is conceptual, based on abductive reasoning and the literature.FindingsThe actual strategic thought process executed in an organization consists of three iterative processes: (i) a translation process that derives the desired customer attributes from customer/stakeholder data, (ii) a process of causal inference that predicts realizable customer attributes from a possible system design and (iii) an integrative process of strategic choices whereby (i) and (ii) are aligned. Each element relies on different cognitive processes (logical relation, causal relation and choice).Research limitations/implicationsBy aligning the thought and planning processes, the competing concepts of manufacturing strategy are integrated into a coherent structure.Practical implicationsDifferent techniques have to be applied for each of the three elements. As each element relies on different cognitive processes (logical relation, causal relation and choice), the use of unifying tools (e.g. in the form of matrices, as often presented in the literature) is inappropriate.Originality/valueThis is the first study to focus on the thought processes underpinning manufacturing strategy.
KW - Strategic decisions
KW - Hoshin Kanri
KW - Strategic management and leadership
KW - Operations strategy
KW - Manufacturing strategy
KW - Strategy deployment
KW - Trade-offs
U2 - 10.1108/MRR-04-2018-0178
DO - 10.1108/MRR-04-2018-0178
M3 - Journal article
JO - Management Research Review
JF - Management Research Review
SN - 2040-8269
ER -