If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The paper aims to explore the determinants of perceived job performance in a sample of shop-floor employees in a manufacturing plant in northern Mexico. Design/methodology/approach -It is hypothesised that job satisfaction, age and education levels are significant predictors of job performance. A thorough literature review reveals that studies of the variables that influence job performance within a manufacturing setting are basically lacking. A questionnaire distributed amongst shop-floor employees and their immediate supervisors was used in order to measure the variables included in the study. Statistical analyses were performed with the data in order to test for the reliability and validity of the measures, and also to test the three main research hypotheses. Findings -It was found that two variables that measure job satisfaction are positively and significantly associated with job performance. This result is consistent with previous studies. Nevertheless, age and education levels do not show a significant association with job performance. Interestingly, it was also found that education levels are negatively related to job satisfaction.Research limitations/implications -The sample size is small, and it includes only one manufacturing plant. Consequently, the statistical analyses are limited. These limitations prevent the generalisation of the results. More objective measures of job performance would be preferable. Also, other variables such as leadership style and motivation could be included in future studies. Practical implications -Although exploratory in nature, the results from this study can be used to gain a better understanding of the different factors and relationships that are conducive to higher job satisfaction, and how job satisfaction is related to job performance. Originality/value -Job satisfaction and its influence on performance have been researched across a number of industries and sectors. Nonetheless, to the best of one's knowledge, this is the first study that uses a sample of shop-floor employees in a manufacturing plant to test this relationship. A similar situation is observed in terms of age and education levels: the effect of those variabl...

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -To provide a selective bibliography on reported empirical evidence regarding the compatibility/trade-offs relationships between delivery reliability and other manufacturing capabilities, and also identify specific areas for future research. Design/methodology/approach -The paper conceptually examines published studies which have reported a trade-off/compatibility situation between delivery reliability and other manufacturing capabilities such as internal quality, external quality, manufacturing costs, inventory costs, etc. Some different aspects of delivery reliability are also discussed. Findings -Principally, the paper identifies a need to study in more detail the different variables (manufacturing capabilities, contextual variables and manufacturing practices) that could be potentially associated with the achievement of high manufacturing efficiency (high levels of outputs/low levels of inputs) in terms of delivery reliability, materials inventory and safety resources.Research limitations/implications -The literature review in the paper is intended to be exhaustive. Nevertheless, it is probable that scientific papers that report related/relevant material are involuntarily omitted. Practical implications -By means of a detailed review of the literature, the paper identifies specific themes for future research. The paper also should be of help to practitioners as it gathers the empirical evidence regarding the compatibility/trade-off situation between delivery reliability and other areas of manufacturing. Originality/value -Some papers have dealt with literature reviews on manufacturing strategy as a whole. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that offers a literature review on delivery reliability. This paper also suggests a novel model of manufacturing efficiency and also proposes a methodology (data envelopment analysis) with which this approach can be examined in more detail.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of studies on strategic consensus along manufacturing competitive priorities. Based on this analysis, a new methodology to measure strategic consensus on manufacturing competitive priorities that is more consistent with mainstream operations management theory is proposed. The paper also includes novel proposals for future research.Design/methodology/approachThe new methodology and proposals for research are mainly based on a literature review of previous studies on strategic consensus regarding manufacturing competitive priorities and also on relevant research and works in the field of operations management.FindingsPrevious methodologies used to measure strategic consensus regarding manufacturing competitive priorities are mainly based on studies in the business strategy field. Thus, these methodologies are deemed as inadequate in the operations management field. It is also found that there are very few studies that have analysed this topic in the operations management field. Moreover, since the methodologies used in those studies are based on previous research in the field of business strategy, the results of the reviewed papers are considered as questionable.Practical implicationsFor academics, the paper and its results imply a change in the methodologies and research used to study the issue of strategic consensus on manufacturing competitive priorities. The lack of research into this topic is also observed. More research and studies on this theme are needed. For practitioners, the methodology proposed in the paper could be utilised in order to assess the employees' knowledge of the relationships between manufacturing capabilities inside manufacturing firms.Originality/valueTo the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first review paper into this under‐researched theme in the operations management field. The paper also presents the first methodology that incorporates mainstream theory and research in the field of operations management into the measurement of strategic consensus on manufacturing competitive priorities.

No abstract

International audienceThis paper examines well-accepted methodologies and rationales used to assert the presence/absence of trade-offs and compatibilities between manufacturing capabilities, and comparisons are made with respect to more recent theoretical developments. By means of a detailed analysis of a representative framework, important limitations and inconsistencies are identified. The proposal for the existence of zero-sum and frontier trade-offs intends to resolve some of those issues. Generally speaking, zero-sum trade-offs are identified by a statistically significant and negative correlation. On the other hand, frontier trade-offs are predicted to be observed after some level of compatibility between different capabilities is achieved. This means that, apart from widely-used probabilistic methodologies such as linear regression/correlation analysis, subsequent deterministic approaches and rationales need to be applied in order to acknowledge the potential existence of frontier tradeoffs. These and other implications are discussed in light of previous studies, and suggestions for future research are offered