Rupert Lawrence Matthews

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the role of process improvement (PI) within the context of inflation to better understand the relevance of inflation within research on PI and operations management more broadly. Design/methodology/approach: The work systematically surveys literature that draws upon inflation and PI individually, before identifying work that draws from both, specifically by referring to them in either their titles, abstract or keywords. Economics literature is drawn from to explore the concept of inflation before applying this within the context of literature related to PI. Real-world examples are presented, which illustrate the mechanisms that contribute to and result in price inflation as seen by consumers, moving away from more broadly held views of what inflation is. Findings: The results from the literature provide limited evidence on the role of inflation within operations management literature. However, by applying the insight developed from the review of economics literature to PI, the research provides useful insight into theory and understanding of key concepts related to organisations’ ability and need to engage in improvement. Research limitations/implications: The work presents a new, previously unresearched seam of exploration that provides operations management research a means of engaging with, and contributing to broader academic discussions, related to productivity and economic development. Originality/value: Given the very limited volume of studies exploring the overlap between inflation and PI, the work opens a fertile new seam of research, connecting operations and economics research. The work also suggests a need for operations management researchers to question established views of inflation within their work.

Bitcoin is a complex phenomenon, whether in terms of the macro factors affecting its price or its role in the global energy infrastructure. However, extant literature pays too little attention to exploring the internal mechanisms of the protocol to be able to link them to how they affect the visible characteristics of Bitcoin. This paper uses secondary data from highly reputable Bitcoin-focused sources to systematically map the processes that enable Bitcoin to function as a peer-to-peer cash system. Novelty is achieved by applying the established and versatile “4I” organisational learning framework to provide a new lens through which to understand how the processes within Bitcoin enable and facilitate different types of changes to the protocol. Further insights are provided to organisational learning from Bitcoin, in relation to managing mission-critical changes to organisational systems. In addition, it presents an option for dealing with irreconcilable internal differences to “hard-fork” part of the organisation. While the scope of this paper is limited to secondary data, opportunities for further research, including primary data collection, are outlined to explore how Bitcoin knowledge disseminates within communities or companies.

Much of the attention on bitcoin relates to its ability to store value over time or whether you will one day by able to buy a cup of coffee with it. Much less attention is given to bitcoin’s potential role as a unit of account. This opinion piece proposes that bitcoin has potential to provide a consistent unit of account for organisations to adopt, but also to assist them in making and measuring meaningful business developments. The paper draws from the business improvement philosophy of Theory of Constraints to propose that unit of account, particularly within high inflation environments, is critical to consider. An illustrative case of a well-known publicly traded company, Microstrategy, provides an example and logic for a company choosing to integrate bitcoin into a business. The paper also gives attention to how the adoption of bitcoin can promote the development of renewable energy infrastructure and provide staff with opportunities for personal development to support their well-being. Opportunities for further research are identified to explore the integration of bitcoin within a business as well as with Theory of Constraints.

Bitcoin uses energy to ensure that only transactions that are consistent with the protocol are added to the Bitcoin blockchain. This type of consensus mechanism allows anyone to be part of the network, while also preventing a party from attempting to attack the network by successfully processing fraudulent transactions. Unfortunately, many see this energy use as wasted energy, that can negatively affect the environment, although critically, it is the process that produces the electricity, not the bitcoin mining itself that emits pollution, which at times is forgotten. This short response paper attempts to highlight limitations of such a piece focusing on the negative environmental impact of bitcoin mining, Goodkind et al. (2020). While there are a number of followup pieces that take similar approaches and use similar data, this particular piece has a range of weaknesses, since its publication has received a considerable amount of attention (160 citations) and fed into follow up publications by the same authors. This paper provides suggestions for addressing identified limitations, through revising the literature being drawn from and applying finer grained analysis techniques to the data. This review concludes by suggesting that if these suggestions were followed, Goodkind et al.'s (2020) findings would be significantly different, so not mislead the reader into worrying about the "cryptodamages" of bitcoin. Instead the work would be able to contribute to understanding and knowledge related to the environmental impact of bitcoin mining. The work concluded by presenting an outline of further research that could be conducted to present finer grains insight onto the actual impact of bitcoin mining on human health from case examples.

The primary focus of operations management is to add value through operational processes. Considerable attention has been given to using process improvement (PI) techniques to reduce costs and time, in order to develop a competitive advantage for the wider organization. However, this narrow definition of value at times overlooks the triple bottom line (TBL) which can result in a number of unintended consequences, specifically issues related to environmental and social measures of performance. To address this, a stakeholder theory lens will be used to analyze PI activities within the context of small and medium-sized enterprises. The TBL will be used to complement the stakeholder perspective, to interpret the benefits that are realized from PI activities. This article highlights both the direct benefits from PI as well as more indirect benefits realized by involving a selection of salient stakeholders in PI. It will show how a developed view of PI can provide an important mechanism for delivering improvements to a firm’s TBL. The work concludes by highlighting the contributions made to both PI practice and stakeholder theory, while acknowledging the need for more research on PI, both from a stakeholder perspective and how it impacts a firm’s TBL.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organisational learning (OL) can occur through process improvement (PI) activities, leading to sustained improvements over time in the context of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach: The authors study PI practices in six engineering-oriented SMEs via interview-based case studies. The authors draw from a range of literature and use an OL conceptual framework informed by Crossan et al.’s (1999) 4I framework as an analytical lens. Findings: The OL perspective provides new insights to conceptualise the nature of PI as a multi-level practice in SMEs. Effective PI practices within SMEs are shown to be consistent with OL concepts, enabling firms to translate individually identified improvement opportunities into organisational-level changes that result in sustained benefits. A new conceptual model is presented that explains how SMEs can learn through improvement activities. The key role of management support, both operational and strategic, is highlighted. It is necessary for management to provide sufficient PI opportunities to enable and sustain beneficial learning. Research limitations/implications: The study is based on a sample of engineering-oriented SMEs located in the UK. Further case-based, longitudinal, and survey-based research studies with firms of different types will enhance the generalisability of the findings, allowing the confirmation and extension of the new conceptual model. Practical implications: The findings provide a theoretically underpinned framework for achieving OL in engineering-oriented SMEs through PI activities. The new model highlights the key mechanisms that enable learning from improvement activities. The findings highlight the key role played by management in introducing additional learning opportunities in the form of new business that requires exploratory learning. Without this, the reduction in improvement opportunities reduces the benefits that can be realised from PI. Originality/value: OL provides a multi-level perspective to understanding how smaller firms are able to undergo systematic improvements and the support required to continually improve.

