McKenzie, Robin (2000) From lean supply and relationships to SME assessment : executive summary. EngD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This Executive Summary is a summary of the author's Engineering Doctorate
research and the application of that research. The Executive Summary has sufficient
detail and description to be read independently from the other pieces of research,
called submissions, to which this refers.
In outline, the three areas of research arose from the three research programmes with
which the author was closely involved.
The first area of research involved the identification of critical success factors within
customer-supplier relationships in the automotive industry. An extensive literature
review was performed using Lamming's Lean Supply Model (1993) as a starting
point. A number of gaps in the body of knowledge were identified and were grouped
into five areas for the purpose of further research. One area was subsequently
addressed as part of the second area of research.
The second area of research was aimed at assisting small and medium sized
enterprises (SMEs) in their use of the internet to improve their performance. A means
of assessing the effectiveness of the operations of the SMEs was a critical part of this
programme. A new tool called the SME (Operations) Assessment Tool, (SOAT) was
developed because it focused on key business processes as the basis for assessment
instead of the more traditional financial analysis. Having developed SOAT within the
specific research programme, it was applied to three SMEs as a test of the
methodology as a more general tool. Feedback from the three SMEs and those within
the research programme showed that SOAT was straightforward to apply.
The third area of research allowed the author to develop his interest in customer
supplier relationships, as this was seen to be the main focus of concern within
companies within the programme. A Memorandum of Understanding and Intent
(MUI) was developed and justified, but was in the process of being applied by other
researchers.

Item Type:	Thesis (EngD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Automobile supplies industry -- Great Britain, Relationship marketing, Electronic commerce, Small business -- Technological innovations
Official Date:	September 2000
Dates:	Date Event September 2000 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Engineering
Thesis Type:	EngD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Goodhead, Tim ; Brennan, Nigel
Extent:	vi, 276 leaves
Language:	eng

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