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Business Units (business + unit)
Selected AbstractsCustomer Learning Processes, Strategy Selection, and Performance in Business-to-Business Service Firms,DECISION SCIENCES, Issue 2 2004Debra Zahay ABSTRACT Learning about customers takes place through relevant dialogues with those customers, also known as customer relationship management (CRM). As relationships develop, information about the customer is gathered in the firm's customer information systems (CIS): the content, processes, and assets associated with gathering and moving customer information throughout the firm. This research develops a measure of CIS management capabilities based on learning organization theory and measured by the ability to get, store, move, and use information throughout the business unit. This measure is then used to analyze customer learning processes and associated performance in the context of marketing strategic decision making. This study of 209 business services firms finds that generic marketing strategy positioning (low-cost and differentiation) and the marketing tactics of personalization and customization are related to CIS development. Customer information systems development in turn is associated with higher levels of customer-based performance, which in turn is associated with increased business growth. Since the strongest association with customer-based performance is strategy selection, the long-term benefits of the knowledge gained from the CIS may be in the ability to assist in measuring customer-based performance, rather than in the ability to immediately contribute to performance. Finally, for these firms, customization and personalization are not directly associated with performance and thus may not be necessary to support every firm's marketing strategy. [source] Designing and aligning an HR systemHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 2 2001Kathy Monks This article reports the results of a study conducted in the wholesale banking arm of a major international financial institution in Ireland. This took a multi-level perspective in exploring the construction of the HR system at group, divisional and strategic business unit (SBU) levels within the firm. The findings suggest that it is critical to consider the level of analysis in both the construction of theHR system and in its operation at different levels within the multi-divisional firm. The research found that it is at SBU level that a coherent HR system is most likely to emerge, as at this level appropriate processes can be adopted to implement HR policies, practices and philosophies. However, the negotiations and interpretations of HR practice that dominate traditional divisional/business unit arrangements may be detrimental to theemergence of a coherent HRsystem. [source] Workplace deviance, organizational citizenship behavior, and business unit performance: the bad apples do spoil the whole barrelJOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 1 2004Patrick D. Dunlop The influences of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and workplace deviant behavior (WDB) on business unit performance were investigated using data from branches of a fast food organization. Data included measures of WDB and OCB obtained from staff, ratings of performance provided by supervisors, and objective measures of performance. It was found that WDB was negatively and significantly associated with business unit performance measured both subjectively and objectively. OCB, however, failed to contribute to the prediction of business unit performance beyond the level that was achieved by WDB. It appeared, therefore, that the presence of deviant employees among business units impinges upon the performance of the business unit as a whole, whereas OCBs had comparatively little effect. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Your new product development (NPD) is only as good as your process: an exploratory analysis of new NPD process design and implementationR & D MANAGEMENT, Issue 5 2007Nukhet Harmancioglu Given industry competitiveness, how do firms' new product development (NPD) process designs differ when responding to an innovation mandate? How do NPD design elements differ across firms when implementing NPD processes? These design elements are strategic business unit (SBU) senior management involvement, business case content, customer interactions, and cross-functional integration. What are the consequences of different combinations of NPD process design elements for innovation productivity? We explore these questions via a collective case study of newly implemented NPD process designs at three different SBUs of a major US-based international conglomerate, 1 year after receiving the mandate to grow through innovation. Our analysis suggests that industry competitiveness and firm characteristics influence the NPD process design as SBUs employ distinct combinations of NPD design elements. The differential emphasis on design elements leads to variation in process design and divergence in innovation productivity. [source] Should You Spin Off Your Internet Business?BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW, Issue 2 2000Rick Chavez The purpose of most corporate spin-offs is to unlock the shareholder value of a business unit that is not critical to the parent company's success. Internet spin-offs raise additional problems, partly because they are so new. This article sets out a multi-dimensional framework to help managers decide how to structure their internet businesses: whether to keep them integrated into the parent company, to establish them as wholly-owned subsidiaries or to spin them off ,wholly or partially'. The authors argue that companies must weigh the trade-offs between what they call the ,three Cs': control, currency and culture. The collapse of internet stock prices in April/May 2000 reduced but did not eliminate then ,currency' attraction