Harshal Lowalekar

Purpose: Design Science (DS) is a relatively new paradigm for addressing complex real-world problems through the design and evaluation of artifacts. Its constituent methodologies are currently being discussed and established in numerous related research fields, such as information systems and management (Hevner et al., 2004). However, a DS methodology that describes the “how to” is largely lacking, not only in the field of OM but in general. The Theory of Constraints (TOC) and its underlying thinking processes (TP) have produced several novel artifacts for addressing ill-structured real-world operations problems (Dettmer, 1997; Goldratt, 1994), but they have not been analyzed from a DS research standpoint. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate how TOC’s thinking process methodology can be used for conducting exploratory DS research in Operations and Supply Chain Management (OSCM).Design/methodology/approach: A case study of spare parts replenishment illustrates the use of TOC’s thinking processes in DS to structure an initially unstructured problem context and to facilitate the design of a novel solution.Findings: TOC’s thinking processes are an effective methodology for problem-solving DS research, enabling the development of novel solutions in initially unstructured and wicked problem situations. Combined with structured CIMO design logic TOC’s thinking process offers a systematic method for exploring wicked problems, designing novel solutions, and demonstrating theoretical contributions.Research limitations/implications: The implication for research is that TOC’s thinking process methodology can provide important elements of the lacking “how to” methodology for DS research, not only for the field of OM but in general for the field of management.Practical implications: The practical outcome of the research is a novel design for dynamic buffer-based replenishment that extends beyond organizational boundaries.Originality/value: This work shows how the thinking processes can be used in DS research to develop rigorous design propositions for ill-structured problems.

Purpose: Different stakeholders frequently disagree on what the true problem is that must be solved and what specific actions must be taken during a change exercise. This article demonstrates a visual method for getting buy-in from stakeholders on the specifics of change using a systems thinking tool known as the current reality tree (CRT).Design/methodology/approach: This study illustrates the use of a systems-thinking methodology to achieve consensus among stakeholders on “what is the real problem?” when envisioning a change. The authors illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach using a real-life case study in the context of contract catering.Findings: The CRT enables diverse stakeholders to visualize the cause-and-effect relationships between various problems in a given system and assists them in identifying the set of actions that can address a large number of problems through the change program.Originality/value: There is little discussion in the literature on change management of a systematic approach to get agreement from stakeholders regarding what the real problem is. This article demonstrates, by way of a case study, how change agents can not only determine which actions will have the greatest impact, but also garner the support of diverse stakeholders.

Purpose: This study describes in detail an application of the Theory of Constraints (TOC)-based systems thinking approach towards clear and effective communication in a change management exercise. The same is achieved through the example of a large defence organization that is struggling with a multitude of problems in its stores and purchase departments.Design/methodology/approach: It is demonstrated through the case study how five systems thinking tools – Current Reality Tree (CRT), Evaporating Cloud (EC), Future Reality Tree (FRT), Negative Branch Reservation (NBR) and Prerequisite Tree (PRT) – can be applied in overcoming different layers of resistance and for getting the necessary agreement from the stakeholders for a successful change initiative.Findings: The five logical thinking tools helped answer the three questions – “what to change”, “what to change to” and “how to cause the change” (Goldratt, 1990) – satisfactorily and overcome various layers of resistance to get the desired buy-in from the stakeholders for a successful change management exercise.Originality/value: The cause-and-effect based method presented in this work is generic enough and can be adopted for getting a buy-in in a variety of change management contexts.

Mafia offer is an unbelievably good offer that a company makes to its customers; the attractiveness of the offer makes it impossible for the customers to decline the offer and difficult for the competitors to match it [Cox, James, III, and John Schleier. 2010. Theory of Constraints Handbook. McGraw-Hill]. This study analyses the performance of one such offer that a producer of deteriorating items can make to its customers in the supply chain, such as retailers and distributors. The results from the analytical model show that the mafia offer increases the profits of both the producer and the retailer in a deteriorating items' supply chain. The efficacy of the proposed offer is tested for multiple combinations of ordering cost, wholesale price, and the retailer's cash constraints. The experimental results suggest that the producer would be able to increase its profits by more than 60%, for a given level of retailer's profits, owing to the mafia offer. The availability of the existing items offered by the retailer will increase significantly, despite a reduction in the retailer's inventory levels. The offer will result in an average increase of over 56% in the variety of items held by the retailer. The producer will also be able to command significantly higher margins (more than 44%) from the retailer for the existing items without adversely affecting the retailer's profitability.

This research describes in detail an application of theory of constraints (TOC) and its resulting benefits on the supply chain performance of India's largest lock manufacturing company over a period of seven years. Using TOC's thinking process, the core constraints that had limited the company's performance in the areas of production, distribution, supply group and projects were identified and eliminated. TOC's unique approach helped the company achieve a significant reduction in its finished goods, raw material and work-in-process inventories at various levels across the supply chain. The stock-outs and excess in the distribution system nearly disappeared. The existing lead times saw a drastic reduction while the availability of items increased to nearly 100% despite significant decrease in inventory levels in the supply chain. The inventory turns of the distributors and retailers more than tripled and their profitability increased significantly. The overall sales of the company grew nearly three times during the six years post TOC implementation. TOC's holistic approach helped the company to double its profits and improve its cash position during the Great Recession.

BACKGROUND: Blood component therapy is advantageous in terms of increasing the effective availability of blood units and reducing the transfusion‐related risks. One unit of blood can be separated into components and made available to multiple patients by transfusing suitable components. It is often believed that most, if not all, of the blood should be fractionated. But the process of componentizing increases the availability of blood products at the expense of increased costs of holding, processing, and wastage at a blood bank. The objective of this study was to determine the optimum level of components to be produced at a blood bank given its objectives and context.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We developed a simulation‐based model to determine the optimum amount of fresh blood to be fractionated at a blood bank operating in southern India was developed. The simulation model is a virtual representation of an actual blood bank, and it can help the administrator to test the effects of changing the level of components production on the overall blood bank performance.RESULTS: The results from the model suggest that it may not be optimal for the chosen blood bank to componentize large amounts of fresh blood as it leads to high costs of operation and huge wastage in the system.CONCLUSIONS: The same methodology can be applied to determine the optimum level of componentizing at other blood banks by providing appropriate inputs to the simulation model.

BACKGROUND: A typical blood bank gets its major supply of blood from organizing blood donation camps. The quantity of blood collected in the blood donation drives is random and it might be sensible to cut off the supply at some level to reduce the wastages by overcollection.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: In this paper we introduce two new cutoff level policies and compare their performance with the policy of collecting all the available supply at blood collection drives, which is quite prevalent among the blood banks. We develop a simulation model for collection that enables such comparison on the basis of shortages, wastages, and total costs.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results obtained from the simulation model for a real‐life situation show that the cutoff level policies are better than the unrestricted collection policy in controlling total costs. They also result in less wastage in the system for a given level of shortages.