Högskolan i Skövde

Barley & Kunda (1992) state that the development of managerial discourse is best understood as the result of different dominating ideologies. The argument is that the managerial discourse has developed in waves that have alternated between rational and normative rhetoric. According to the ideology of rational control the manager should manage on basis of expertise. Centralised ecision-making and specialization are therefore desirable. In the ideology of normative control influencing the subordinate's attitudes, satisfaction and beliefs are given preference. The manager should be a leader who sets the goals, which the subordinates are responsible for reaching. During the period 1955 - 1980 the ideology that dominated management was rational control and from 1980 management has been dominated by an ideology of normative control. As management control is a management activity, it is assumable that management control discourse would develop in a similar way. This pilot study shows a change from rhetoric of rationalism to normative rhetoric. Furthermore, as management control is based on rational assumptions, the concept have rhetorically been broadened to include organization culture and HRM, perhaps as a means "to survive" in a dominating managerial ideology of normative control

Computer simulation, because it can be applied to operational problems that are too difficult to model and solve analytically, is an especially effective tool to help analyse Supply/Demand Chain (S/DC) [1] capacity utilization issues [2]. As part of the ongoing research project daisy [3] has a case study for analysing the benefit of interfacing an Enterprise Resource planning system (ERP) with a system for computer simulation. Connecting simulation tools to systems for ERP in order to import necessary input data to simulate production plans would be a proper way to apply computer simulation tools to this type of problems. Simulating production plans could have different purposes, e.g. minimizing waste of resources or setting accurate delivery dates. Technically the connection between the two systems, i.e. the simulation system and the ERP system, could be made in an uncomplicated manner, for instance using files or network-based solutions. Different purposes will require different response time between the two systems involved and thereby different solutions for the connection. The main question in this study is not the technical connection but rather which data to import and the needed quality of these data in order to analyse capacity utilisation. For those ho have built real life simulation models lack of realistically data is a well-known fact. This is due to obsolete or inaccurate product data in ERP systems.

Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) has become a commonly used tool for the modelling and analysis of logistics. A more novel approach to manufacturing problems is Advanced Planning Systems (APS). These are used in an optimization process for the planning of production, inventory, and transportations often integrated with ERP-systems. Supply/Demand Chains can be approached from a strategic, tactical, or operational level. Simulation tools and APS-systems are different approaches to a similar problem. The simulation approach involves connecting an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system with a simulation system. The simulation system contains a model of the production, and 'real-time'-data is used to produce a realistic production plan, e. g. to minimize waste of resources, or setting more accurate delivery dates. APS-systems are using simultaneous data when considering resource allocation. APS-systems normally use a separate module for calculation and optimization. The optimization activity produces an improved plan where trade-offs are examined. In this paper a conceptual model is proposed and an overview is given on the two software tools, and their advantages and disadvantages. Their usefulness is discussed in the context of physical material flow in Supply Chain (SC). Finally some results and experiences from industrial simulation studies are presented.