Flexibility (business administration)

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Flexibility is the adaptability with which an economic subject reacts to data changes that have occurred or can anticipate expected ones.

General

Companies , private households and the state and its public administration come into consideration as economic agents. Data changes are changes to internal or external data such as company data , market data or market developments . Today's economic agents are confronted with dynamic environmental conditions that require rapid adjustment in the event of change . In production management, flexibility and capacity are one of the most important properties of a production system or a productive unit . Therefore flexibility is initially a potential property as long as no activity is required; The flexibility potential is only used when there is a need for flexibility. If, for example, when sales of products or services , the competition to lower the selling price competitive products before, so you have a hereof undertaking concerned a decision meeting as then (responds Preisanpasser , Preisfixierer or not at all). The time between the recognition of the price reduction and the decision about it and the ability to react is called flexibility.

Flexibility affects all operational production factors , but in particular operating resources , work and the dispositive factors management , planning , organization and control . REFA defines flexibility as "the ability of a production system to be operational for various tasks within a certain time ". For the business economist Dieter Schneider , adaptability and flexibility are synonyms.

Companies

A flexible company has certain degrees of freedom that allow for alternative decisions or actions at short notice in the event of changes outside or inside the company. Flexibility is to be understood as a (dynamic) ability of companies to effectively and efficiently reconfigure production factors and thereby realize competitive advantages . In the event of short-term fluctuations as well as serious discontinuities, companies must be able to take measures that secure their existence or their success even under changed framework conditions. Strategic flexibility is an organizational skill that can have a positive impact on company value .

A flexible operational planning ensures that at the beginning of the planning horizon an action is seen as optimal, which offers an optimal scope for decision-making for future actions, i.e. optimally defines the elasticity of the company. Flexible planning requires frequent plan revisions. For this, the application of stochastic dynamic programming in the operational planning process is necessary. The knowledge about entrepreneurial flexibility can also be transferred analogously to other economic subjects.

Flexibility plays a key role in adapting to changes in data that have occurred or are expected . Flexible working time models with adapting the contractual working time to the order situation can help to prevent cost retentions. If adjustment decisions are made too late or not at all, this can have a negative impact on the earnings situation .

A greater degree of flexibility in procurement can be that storage is partially or completely reduced in favor of just-in-time production . On the one hand, this improves capital commitment through needs-based procurement; on the other hand, these advantages are offset by the dependence on suppliers and their reliability. The prompt delivery and production result in higher demands on the security and flexibility of the logistics , which must be monitored by the supply chain management . Important financing goals are, in particular, ensuring liquidity , flexibility or independence . When it comes to financing, there is flexibility if the financing sources of equity and external financing are always able to cover capital requirements and eliminate financial risks . Financing leeway, such as through authorized capital ( equity ) or unused credit lines / credit facilities / loan commitments ( outside capital ), increase flexibility and ensure financing security for investments and liquidity at all times .

machinery

Machine flexibility is the ability to adapt the machine to the products or services to be processed by it. When it comes to machines and technical systems, a distinction is made between single-purpose and multi-purpose machines with regard to flexibility. According to Erich Gutenberg, single-purpose machines are resources that are only able to carry out a specific operation . Single-purpose machines that can only be used for a specific purpose include gear-cutting machines or special devices, while multi - purpose machines include CNC machines , flexible manufacturing centers , transfer lines or assembly lines . They are much more efficient than single-purpose machines and require fewer machines than with conventional production. A system is considered to be more flexible, the less the unit costs change if one deviates from the optimal operating point .

human Resource

Flexibility and mobility are the characteristics of employees that employers often require as career prerequisites . Flexibility is the willingness and ability to change the workplace by workers . For staff turnover occurs when the work is actually changed. Sometimes it is argued that a long tenure , although the loyalty of an employee to his employer proves ( company loyalty ), but they may alternatively be a sign of lack of flexibility. Long periods of employment with the company then lead to low fluctuation and vice versa.

species

Operational flexibility occurs in several ways:

  • Contentwise
    • Goal flexibility : This is understood to mean the change in the extent of a goal or the time at which the planned goal is achieved.
    • Medium flexibility: Indicates the flexibility in the selection of means (production factors) to achieve the set goals.
      • Inventory flexibility : The adaptability of an existing system to current changing circumstances.
      • Development flexibility : The long-term adaptation (e.g. expansion investment ).
  • Temporal : The speed of reaction of a system, e.g. B. Setup times .

