Strategieentwicklung von Produktionswerken bei Volatilität und Ungewissheit

Researcher

M. Rippel

Fluctuations and disruptions of market demand endanger the profitability and competitiveness of production plants. The dissertation focuses on strategizing in production plants in regard to volatility and uncertainty.

The research within the dissertation contributes a practice-oriented approach for ensuring profitability and competitiveness of production plants. For this purpose, challenges for production plant managers in dealing with volatility and uncertainty were identified and analyzed. Based on those findings, the requirements for strategy development approaches were derived. In order to support managers in the strategizing process, a strategizing approach, the ICER model, is developed, which enables the strategic realignment of production plants in regard to volume-oriented changeability (VoC). In addition, a profiling approach is developed and integrated into the ICER model in order to cope with the specific problem of existing target conflicts. Profiling supports a consistent design of structure and behavior throughout the superior and subordinate contexts and design dimensions of a production plant. The ICER model contributes to the development of the capability to synchronize capacities, costs and cash-flow with demand fluctuations.

Possibilities for synchronizing cost types related to personnel and assets are also identified. Measures and instruments are categorized according to their effectiveness, so that alternatives for designing VoC are revealed. Finally, key factors for initializing, conceptualizing and executing strategizing projects are detected and explained.

The dissertation's contribution to scientific theory lies in an explicit, thematic focus on the change dimension „volume“ within the general concept of changeability. This specific dimension is analyzed on the system level of the “production plant”, on the strategic management dimension and under consideration of contextual conditions. The results excel by way of the following novelties:

(1) The strategizing process is consistently considered an activity or practice of management (“strategy-as-practice”).

(2) The profiling approach allows the handling of occurring target conflicts.

(3) Plant strategies are viewed as a conceptual system, which means a set of interrelated concepts that work together. As a “logical bridge” strategizing of VoC is conducted top-down systematically from the priorities of strategies from superior levels.

(4) Behavior- and activity-oriented aspects are considered within the strategizing process.

Implications and benefits for practice consist in a heuristic, practice-oriented strategizing approach, which provides for the achievement of a fundamental strategic configuration of a production plant in the face of volatility and uncertainty.