of the spin-off option. But issues of control and culture were always just as important. Above all, the decision must be made in the context of a company's total ,digital agenda': that is, as part of a company's overall strategy for creating and sustaining value in the new economy. [source] Verbund-Simulation , Strategic Planning and Optimization of Integrated Production NetworksCHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 4 2010T. Viere Abstract Strategic analysis and optimization of highly integrated production networks is an essential requirement for cost-effective and resource-efficient production. This paper presents a comprehensive software-based concept for modeling, simulation, optimization, and visualization of an integrated silicone production network of Wacker Chemie AG. A Verbund-Model was implemented in a step-by-step approach, starting with primary material streams in one business unit up to the modeling of all energy, waste, and cost streams in several business units. The system's flexibility enables different levels of detail for modeling processes and parts of the network: from simple input-output relations to complex, nonlinear equations and specifications. The proactive implementation of technical measures and projects based on the assessment of future scenarios is an important outcome of the Verbund-simulation. [source] Organizational Learning in Global Purchasing: A Model and Test of Internal Users and Corporate Buyers,DECISION SCIENCES, Issue 2 2000G. Tomas M. Hult ABSTRACT This research examines a model centered on organizational learning in purchasing. Two different studies are conducted to test the hypotheses among purchasing users (Study 1) and buyers (Study 2). The user sample consists of users representing 355 strategic business units of a Fortune 500 multinational corporation. The buyer sample consists of corporate buyers of 200 multinational corporations drawn from the membership directory of the National Association of Purchasing Management (NAPM). In each study, the focus is on the learning relationships between corporate buyers and internal users in the purchasing organization. Based on the two studies, the results suggest that organizational learning in the purchasing process is influenced by the organizational culture factors of localness, transformational leadership, and openness. Organizational learning has a positive effect on information processing in the purchasing system, which, in turn, has a positive influence on the cycle time of the purchasing process. [source] Success of activity management practices: the influence of organizational and cultural factorsACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 1 2007Kevin Baird M40 Abstract This study examines the success of activity management practices and the organizational and cultural factors affecting success at each of Gosselin's (1997) three levels of activity analysis (AA), activity cost analysis (ACA) and activity-based costing (ABC). Data were collected by survey questionnaire from a random sample of managers of Australian business units. The results indicate that activity management is moderately successful in Australian organizations, with greater use associated with higher levels of success. Two organizational factors (top management support and link to quality) were associated with success at each of Gosselin's three levels, whereas training was associated at the AA and ACA levels. The cultural factor of outcome orientation was associated with success at each level, with attention to detail important at the ABC level. Organizational factors were more strongly associated with activity management success than cultural factors. [source] Financial performance and the long-term link with HR practices, work climate and job stressHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 4 2005Marc van Veldhoven Using data front a large financial services organisation in the Netherlands, this article reports a longitudinal study at the business unit level. The study addresses the question of which longitudinal relations exist between survey data on perceived HR practices, work climate and job stress on the one hand, and prospective and retrospective financial performance on the other. Data from 223 business units were available for this study. Eight scales were selected from an employee survey answered by 18,142 respondents. These were aggregated to mean scores at the business unit level. Financial performance is operationalised by a yearly profits-to-costs ratio. Correcting for employee and business unit characteristics, the eight survey scales predict 22 per cent of the variance in business unit financial performance in the year after the survey.,Co-operation between departments' appears to be the most important predictor. Equally strong evidence was friund for a reverse causation sequence: business unit financial performance in the year before the survey was a significant predictor for four out of eight survey scales, especially for ,co-operation between departments' and ,job security'. The results underline the importance of studying variance in HR and performance variables within large organisatiuns, and the possibilities of using employee surveys in this research context. Limitations and implications of the findings are discussed. [source] The impact of HR practices on the performance of business unitsHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 3 2003Patrick M. Wright This article examines the impact of HR practices and organisational commitment on the operating performance and profitability of business units. Using a predictive design with a sample of 50 autonomous business units within the same corporation, the article reveals that both organisational commitment and HR practices are significantly related to operational measures of performance, as well as operating expenses and pre-tax profits. [source] Synergies in destination image management: