Purpose -Although performance-based contracting (PBC) is gaining importance in manufacturing industries, corresponding research is still in its infancy. In order to provide a basis for future research on this emerging topic, thus paper aims to propose a specific conceptual model. Design/methodology/approach -Conducting a comprehensive literature review, 39 academic publications dealing with this topic in-depth were analyzed. To structure the various approaches of PBC in manufacturing industries, existing preliminary conceptual models in the form of morphological boxes were built upon and developed further. Findings -Focusing on manufacturing industries, the review reveals a comprehensive view on PBC, with three topics that are important to PBC but have been largely neglected in research: even though research considers PBC foremost regarding manufacturers, independent service providers can also offer PBC; closely related to ownership, financing constitutes an essential issue in PBC; and PBC may include maintenance as well as operation. Originality/value -First, the paper systematizes existing literature and clarifies the concept of PBC in manufacturing industries. Second, it presents a specific conceptual model for analyzing this topic in more depth. Third, it reveals promising avenues for future research.

PurposeIn view of a lack of understanding of the consequences of performance‐based contracting (PBC), this paper aims to reveal deeper insights into the mechanisms inherent to PBC and explore which benefits and uncertainties may result for providers and customers.Design/methodology/approachConducting a comprehensive literature review and drawing on insights from agency theory as a framework, the auhtors analyzed a broad range of academic publications on the benefits and uncertainties of PBC and developed testable propositions from the provider's and the customer's perspective.FindingsWith PBC, in comparison to the conventional selling and supporting of machinery or equipment, the manufacturers are more likely to acquire customers for highly innovative technologies, to increase their profit, and to improve customer loyalty. Manufacturers, however, have to deal with uncertain revenues and costs which affect their profit. The customers are more likely to receive increased performance at decreased costs. Concerning the performance, however, the customers enter into an uncertain relationship of dependence.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to analyze the benefits and uncertainties of PBC in manufacturing industries systematically from an agency theory perspective. The paper further develops extant research by outlining the mechanisms of PBC and relating the benefits and uncertainties that are scattered over a broad body of literature. The paper proposes several promising avenues for further research.

PurposeThe primary objective of this paper is to discuss whether complexity science can help overcome management's dilemma of how to balance efficiency and innovation.Design/methodology/approachComplexity science provides an interdisciplinary theoretical approach for studying complex adaptive systems (CAS), which exhibit adequate combinations of both emergent efficiency and emergent innovation. Based on prominent models from complexity science, a generic framework of CAS is proposed that shows the design levers of such systems. This framework then serves to assess recent literature on applications of complexity science to firms. Applications cover a broad range of objectives and four organizational levels: the individual resource, the organizational sub‐unit (SU), the organizational, and the network levels. The generic framework is used to classify the applications' objectives in terms of efficiency and innovation, and to identify the design levers they use.FindingsCAS offer a valuable theoretical perspective on efficiency and innovation. However, the proposed framework shows that these systems are not utilized to their full potential when applied to firms. Typical applications address either emergent efficiency or emergent innovation and thus fail to balance both.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper does not provide an exhaustive literature review on management applications of CAS, but selects exemplary literature.Originality/valueThe paper gives a comprehensive overview of the CAS' perspective in management science. For further research, the proposed generic framework of CAS may serve to analyze, evaluate and integrate applications in order to overcome the efficiency‐innovation dilemma.

It is assumed that more education leads to better understanding of complex systems. Some researchers, however, find indications that simple mechanisms like stocks and flows are not well understood even by people who have passed higher education. In this paper, we test people's understanding of complex systems with the widely studied stock‐and‐flow (SF) tasks. SF tasks assess people's understanding of the interplay between stocks and flows. We investigate SF failure of domain experts and novices in different knowledge domains. In particular, we compare performance on the original study's Bathtub task with the square wave pattern with two alternative cover stories from the engineering and business domains on different groups of business and engineering students from different semesters. Further, we show that, while engineering students perform better than business students, with progressing in higher education, students may lose the capability of dealing with simple SF tasks. We thus find hints on déformation professionelle in higher education. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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To tap the full potential of reinforcing fibres for lightweight construction of sustainable carbon fibre–reinforced plastic components, woven three-dimensional reinforcement structures open up innovative approaches by integrating functional features. In this work, a novel three-dimensional shuttle weaving technology was taken advantage of to study carbon reinforcement structures with uninterrupted load trajectories from three points of view. Mechanical principals, economic and environmental issues were focused to provide an overall picture. Near-net-shape reinforcement fabrics with load trajectory–compliant yarn paths and interconnected layers that are interwoven in thickness direction were objects of investigation. The effects of a closed fabric selvedge, only producible by shuttle weaving, were investigated too. The here presented novel technology enables complex woven reinforcement structures that otherwise would demand several fabric layers leading to limited properties and lower performance of the carbon fibre–reinforced plastics due to missing interconnections between the layers. The studies on exemplary rods revealed a close relationship between different three-dimensional weave structures and the carbon fibre–reinforced plastic’s mechanical properties. The three-dimensional structures were woven in a single-step process and subsequently infiltrated with epoxy resin in the Vacuum Assisted Process (VAP®) and mechanically tested. Rounding off, universal guidelines for the layout of three-dimensional fabrics for rods were derived therefrom. The economic and environmental aspects of the complete process line were compared to the conventional manufacturing procedures for carbon fibre–reinforced plastic by material flow cost accounting. Looking at sustainability, material flow cost accounting showed that lightweight three-dimensional components with integrated features can be produced cost-effectively with less environmental impact by the novel weaving technology. Its capability for high-quality serial production of three-dimensional reinforcement structures is evident, which was one major result of the work.

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