Date of Award

11-6-2015

Publication Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering

Keywords

Industrial Engineering, Performance measures, small enterprises, Supply chain

Supervisor

Pasek, Zbigniew

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

Nowadays, there are huge environmental changes in the business world. These changes have resulted in tremendous growth and opportunities for new markets but also in challenges that threaten the operations and survival of firms. These competitive pressures are driving firms to re-evaluate their competitive strategies, supply chains, and manufacturing technologies in order to improve performance and survive long term. Small and medium-sized enterprises also face these challenges, which influence their operations and existence. They are significantly constrained by remarkable limitations in terms of financial resources as well as non-financial factors, such as informal strategic decisions and actions. Reports have revealed that small enterprises are vulnerable to failure. Only around 50% of them in Canada and the United States survive for more than five years. Focusing on financial measures alone is not a good strategy for guaranteeing the long term success of a business. The absence of objective and formal strategic decisions and performance measurement systems in small enterprises increase their chances of failure. Therefore, models have been developed that assess and translate informal and qualitative in small enterprises into measurable, quantitative data. This allows for the evaluation and measurement of decisions and actions, which increases the chances of success for a small enterprise. Using the multi-criteria decision methodology (MCDM) allows for the following: integrating and linking various levels of decision-making and processes, converting subjective information into objective decision making, executing individual business preferences, and ranking strategic attributes and business processes. An analytical hierarchy process approach was first used to develop a simple model. Using the case of a small manufacturing enterprise, it was found that the business did not emphasize financial measures alone; they also paid attention to non-financial measures, such as reliability and responsiveness. It was observed that the business was willing to rank strategic attributes and supporting business processes each time there was a change in the external environment. Finally, an analytical network process approach to express the links and effects among the supply chains of a small business were established, and an overall business performance formula was created.

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