a case study and conceptualisationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Issue 1 2002Eric Laws Abstract This paper addresses the question of how operators and destination authorities work within a destination region, illustrating a method by which the problems resulting from different geographical scales and objectives of business units can be tackled through co-operative marketing within a strong destination image. Following a review of the literature, a case study covering the research underpinning a cooperative marketing programme involving hotels in Port Douglas, Tropical North Queensland (TNQ) is presented. The research methodology is outlined. The policy implications of the findings for the State Tourist Organisation and for organisations involved in destination image management are considered, and a conceptual model of cooperative marketing at the destination level is proposed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Role of Private Equity in Life SciencesJOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 2 2010Jeff Greene In a roundtable published in this journal a year ago, there was a clear consensus that the R&D function in big pharma was inefficient and in need of major restructuring, possibly through increased investments by venture capital and private equity firms. In this discussion, an accomplished group of industry practitioners begins by looking at the prospects for both venture capital and private equity to play meaningful roles in financing early- and mid-stage drug development. In so doing, they explore questions like the following: , Are there ways for big pharma and biotech to reduce "science risk" and make R&D funding more profitable and attractive to venture capital and private equity,and perhaps even hedge funds? , What roles do you see for specialty PE firms like Symphony Capital and Paul Capital, which are now bundling mid-stage development assets and securitizing royalties? Then the panelists turn to the broader life sciences industry and consider the outlook for leveraged private equity transactions involving marketed products, late-stage development, and services. Here they consider issues like the following: , Will PE be attracted to less-R&D-intensive activities like medtech and generics? , Have the recent consolidation through mergers and reorganization of big pharma into decentralized business units created opportunities for carve-outs of certain businesses? For big pharma and life sciences companies in general, the answers to such questions point to greater specialization and focus achieved partly through strategic alliances with venture capital, private equity, and even hedge funds, and involving marketed products and services as well as early-stage drug development. [source] Life Sciences Roundtable: Strategy and FinancingJOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 2 2009Judy Lewent In light of the challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry, a distinguished group of pharma executives and strategic and financial advisers discusses the following corporate decisions: Strategy: What business model is most likely to maximize long-term shareholder value? For example, is diversification by big pharma into areas like consumer healthcare and generics a reliable way to create sustainable value? Capital allocation: What are the best methods for evaluating investments in pharma R&D, and for deciding which programs should be terminated and which assets divested? If conventional DCF isn't much help in a world where R&D outcomes are so uncertain, what about proposed models like real options? Corporate governance and incentive systems: Should big pharma continue to outsource ever more of its R&D functions to biotech and venture capital? Or can it overcome the problems associated with size by creating more decentralized business units and trying to replicate the accountability and incentives of smaller biotech firms? Capital structure and payout policy: Are the large cash and equity positions and minimal payouts of big pharma, typically justified as cushioning the uncertainties associated with pharma R&D, likely to be the value-maximizing capital structure in the future? With many biotechs struggling and venture capital scarce, where are the new sources of capital for the industry? And can future deals be structured in ways that help bring about higher returns for big pharma as well as the R&D providers? Disclosure: What should management tell investors to help ensure that their companies' policies and promising investments are reflected in their stock prices? [source] Changes in Korean Corporate Governance: A Response to CrisisJOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 1 2008E. Han Kim In the last months of 1997, the value of the Korean currency lost over half its value against the dollar, and the ruling party was swept from power in presidential elections. One of the fundamental causes of this national economic crisis was the widespread failure of Korean companies to earn their cost of capital, which contributed to massive shareholder losses and calls for corporate governance reform. Among the worst performers, and hence the main targets of governance reform, were family-controlled Korean business groups known as chaebol. Besides pursuing growth and size at the expense of value, such groups were notorious for expropriating minority shareholders through "tunneling" activities and other means. The reform measures introduced by the new administration were a mix of market-based solutions and government intervention. The government-engineered, large-scale swaps of business units among the largest chaebol,the so-called "big deals" that were designed to force each of the groups to identify and specialize in a core business,turned out to be failures, with serious unwanted side effects. At the same time, however, new laws and regulations designed to increase corporate transparency, oversight, and