Halliday, Ian (2000) The development and use of strategic business performance improvement frameworks for rapid prototyping and tooling : executive summary. EngD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Increasing global competition within industry has forced businesses to respond by
reducing costs and product development lead times in order to survive. In the
automotive industry, these strategic responses include the specific exploitation of new
technologies and mergers with other companies to gain economies of scale.
BMW AG purchased Rover Group in 1994 but it wasn't until 1998 that competitive
pressure led to the completion of the merger through the creation of a single "Group
Function" structure within BMW Group. The BMW Board stated high-level
objectives for the process but provided no mechanism to convert them into reality.
Similarly, the BMW Group Board initiated a business process "Re-engineering"
programme in 1997/8 and stated cost, time and other objectives that would have to be
met. The technical and process changes that would help to achieve the business
improvements were being largely driven from the bottom of the organisation but
there were no frameworks available to guide strategic technology introduction.
The principal innovations generated during the course of this research are
frameworks for:
• Maximising the business benefits from the creation of 'Group Functions'
• Internal strategy creation for technology-based business sub-units
These two new frameworks have for the first time provided management and staff
with the means to develop meaningful strategies and operational action plans from
the corporate strategic objectives. The economic and business literature concentrates
mainly on whole business strategy and merger activity, neglecting the need for
guidance at the sub-corporate level. Although corporate strategy can provide the
overall direction of a company, it is the managers that have to drive strategic change
within the business.
The frameworks were developed by the author based on an in-depth review of the
literature and the specific context relating to Rapid Prototyping & Tooling (RP&T)
within BMW. The frameworks were validated within the business situation and
further enhanced where appropriate.
The Group Function framework fills the process gap between the high-level
objectives and the need for operational action plans. It provides a straightforward and
easy to communicate structure to the process of optimising duplicated business subunits.
Use of the framework led to the retention of both RP&T teams and the
initiation of beneficial synergistic activities. The framework should be applicable to
other similar groups in similar circumstances.
The author developed a new strategy creation framework that for the first time
combines a range of strategy development approaches from within the literature into
a practical framework for sub-corporate strategy development. The framework was
matched to the specific context of the RP&T case but could be used in other similar
circumstances. The framework was used to successfully develop a new strategy for
RP&T in BMW Group and includes new approaches developed by the author that
reduce the impact of environmental change and uncertainty. The framework has been
described in a stand alone form that can easily be more widely exploited.

Item Type:	Thesis (EngD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	BMW Group -- Management, Consolidation and merger of corporations -- Great Britain, Automobile industry and trade -- Mergers, Automobile industry and trade -- Technological innovations
Official Date:	November 2000
Dates:	Date Event November 2000 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Engineering
Thesis Type:	EngD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Gibbons, Anne ; Neailey, Kevin
Extent:	viii, 104, [48] leaves
Language:	eng

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