Title: Process architecture impact: a comparative study of two glass industries

Authors: Junichi Tomita, YoungWon Park, Paul Hong

Addresses: Faculty of Business Administration, Toyo University, Tokyo 1128606, Japan. ' Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Waseda University, Tokyo 1698050, Japan. ' Department of Information Operations and Technology Management, College of Business Administration, University of Toledo, 2801 West Bancroft Street, Toledo, OH 43606, USA

Abstract: Although Japan first developed and commercialised the LCD panel in the early 1990s, Korea and Taiwan have rapidly caught up and even surpassed Japan in the management of LCD panel supply chain by the early 2000s. In this paper, we compare the construction flat-glass and the LCD flat-glass in terms of competitive advantages. We examine to what extent the adoption of process architecture impacts the extent of sustainable global competitive advantage even in the same industry. A product with integral process architecture tends to be more difficult to imitate. And organisational capabilities that utilise a right kind of process architecture may secure the source of sustainable competitive advantages. The findings of this study suggest how critical it is to develop and manage process technologies from an architectural perspective in different product areas including semiconductor and solar energy.

Keywords: glass manufacturing; LCD panels; liquid crystal displays; product architecture; process architecture; competitive advantage; Japan; South Korea; Taiwan; construction flat-glass; sustainable advantages; organisational capabilities; integral architecture; process technologies; semiconductors; solar energy; Asahi Glass Company; Pilkington; UK; United Kingdom; Nippon Steel Glass; Saint-Gobain; France; Guardian Industries; USA; United States; China; services management; operations management; global businesses; globalisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2011.038979

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2011 Vol.8 No.3, pp.390 - 403

Published online: 11 Mar 2015 *

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