accountability have had clearly positive effects on Korean governance. Thanks to reductions in barriers to foreign ownership of Korean companies, such ownership had risen to about 37% at the end of 2006, up from just 13% ten years earlier. And in addition to the growing pressure for better governance from foreign investors, several newly formed Korean NGOs have pushed for increased transparency and accountability, particularly among the largest chaebol. The best governance practices in Korea today can be seen mainly in three kinds of corporations: (1) newly privatized companies; (2) large corporations run by professional management; and (3) banks with substantial equity ownership in the hands of foreign investors. The improvements in governance achieved by such companies,notably, fuller disclosure, better alignment of managerial incentives with shareholder value, and more effective oversight by boards,have enabled many of them to meet the global standard. And the governance policies and procedures of POSCO, the first Korean company to list on the New York Stock Exchange,as well as the recent recipient of a large equity investment by Warren Buffett,are held up as a model of best practice. At the other end of the Korean governance spectrum, however, there continue to be many large chaebol-affiliated or family-run companies that have resisted such reforms. And aided by the popular resistance to globalization, the lobbying efforts of such firms have succeeded not only in reducing the momentum of the Korean governance reform movement, but in reversing some of the previous gains. Most disturbing is the current push to allow American style anti-takeover devices, which, if successful, would weaken the disciplinary effect of the market for corporate control. [source] Enterprise Risk Management: Theory and PracticeJOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 4 2006Brian W. Nocco The Chief Risk Officer of Nationwide Insurance teams up with a distinguished academic to discuss the benefits and challenges associated with the design and implementation of an enterprise risk management program. The authors begin by arguing that a carefully designed ERM program,one in which all material corporate risks are viewed and managed within a single framework,can be a source of long-run competitive advantage and value through its effects at both a "macro" or company-wide level and a "micro" or business-unit level. At the macro level, ERM enables senior management to identify, measure, and limit to acceptable levels the net exposures faced by the firm. By managing such exposures mainly with the idea of cushioning downside outcomes and protecting the firm's credit rating, ERM helps maintain the firm's access to capital and other resources necessary to implement its strategy and business plan. At the micro level, ERM adds value by ensuring that all material risks are "owned," and risk-return tradeoffs carefully evaluated, by operating managers and employees throughout the firm. To this end, business unit managers at Nationwide are required to provide information about major risks associated with all new capital projects,information that can then used by senior management to evaluate the marginal impact of the projects on the firm's total risk. And to encourage operating managers to focus on the risk-return tradeoffs in their own businesses, Nationwide's periodic performance evaluations of its business units attempt to refl ect their contributions to total risk by assigning risk-adjusted levels of "imputed" capital on which project managers are expected to earn adequate returns. The second, and by far the larger, part of the article provides an extensive guide to the process and major challenges that arise when implementing ERM, along with an account of Nationwide's approach to dealing with them. Among other issues, the authors discuss how a company should assess its risk "appetite," measure how much risk it is bearing, and decide which risks to retain and which to transfer to others. Consistent with the principle of comparative advantage it uses to guide such decisions, Nationwide attempts to limit "non-core" exposures, such as interest rate and equity risk, thereby enlarging the firm's capacity to bear the "information-intensive, insurance- specific" risks at the core of its business and competencies. [source] OUTSIDE UPSIDE: FINDINGS FOCUS THROUGH FINANCE OUTSOURCINGJOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 4 2003Stewart Clements More and more companies are outsourcing aspects of the finance and accounting function to cut costs and increase process efficiency. This article draws on survey results and numerous real-world examples to make the case for outsourcing finance and accounting functions, either outright or through shared service centers. As expected, cost and efficiency gains can be dramatic. But there are also important strategic benefits, including the freedom to focus on core businesses, greater access to specialist knowledge, standardization of processes across business units, and the ability to launch operations quickly without staffing back offices. Maximizing the benefits of outsourcing requires careful planning and execution. Executives who have successfully navigated the process recommend allowing adequate time to ensure buy-in and consensus building, incorporating the appropriate performance-based incentives, taking steps to build morale during the transition, ensuring proper oversight, and building a strong partnership with the provider. When properly implemented, outsourcing is a powerful ally in the corporate struggle to cut costs,and it can be a vital complement to strategy as well. [source] CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, ETHICS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL ARCHITECTUREJOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 3 2003James A. Brickley Effective corporate leadership involves more than developing