The greater the diversity of the tasks and the lower the conversion effort (time and costs) when changing tasks, the higher the flexibility.

Flexibility as a means of achieving goals

Flexibility is not an end in itself, but a means to achieve goals. The existing flexibility potential should therefore correspond as closely as possible to the flexibility requirement, since unused flexibility generates costs that are not offset by any benefit (over- flexibility ) and, in the opposite case, the functionality of the system can be jeopardized ( inflexibility ). The flexibility potential depends not only on the machines available, but also on the material stocks and the personnel. Mechatronics engineers , for example, can be deployed more flexibly than specialized electronics engineers or mechanics . However, the flexibility required can also be changed. In the case of over-flexibility, a diversification strategy is appropriate in order to be able to better utilize the existing flexibility; in the case of inflexibility, a focusing strategy is appropriate .

Costs and benefits

Flexibility is useful because it enables decisions to be revised and, if necessary, better alternative courses of action to be taken at a later point in time. The costs usually result from the fact that flexibility arises from excess performance, such as B. Excess machine hours and large material stores. While the costs for this can usually be quantified quite precisely, in practice it is difficult to measure the benefits.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans Corsten, Production Management, 6th edition, Oldenbourg, Munich 1996, pp. 19-26
  2. ↑ Michael Zollenkop, Business Model Innovation , 2006, p. 298
  3. ↑ REFA, Methodology of Business Organization , Part: Planning and Designing Complex Production Systems, 1987, p. 45
  4. ↑ Dieter Schneider, Investment and Financing , 1980, p. 114
  5. ↑ Carl AL Thielen, Management of Flexibility: Requirements Concept for a Flexible Organization of the Company , 1993, p. 58
  6. ↑ Christoph Burmann, Strategic Flexibility and Change of Strategy in Turbulent Markets , in: DBW 61, 2001, p. 174 ff.
  7. ↑ Michaela Nagel, Flexibility Management - A System-Dynamic Approach to the Quantitative Assessment of Production Flexibility , 2003, p. 1
  8. ↑ Bernd Kaluza / Thorsten Blecker (eds.), Success factor flexibility , 2005, p. 30
  9. ↑ Helmut Laux, Flexible Investment Planning , 1971, p. 23
  10. ^ Herbert Hax / Herbert Laux, Flexible planning: procedural rules and decision-making models for planning in the event of uncertainty , in: ZfbF , 1972, pp. 318-340
  11. ↑ Jochen Pampel, Cooperation with Suppliers , 1993, p. 130
  12. ↑ Heinz Rehkugler / Volker Schindel, financing , 1986, p 126
  13. ↑ Bozina Perovic, Cutting Machine Tools , 2009, p. 2
  14. ↑ Erich Gutenberg, Fundamentals of Business Administration - first volume: Die Produktion , 1958, p. 331
  15. ↑ BF Holz / W Gaebler, Flexible Manufacturing Systems , 1985, p. 19
  16. ↑ Hans-Jörg Ehreiser / Franz R. Nick, Betrieb und Arbeitsmarkt , 1978, p. 113
  17. ↑ Bernd Kaluza / Thorsten Blecker (eds.), Success factor flexibility , 2005, p. 31 f.
  18. ↑ Bernd Kaluza / Thorsten Blecker (eds.), Success factor flexibility , 2005, p. 11