Purpose: – A growing need for global sourcing of business has subjected firms to higher levels of uncertainty and increased risk of supply disruption. Differences in industry and infrastructure make it more difficult for firms to manage supply disruption risks effectively. The purpose of this paper is to extend developing research in this area by addressing gaps within existing literature related to environmental turbulence and uncertainties.Design/methodology/approach: – The authors test the model using data collected from 253 senior managers and directors in the Thai beverage industry using advanced statistical techniques to explore the relationship between representations of supply disruption risk and uncertainty.Findings: – The results show that both magnitude and probability of risk impact on the disruption risk, but the probability of loss is a dominant determinant. The authors also find that demand uncertainty and quality uncertainty affect the risk perception of purchasing managers, and are related to the magnitude of disruption risk, rather than the frequency of occurrence. Interestingly, the results show that quality uncertainty negatively impacts on the severity of disruption risk.Research limitations/implications: – The construct validity of demand uncertainty was under the required threshold, intimating the need for further construct development.Practical implications: – The framework provides managers with direction on how to formulate and target their disruption risk management strategies. The work also allows practitioners to critical reflect on implicit risk management strategies they may already employ and their effectiveness.Originality/value: – The paper identifies key antecedents of supply disruption risk and tests them within a novel industrial context of the beverage industry and a novel national context of Thailand.

Recent interest in strategic initiatives, in particular Six Sigma, appear to relate to three forms of improvement: continuous improvement, quality improvements and process improvement. The similarities between these approaches have led to some confusion within the literature and raise the question whether these approaches are tautological. This paper argues against this by firstly exploring the nuances of these three areas. Based upon a systematic literature review of operations management journals, insight is developed by exploring the three terms individually and then in combination, resulting in the presentation of a number of research propositions to guide further research. To extend our understanding of operational improvement, organisational learning is identified as a common theoretical perspective employed within each of the three forms of improvements. Organisational learning is subsequently utilised to underpin the relationship between the three terms, highlighting the need for both operational and strategic improvement, drawing upon strategic management literature. These are presented in the form of a conceptual model, in addition to further research propositions. The paper concludes by presenting future research opportunities identified by the work in the form of construct development, exploratory case study research and survey work to test the presented model and propositions.

Purpose: – Organisational ambidexterity has emerged as a new research paradigm that is relevant for promoting long-term firm performance however, research within practice-oriented domains has been limited. The purpose of this paper is to explore process improvement through the theoretical lens of organisational ambidexterity to understanding the conflicting aims of variation increasing and decreasing forms of operational process improvement.Design/methodology/approach: – Drawing on reviews of both operations and strategic management literature, the paper employs a case study methodology to unpack critical aspects of ambidextrous process improvement across a range of organisational environments.Findings: – The research shows that while the companies engaged in qualitatively different forms of improvement, by interpreting practices from an ambidextrous perspective, the complimentary nature of the two forms of improvement could be appreciated. The diversity of firms involved in the research also allowed findings to be considered in relation to a range of operational contexts.Research limitations/implications: – The research highlights the relevance of an organisational ambidexterity perspective on operational process improvement, although the selection of companies the research draws from, limits it relevance to non-project-oriented organisations.Practical implications: – Provides practitioners with a framework to inform their views and aims when engaging in process improvement activities.Originality/value: – This is one of the first articles exploring process improvement from an ambidextrous perspective. This will help re-conceptualise process improvement away from wholly focusing upon quality improvement and variation reducing activities to help account for a more dynamic operating environment.

As Pfeffer ( 1993 Pfeffer, J . 1993. Barriers to the advance of organizational science: paradigm development as a dependable variable. Academy of Management Review, 18(4): 599–620. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar] ) states that until agreement is reached on a subject, progress may be slow. This paper converges the discussions on social capital in the operations management literature by way of a systematic literature review of 3- and 4-star journals. Human resource management, voluntary work and entrepreneurship were identified as minor themes within the review and thus potentially underexplored areas. Quality management, project management and new product development show significant use of social capital and particularly the role of social capital in the intrafirm environment. Finally, supply chain management shows the most significant use of social capital, particularly in explaining the characteristics of buyer–supplier relationships and how these impact inter-firm performance. Areas of future research are presented that draw on all forms of social capital to explore how they may be affect by contextual factors. The paper concludes by proposing a conceptual model of social capital for use within operations management.