a good strategic plan and setting high ethical standards. It also means coming up with an organizational design that encourages the company's managers and employees to carry out its business plan and maintain its ethical standards. In this article, the authors use the term organizational architecture to refer to three key elements of a company's design: ,the assignment of decision-making authority,who gets to make what decisions; ,performance evaluation,the key measures of performance for evaluating business units and individual employees; and ,compensation structure,how employees are rewarded for meeting performance goals. In well-designed companies, each of these elements is mutually reinforcing and supportive of the company's overall business strategy. Decision-making authority is assigned to managers and employees who have the knowledge and experience needed to make the best investment and operating decisions. And to ensure that those decision makers have the incentive as well as the knowledge to make the best decisions, the corporate systems used to evaluate and reward their performance are based on measures that are linked as directly as possible to the corporate goal of creating value. Some of the most popular management techniques of the past two decades, such as reengineering, TQM, and the Balanced Scorecard, have often had disappointing results because they address only one or two elements of organizational architecture, leaving the overall structure out of balance. What's more, a flawed organizational design can lead to far worse than missed opportunities to create value. As the authors note, the recent corporate scandals involved not just improper behavior by senior executives, but corporate structures that, far from safeguarding against such behavior, in some ways encouraged it. In the case of Enron, for example, top management's near-total focus on boosting reported earnings (a questionable corporate goal to begin with) combined with decentralized decision making and loose oversight at all levels of the company to produce an enormously risky high-leverage strategy that ended up bringing down the firm. [source] THE CEO: A VISIBLE HAND IN WEALTH CREATION?JOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 3 2000C. K. Prahalad Commensurate with the growth of their pay packages and public visibility, the role of the CEO in the corporate value creation process has increased significantly in recent years. This article argues that sustained wealth creation in a corporation has three distinct elements. The first and most basic is the selection of the lines of business in which to operate; this element is probably the most visible manifestation of CEO action in large corporations today. The second element is the value creation model, which answers the question: How is this particular set of businesses expected to add value over and above the sum of the values of each business or asset category standing alone? The third element is the internal governance system, which establishes the corporate structure and administrative processes of the firm and, perhaps even more important, defines the corporate values that drive the strategic and operational priorities of the different business units. The authors suggest that the essence of the work of the CEO is to develop and maintain a balanced relationship among these three elements of wealth creation and to ensure that the relationship evolves in the face of changing circumstances. CEOs are inevitably faced with dilemmas in managing this process,in particular, the need to balance continuity and change and to maintain the integrity of short-term performance disciplines while encouraging not only investment in growth opportunities (which can hurt near term performance), but also experimentation and collaboration among business units (which are difficult to measure and reward with most performance measurement and incentive schemes). Adding to the difficulties of managing such dilemmas, visibility and a strong public image are often thrust upon (if not sought by) CEOs, who must then determine how they can use that image to strengthen the commitment of their employees and investors. [source] Workplace deviance, organizational citizenship behavior, and business unit performance: the bad apples do spoil the whole barrelJOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 1 2004Patrick D. Dunlop The influences of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and workplace deviant behavior (WDB) on business unit performance were investigated using data from branches of a fast food organization. Data included measures of WDB and OCB obtained from staff, ratings of performance provided by supervisors, and objective measures of performance. It was found that WDB was negatively and significantly associated with business unit performance measured both subjectively and objectively. OCB, however, failed to contribute to the prediction of business unit performance beyond the level that was achieved by WDB. It appeared, therefore, that the presence of deviant employees among business units impinges upon the performance of the business unit as a whole, whereas OCBs had comparatively little effect. