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Manufacturing organisations are now facing unexpected challenges due to scarcity of the natural resources and consequent governmental rules that urge to adopt new organisational or even manufacturing strategies. Adopting the sustainability paradigm at the present seems to be the only viable strategy to respond appropriately to this changed market conditions and customer's demand. As the pressure for changing the traditional manufacturing approach to reach a sustainable operating condition increases, the urge for assessing their sustainability performance has been reinforced accordingly. Various methods have been accomplished so far, trying to find a way to assess the sustainability state of companies, to select among sustainable solutions, to define and to solve practical problems and to identify potential sustainable solutions. Due to this abundance, the present study is cantered by a systematic literature review based on sustainable manufacturing and sustainability assessment to explore questions on sustainable manufacturing: 'How can sustainable manufacturing be achieved?' and 'How can sustainable manufacturing be assessed?' The study led to stipulation of the true essence of sustainable manufacturing and sustainability assessment. It also brought new hints on the sustainability assessment of manufacturing recognising true gaps needed to be filled. Furthermore, to investigate the regularity of the methods and tools of sustainability assessment, a Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) was adopted. At the end, a new holistic framework for sustainability assessment in a manufacturing organisation is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Work engagement is considered an important contributor towards the success of any organisation, while finding meaning in work has been proven to enhance productivity and, ultimately, assists in improving the bottom line of an organisation. Aim: The aim of the study is to examine work engagement and meaningfulness through work and at the workplace, and how these factors impact on perceived customer value. More specifically, the researchers were interested in whether meaningfulness could mediate the relationship between work engagement and perceived customer value. Setting: Data were collected from employees at a large South African manufacturing organisation. Methods: Respondents from a manufacturing organisation in South Africa participated in the quantitative cross-sectional study (N = 152). They completed previously validated questionnaires to assess work engagement, meaningfulness through work and perceived customer value from an employee perspective. (Males = 52.21%; Working less than five years in the industry = 54.61%; Non-management = 50%). Results: Correlation results indicate that features of engagement, meaningfulness through work and perceived customer value were positively associated. A simple mediation model indicates that meaning could be considered a mediator in the relationship between work engagement and perceived customer value. Conclusion: Study results indicate that work engagement was not sufficient to improve perceived customer value and that finding meaning in and through work was also required.

Context: The study explores the consciousness and importance of new leadership styles to promote lifelong learning through quantum leadership in organisations. Objective: To examine the literature reviews of current quantum leadership style paradigms to promote lifelong learning among employees in organisations. Data sources: Searching was conducted through major databases, such as SCOPUS, Web of Science, ProQuest, Dimension.ai, Emerald Insight, Ebscohost, and Google Scholar. Study selection: Related articles on quantum leadership, quantum leaders, and lifelong learning or organisational learning. Methodology: A synthesis of qualitative studies was conducted in this study for an overview of quantum leadership style regarding lifelong learning in organisations. Findings: Previous studies examined the role of organisational learning to achieve competitive advantage and relate between learning systems and leadership roles. A quantum leadership style framework was presented to promote lifelong learning among employees through management science. Conclusion: Quantum leaders understood the implications of organisational learning at the workplace in challenging times. Lifelong learning was promoted to improve profitability, stability, and organisational growth with a conducive learning environment. Recommendation: The resurgence of quantum leadership would contribute to new management science developments in the industry and higher education. The need for future studies on purposeful learning through quantum leadership to support knowledge creation and the constant paradigm was evident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Work engagement is considered an important contributor towards the success of any organisation, while finding meaning in work has been proven to enhance productivity and, ultimately, assists in improving the bottom line of an organisation. Aim: The aim of the study is to examine work engagement and meaningfulness through work and at the workplace, and how these factors impact on perceived customer value. More specifically, the researchers were interested in whether meaningfulness could mediate the relationship between work engagement and perceived customer value. Setting: Data were collected from employees at a large South African manufacturing organisation. Methods: Respondents from a manufacturing organisation in South Africa participated in the quantitative cross-sectional study (N = 152). They completed previously validated questionnaires to assess work engagement, meaningfulness through work and perceived customer value from an employee perspective. (Males = 52.21%; Working less than five years in the industry = 54.61%; Non-management = 50%). Results: Correlation results indicate that features of engagement, meaningfulness through work and perceived customer value were positively associated. A simple mediation model indicates that meaning could be considered a mediator in the relationship between work engagement and perceived customer value. Conclusion: Study results indicate that work engagement was not sufficient to improve perceived customer value and that finding meaning in and through work was also required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research was to develop an on-time delivery (OTD) improvement model for make-to-order (MTO) manufacturing organisations, based on: (i) a business process model combining product development and customer order management processes; and (ii) an integrated database with basic data, transaction data and functional applications, for broader planning within manufacturing organisations. The business process model, as part of the overall model, was designed using event-driven process chain (EPC) methodology and incorporated both capacity and material requirements planning functionalities for estimating on-time delivery dates and times. The database associated with the model defines all the data including both basic and transaction data; and links with required functions from sales to service and field return. These functions integrate through the database, using basic data and generate various transaction data including sales orders with an accurate promised date, based not only on the available stock but also on procurement and distribution times of any raw materials from external sources. The proposed model was then implemented in a selected manufacturing organisation. A systematic investigation was carried out to find the major causes of OTD problems of that manufacturer, with a view to implementing and validating the proposed model. After implementing the model average OTD was increased from 10% to 65% in about 12 months of operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant volatility within the manufacturing industry has meant that managers are expected to maximise advantages out of available resources. A large part of these available resources have over time become intangible, resident in the skills and knowledge of the workforce. Competitive advantages have been gained by inter alia, reducing lead times in production, shortening of product lifecycles and enlarging the diversity of product ranges. Such initiatives are linked to flexibility and adaptability of the knowledge systems in place. Evidently for these organisations to succeed, it is necessary for them to have formal knowledge systems that could sufficiently facilitate production processes. The first objective of the present paper is to evaluate current practices in developing knowledge management systems. The second objective is to relate obtained evidence within a particular manufacturing organisation which produces components for the electronics industry. For the purpose of this paper the organisation is referred to as Sarison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]