In this paper we present findings of the second national survey on the competitiveness of Indian manufacturing. The paper develops hypotheses on the competitiveness of firms in the manufacturing sector and addresses some key questions on the characteristics of world class firms in India. We...

This paper explores the role played by academic institutions in Bangalore and Pune cities of India. It shows that there exists a large variety of linkages between industry and academia in the two Indian cities; a hierarchy of institutions satisfies a hierarchy of local demands ranging from...

Inter-firm linkages are becoming strategically important for transfer and development of technological capabilities. In this paper, we present how one such network of partnership between a MNC and some Indian software firms has evolved in the telecom sector. We attempt a preliminary exploration...

This paper is a preliminary exploration to develop a methodology for assessing the technological capabilities and needs of the telecommunications sector in India. It makes a case for strategic policy interventions to build adequate domestic capabilities in this crucial sector with significant...

In this paper we study a semiconductor packaging line at IBM Bromont. At the line, modules are assembled and then tested in a Burn-in oven. The Burn-in oven is a batch processing station. We outline a procedure to determine order release scheduled and lot sizes for the various work stations in...

The logistics industry in India is evolving rapidly and it is the interplay of infrastructure, technology and new types of service providers that will define whether the industry is able to help its customers reduce their logistics costs and provide effective services (which are also growing)....

This study undertakes empirical explanation of inter-firm variations in employee’s productivity by a set of organizational factors on the basis of firm level survey data drawn from the Canadian textile industry. Organizational practices of high degree of monitoring and profit sharing are...

We address the permutation flowshop scheduling problem with earliness and tardiness penalties (E/T) and common due date of jobs. Large number of process and discrete parts industries follow flowshop type of production process. There are very few results reported for multi-machine E/T scheduling...

Education has been recognized as the most important source of competitive advantage for a nation. It is the key determinant of firm level productivity which in turn drives business growth and profitability. Technical knowledge, in particular, is required both for industrial as well as service...

In this paper, we study the role of order releases and product mix coordination in a complex manufacturing line with batch processors. We develop a planning methodology for synchronizing production in such manufacturing lines and discuss the decision making process in the context of a PCB...