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] MEASUREMENT ERROR IN RESEARCH ON HUMAN RESOURCES AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: ADDITIONAL DATA AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCHPERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2001PATRICK M. WRIGHT Gerhart and colleagues (2000) and Huselid and Becker (2000) recently debated the presence and implications of measurement error in measures of human resource practices. This paper presents data from 3 more studies, 1 of large organizations from different industries at the corporate level, 1 from commercial banks, and the other of autonomous business units at the level of the job. Results of all 3 studies provide additional evidence that single respondent measures of HR practices contain large amounts of measurement error. Implications for future research into the HR firm performance relationship are discussed. [source] Diversification Discount or Premium?THE JOURNAL OF FINANCE, Issue 2 2004New Evidence from the Business Information Tracking Series ABSTRACT I use the Business Information Tracking Series (BITS), a new census database that covers the whole U.S. economy at the establishment level, to examine whether the finding of a diversification discount is an artifact of segment data. BITS data allow me to construct business units that are more consistently and objectively defined than segments, and thus more comparable across firms. Using these data on a sample that yields a discount according to segment data, I find a diversification premium. The premium is robust to variations in the sample, business unit definition, and measures of excess value and diversification. [source] On Strategy and Management Control: The Importance of Classifying the Strategy of the BusinessBRITISH JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2000Magnus Kald The point of departure for this paper is a number of contingency-theory studies on the relationship between business strategy and the design and use of management control. In these studies strategy has been operationalized in different ways , a major reason why the findings are ambiguous and difficult to integrate. Thus there is a strong need for a common frame of reference for classifying business strategy. In view of the multifaceted nature of the concept of strategy, however, it is neither desirable nor possible to arrive at a single method of classification that would be appropriate in all situations. Rather, the task is to integrate different strategic variables such as strategic pattern, strategic position and strategic mission. In this paper we show how these three variables may be assumed to influence, and be influenced by, what characterizes changes in strategy and how business units manage their product offerings. Unlike most previous studies in the field, this paper discusses how the strategic variables taken together may be assumed to influence the classification of strategy and thus the design and use of the management-control system. Our deductive analysis, and the hypotheses used in connection with it, show that studies which consider only one strategic variable may lead to erroneous conclusions about the relationship between strategy and management control. [source] Canadian Approaches to E-Business ImplementationCANADIAN JOURNAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES, Issue 1 2003Rebecca Grant As Web-based business nears the decade mark, it is appropriate to take stock of its progress and the degree to which it has met or fallen short of predictions. This paper examines the extent to which companies have followed the advice of experts when it comes to designing an organizational structure for their e-business initiatives. It compares the prevalence of centralized versus business unit level decision-making in Canadian companies with e-business experience. It also explores who is given responsibility for application development, backend integration, and infrastructure maintenance. The data demonstrate that use of independent contractors has increased. However, outsourcing in general is less prevalent than predicted and implementation driven by business units, rare. Furthermore, the practices of companies with well-established initiatives differ significantly from those of the less experienced, offering important lessons for newcomers to e-business. Résumé Etant donné que le commerce basé sur la toile a presque dix ans, il est temps d'analyser son progrés et l'écart de résultat par rapport aux prédictions. La présente étude analyse quel a été le niveau de suivi des conseils d'expert par les entreprises en qui concerne la programmation des structures de mise en ,uvre de leurs projets de commerce électronique. Elle compare la position dominante des décisions prises au niveau centralisée sur celles prises au niveau de la division spécialisée chez les entreprises canadiennes ayant une expérience en commerce électronique. Elle fait apparaître également à qui a été confiée la responsabilité du développement des logiciels, de l'étape finale de l'intégration et de l'entretien de l'infrastructure. Les données démontrent que l'emploi des entrepreneurs indépendants a augmenté. Cependant, la sous-traitance n'est en général pas aussi forte que prévue et le développement assuré par les divisions spécialisées reste faible. En outre, la pratique des entreprises ayant des activités bien établies se distingue considérablement de celle qui ont moins d'expérience, offrant ainsi des leçons importantes pour les nouveaux venus du commerce électronique. [source] Verbund-Simulation , Strategic Planning and Optimization of Integrated Production NetworksCHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 4 2010T. Viere Abstract Strategic analysis and optimization of highly integrated production networks is an essential requirement for cost-effective and resource-efficient production. This paper presents a comprehensive software-based concept for modeling, simulation, optimization, and visualization of an integrated silicone production network of Wacker Chemie AG. A Verbund-Model was implemented in a step-by-step approach, starting with primary material streams in one business unit up to the modeling of all energy, waste, and cost streams in several business units. The system's flexibility enables different levels of detail for modeling processes and parts of the network: from simple input-output relations to complex, nonlinear equations and specifications. The proactive implementation of technical measures and projects based on the assessment of future scenarios is an important outcome of the Verbund-simulation. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||