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Indian
Manufacturing Industry: An Analysis using Cobb-Douglas Production
Function
--
Sanjay Fuloria
This
paper estimates production functions using the data on the
companies in the Indian Manufacturing Industry. It assesses
whether the top 50 Indian manufacturing companies are different
in productivity than Small Manufacturing Companies, Private
Foreign Companies, Privately-held Indian Companies, NRI-held
Companies and Foreign Group Companies in the manufacturing
sector. It also deals with the productivity of all the companies
in the manufacturing sector. The results indicate that in
the NRI-held Companies and Foreign Group Companies the labor
variable is statistically insignificant showing that such
companies are largely automated, thus reducing the need for
labor. The paper employs multiple regression methodology.
The Cobb-Douglas Production Function has been used to test
the hypothesis that different categories of Manufacturing
Companies have the same productivity trend.
©
2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Reverse
Supply Chain Management - Issues and Challenges
-- P Chandiran and K Suryaprakasa Rao
The
reverse supply chain is one of the emerging areas in the field
of supply chain management. The reverse supply chain consists
of a list of activities involved in recovering used products
for the purpose of recycling, remanufacturing and proper disposal
by a manufacturer. Companies in Europe, USA and other developed
nations are already practicing reverse supply chain. The main
forces behind this development are environmental legislation
related to disposal, opportunity to retrieve some value from
old products like components, opportunity to remanufacture
old products and to serve secondary markets and opportunity
to become an environment-friendly organization. The Indian
companies can also gain competitive advantage, if they practice
reverse supply chain in their industry. There are many issues
related to management of this reverse supply chain and it
also poses lots of challenges. The major issues and challenges
are designs of the reverse logistics network, inventory management,
forecasting returns, outsourcing, role of information technology
and role of customers (who return the product). This paper
gives a comprehensive coverage of these issues and challenges
with respect to reverse supply chain.
©
2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Development
of a Parametric Estimating Model for Technology-driven Deployment
Projects -- Rudy J Watson
and Young Hoon Kwak
The
purpose of this paper is to define the process used to develop
a parametric estimating model and to explain the use of the
model as it allows a non-subject matter expert to predict
the cost of deployment of a technology-driven project with
improved accuracy. The overall objective is to define criteria
for organizations to use as a rule of thumb estimating model
for determining potential resource requirements during the
preconcept and concept phase of a technology-driven project.
The use of the model will determine the complexity level of
a project and then using a matrix simulating the task complexity
knowledge of a deployment subject matter expert, the organization
deployment resource required will be estimated, based upon
responses to certain inquiries. The user of the model will
then be capable of modifying the output to derive their specific
deployment estimates.
©
2004 WSC (www.informs-sim.org). This article was earlier published
in the Proceedings of the 2004 Winter Simulation Conference
(R G Ingals, M D Rossetti, J S Smith and B A Peters, eds)
pp. 1290-1295. Reprinted with permission.
Identifying
Quality-based Requirements
-- Ledis
Chirinos, Francisca Losavio and Alfredo Matteo
This
article proposes a model for identifying quality requirements
based on three different views of quality. By specifying quality
requirements in this manner, the framework establishes quality
requirements that can be quantified and measured as a part
of an overall quality assurance program. This results in two
levels of quality: one at the system level that ensures a
quality software product and another at the process level
that mitigates project risk.
©
2005 CRC Press LLC (http://www.ism-journal.com). This article
was earlier published as "Identifying Quality-based Requirements"
in Information Systems Management, 21 (1) : 23-31 (Winter
2004). Reprinted with permission.
Total
Quality Management (TQM) and its Effects in Industries
-- S Gajendran and S Sampathkumar
Total
Quality Management (TQM) is an integrative philosophy of management
for continuously improving the quality of products and processes
to achieve customer satisfaction. It is based on the premise
that an organization must build quality into its products
and processes and that everyone in the organization has a
responsibility in this effort. This paper analyzes the present
status of TQM in industries through a structured questionnaire
survey. The responses received have been analyzed using Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS/XI).
©
2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Case
Study
Volvo's
Product Development PracticesFocus on Safety
-- Konakanchi
Prashanth
"When
we asked people around the world what Volvo stood for, they
would say: `Safety.' That was good. For years, the industry
said safety did not sell. I was convinced, it would. It was
always extremely gratifying when customers wrote to tell us
about how they had survived accidents in a Volvo."
-Pehr
Gyllenhammar, Former CEO, Volvo.
"Cars
are driven by people. The guiding principle behind everything
we make at Volvo, therefore, is and must remain, safety."
-Assar
Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson, Founders of Volvo
©
2004 ICMR. All Rights
Reserved. For accessing and procuring the Case Study, log
on to www.ecch.cranfield.ac.uk or www.icmrindia.org. |
