The role of operations managers in translating management ideas and practices between firms

Abstract

The operations improvement literature is found to focus on the adoption of relatively stable, monolithic external management ideas, neglecting the processes by which such ideas and associated practices are identified in source organizations and changed before and during adoption. The notion of translation is used to analyze the way SME managers assimilate practices observed in larger firms during a management development programme. A model of the micropractices of operations managers during translation is developed. The five micropractices are: navigating distance; identifying and categorizing ideas; interacting with peers; persevering based on reassurance; re-embedding practices. The findings point to the importance of understanding that managers, especially in SMEs, are active in selecting and adapting parts of systemic improvement approaches such as lean, rather than simply choosing and adopting them wholesale. They also underline the importance of peer networking in the translation process. Senior managers who want to adopt management ideas must take account of translation in their strategies. Policy-makers who advocate and evaluate the use of well-known management ideas must also be aware that translation may mean that many useful practices are adopted, even if the adopting firms no longer explicitly espouse the overarching management idea of which these practices are a part.

Keywords:

• Operations improvement
• operations managers
• practices
• translation
• SME

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the cooperation of the managers who allowed us to accompany them on the programme, and to interview them. We also acknowledge the cooperation of those involved in running the programme and hosting the visits to large firms. Kostas Selviaridis read and commented helpfully on earlier drafts: the usual caveats apply. We also thank the four anonymous reviewers for spirited and constructive comments on earlier versions, and the Associate Editor for his valuable guidance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Such a process has been characterized as ‘diffusion’ in, for example, recent OECD analyses: in what follows, we explore alternative ways of conceptualizing the transfer of practices between firms.

2 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

3 In fact, this report mentions diffusion seven times in its one-page Foreword, which argues as follows: ‘However, the gap between those global leaders and the rest has increased over time, and especially so in the services sector. This implies that knowledge diffusion should not be [sic] taken for granted. Future growth will largely depend on our ability to revive the diffusion machine, both within and across countries.’ (OECD 2015, 3).

4 Terminology adapted slightly from the source, to aid clarity.

5 Single-minute exchange of dies.

Additional information

Funding

We acknowledge and Lancaster University Management School for funding the fieldwork.

Notes on contributors

Martin Spring

Martin Spring is Professor of Operations Management at Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster, UK. He is also Director of the School’s Centre for Productivity & Efficiency. His research has focussed on supply chain relationships and business-to-business services. He is also working on aspects of management practices in SMEs. He has published in many leading journals and is Associate Editor at Journal of Operations Management, and International Journal of Operations & Production Management.

Christine Unterhitzenberger

Christine Unterhitzenberger is an Associate Professor in Project Management at University of Leeds. Her research interest is in the area of psychosocial and relational aspects of project management, in particular she is interested in understanding how individuals and groups in projects behave and the impact of that behaviour. She is a Department Editor for the Project Management Journal, Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Chair of the Association for Project Management Research Advisory Group and an expert evaluator for the European Commission Horizon 2020 work programme. Her research has been published in journals such as Production Planning and Control, International Journal of Project Management and Project Management Journal.