An Approach to support the Strategies Alignment Process in Collaborative Networks

370 Pages·2016·33.24 MB·English

by  Beatriz Andres Navarro

Manufacturing enterprises are more and more aware of establishing collaborative
relationships with the network partners, due to the advantages associated. CN consist
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of autonomous partners, each one defining its own objectives and formulating its own
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strategies. The strategies diversity may result in conflict situations, among the A
enterprises of the same CN, since contradictions between the strategies formulated p
p An Approach to support the
might emerge. These contradictions appear when the strategies activated in one r
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enterprise negatively influence the objectives defined by other enterprises of the a
network. The lack of coherence and concordance among the formulated strategies c Strategies Alignment Process
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leads to its misalignment. The connotations derived from the strategies t
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misalignments affect the achievement of enterprises objectives, reducing their s in Collaborative Networks
performance levels, and influencing on the wellbeing of the collaborative relationships u
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established. If the conflicts that arise, derived from the lack of strategies alignment, p
remain on time and are not tackled, the strategies misalignment could lead, in the long o
term, to the breakdown of the CN. The success of obtaining higher levels performance rt Author: Beatriz Andrés
t
in the CN is directly related with the activation of a proper combination of strategies in h Supervisor: Professor Raúl Poler
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each enterprise belonging to the network. S
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This thesis proposes a complete approach, consisting of a model, a method, a a
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guideline and a set of tools, used (i) to identify the degree of alignment of the e
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strategies, from a holistic perspective, and (ii) to propose the activation of the aligned i
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strategies. s
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The main aim of this thesis is to provide the enterprises appropriate mechanisms to li
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remove the strategies misalignment problem, in order to establish long-term n
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collaborative relationships. The proposed solution is based on a mathematical model,
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which allows to formally modeling the strategies alignment process, solving it n
through systems dynamic (SD) method. SD allows representing causal relationships t
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between the strategies and the objectives achievement, within the complex system r
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formed by the enterprises of a CN. A performance measurement scheme is provided c
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to quantitatively measure the influences between the strategies and the objectives. s
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Moreover, a simulation tool is used to automatically solve, in a computer program, the

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proposed model, assessing and supporting the strategies alignment process. n

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The contribution of this thesis has been validated in two industrial pilots belonging to o
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the food and automotive industry. la
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AN APPROACH TO SUPPORT THE
STRATEGIES ALIGNMENT PROCESS IN
COLLABORATIVE NETWORKS

Titulo de Doctor por la UPV

Author: Beatriz Andrés Navarro

Supervisor: Professor Raúl Poler Escoto

Marzo, 2016

This Doctoral Thesis has been developed as part of the scholarship Programa Val i+d para investigadores
en formación (ACIF/2012/006) founded by Consellería de Educación Cultura y Deporte, with the support
of the Research Centre on Production Management and Engineering (CIGIP) of the Universitat Politècnica
de València. Other grants were received, with the aim of conducting international research stays, including:
Orden ECD/3628/2011 founded by Ministerio de Educación Cultura y Deporte, 26th December, providing
scholarships to encourage mobility of students in the framework of institutional strategies for doctoral
training in universities, and consolidation of doctoral programs with Mention to Excellence (Programas
Doctorales con Mención hacia la Excelencia); and, Orden 79/2013, 30th July, funded by Consellería de
Educación Cultura y Deporte [2013/8197] Becas para estancias predoctorales fuera de la Comunitat
VAlenciana (BEFPI) Annex III.

Als meus pares, Adriana i Luis, i a
Tico,  el  meu  company  d’aventures

“Let  nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten
you.  Patience  reaches  it  all”
To the women of my family who instilled in
me this belief.

Acknowledgement
It is time to write some words of thanks to all those who have helped and pup up with me on this hard, but
at the same time exciting and satisfying, path of development of the doctoral thesis. This means, in turn,
that the work is already done.
Thank you to my PhD advisor, Professor Raul Poler, for his invaluable support for making possible the
materialisation of this doctoral thesis. Thank you Raul by those innumerable meetings, in which your
clarity of judgment and ingenuity have been essential to achieve the high levels of quality required for the
development of this thesis. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to initiate and grow as a researcher.
My thanks, not only in professional but also in personal terms.
Sometimes it happens that we are too immersed in the research, so that it is difficult realize about other
perspectives of the work done. Thank you to Professor Angel Ortiz by our discussions and for giving me
other views of this research.
Thank you to Dr. Jorge Hernandez for facilitating the realization of a research stay in the University of
Liverpool. Thank you to Professor Luis Camarinha-Matos for making possible to carry out my research
stay in the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Thank you Luis for the values and knowledge transmitted,
especially in terms of collaborative networks. Many thanks to the members of the research group lead by
Luis Camarinha-Matos, Robotics and Computer Integrated Manufacturing Group, Ines Oliveira, Filipa
Ferrada, Antonio Abreu and Tiago Cardoso, with special mention to Patricia Macedo and Joao Rosas,
who collaborated in the development of this thesis transmitting their knowledge about collaborative
alignment and programming.
Thank you to my colleagues of the Research Group of Production Management and Enginering (CIGIP),
because they have been, and will be, an example to follow as a researcher. Specially, to Paco Gomez, who
has guided me with the simulation software. Julio Lajara and Inma Cano thank you for your work. Raquel
Sanchis, I would like to thank you not only as a research colleague but also as a friend, you have been
next to me in my joys and sorrows.
Thank you to Clara, Maria Jose, Nadia, Gabri and Fatima, you are the clear example of that friends are
the family we choose.
Thank you to my parents, Adriana and Luis, for giving me an education guided by the values of love,
hopefulness and perseverance. Without your support, eternal trust and time this thesis would not be
completed. Thank you to my grandparents, Joaquin y Remedio, without you I would not be the same
person, thank you for giving me a so happy childhood. Thank you to all my family, especially to Gemma,
Mari, Kike, Marta, Meritxell, Claudia, Roger and Aitana.
Last but not least, thank you Tico for your immeasurable support and patience, please accept my
apologies for being missing in some moments of our life together. You have always trusted me even
when I did not do it. This thesis could share the authorship with you.
Finally I would like to thank the reviewers and members of the jury for their effort and dedication, as well
as the comments given.

Alcoy, March 2016

Abstract
Abstract
An Approach to support the Strategies Alignment Process in
Collaborative Networks
Manufacturing enterprises are more and more aware of establishing collaborative relationships with the
network partners, due to the advantages associated. Especially, the participation of small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) in collaborative networks (CN) leads to enhance their competitiveness, by increasing
their agility, responsiveness and adaptability to deal with the rapid market evolutions, and the business
globalization. Nevertheless, the participation in CN has associated challenges, especially for SMEs, which
are derived from the lack of resources and capabilities, and the limitations associated to cultural barriers.
CN consist of autonomous partners, each one defining its own objectives and formulating its own
strategies. The strategies diversity may result in conflict situations, among the enterprises of the same CN,
since contradictions between the strategies formulated might emerge. These contradictions appear when
the strategies activated in one enterprise negatively influence the objectives defined by other enterprises of
the network. The lack of coherence and concordance among the formulated strategies leads to its
misalignment. The connotations derived from the strategies misalignments affect the achievement of
enterprises objectives, reducing their performance levels, and influencing on the wellbeing of the
collaborative relationships established. If the conflicts that arise, derived from the lack of strategies
alignment, remain on time and are not tackled, the strategies misalignment could lead, in the long term, to
the breakdown of the CN. The success of obtaining higher levels performance in the CN is directly related
with the activation of a proper combination of strategies in each enterprise belonging to the network.
Despite the fact that the concept of alignment has been studied in different research areas, there is a
need to address this topic from the strategies selection perspective, in enterprises belonging to a CN. Thus,
there is a gap in the literature to formally represent and solve the strategies alignment process from a holistic
view, considering the CN context.
In the light of this, this thesis proposes a complete approach, consisting of a model, a method, a guideline
and a set of tools, used (i) to identify the degree of alignment of the strategies, from a holistic perspective,
and (ii) to propose the activation of the aligned strategies. The proposed contribution allows considering all
the strategies formulated by all the partners, and model the influence that these strategies exert on the wide
diversity of objectives defined, regardless of their nature and type, taking into account the CN context. The
main aim of this thesis is to provide the enterprises appropriate mechanisms to remove the strategies
misalignment problem, in order to establish long-term collaborative relationships. The proposed solution is
based on a mathematical model, which allows to formally modelling the strategies alignment process,
solving it through systems dynamic (SD) method. SD allows representing causal relationships between the
strategies and the objectives achievement, within the complex system formed by the enterprises of a CN.
A performance measurement scheme is provided to quantitatively measure the influences between the
strategies and the objectives. Moreover, a simulation tool is used to automatically solve, in a computer
program, the proposed model, assessing and supporting the strategies alignment process.
The contribution of this thesis (complete approach: model, method, guideline and tools) has been
validated in two industrial pilots belonging to the food and automotive industry. The validation has shown
that it is possible to model, solve, and assess the strategies alignment process from a collaborative
perspective. Allowing the network enterprises to collaboratively make the decision of identifying the
aligned strategies to be activated, and the time frame in which to activate them; so that, the performance of
the network is maximised. The proposed complete approach allows identifying those strategies that exert
positive influences in the majority of objectives defined (or the negative influences are minimum) and deals
with potential strategies misalignments, reducing collaborative conflicts.
Key-words: strategies, objectives, performance indicators, alignment, collaborative processes,
collaborative networks, system dynamics, simulation.
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