Transforming failure into success through organisational learning: An analysis of a manufacturing information system

This paper describes the idiosyncracies of a case study company, through highlighting issues and problems experienced during their attempts to evaluate, implement and realise the holistic implications of a manufacturing information system. Although the Information System (IS) was operational for a period of time, it was eventually deemed a failure. The reason for this was that a range of human and organisational factors prevented the organisation from embracing the full impact of the system. The eventual success of their information system was realised through a bespoke implementation, based upon a traditional systems development lifecycle that indirectly addressed learning issues following the earlier failed deployment. The paper highlights key issues relating to business success and failure, and then contrasts them alongside the presented case study. In doing so, the authors conclude by proposing methods through which manufacturing information systems can be transformed for business success. This is described achievable through both a realisation in the positioning of the organisation relative to technology management, and the related mapping of human and technological constructs that support information systems related succes

Virtual Teams: Work/Life Challenges - Keeping Remote Employees Engaged

Remotely located employees are quickly becoming a norm in the modern workplace in response to evidence that telecommuters save on costs and produce more efficiently. There are many intangible benefits also felt with the increasing prevalence of remote employees. Telecommuters are more satisfied with their work/life balance and report lower rates of job burnout. Though there are also many well-identified setbacks remotely located managers and employees may face. Employers see the most success with telecommuting by first recruiting the people best fit to fill these remote roles. However, the process of developing remote employees is a process that requires constant monitoring. The purpose of this paper is to identify the best practices being used by companies to keep remote employees engaged while simultaneously avoiding burnout

Customer-engineer relationship management for converged ICT service companies

Thanks to the advent of converged communications services (often referred to as ‘triple play’), the next generation Service Engineer will need radically different skills, processes and tools from today’s counterpart. Why? in order to meet the challenges of installing and maintaining services based on multi-vendor software and hardware components in an IP-based network environment. The converged services environment is likely to be ‘smart’ and support flexible and dynamic interoperability between appliances and computing devices. These radical changes in the working environment will inevitably force managers to rethink the role of Service Engineers in relation to customer relationship management. This paper aims to identify requirements for an information system to support converged communications service engineers with regard to customer-engineer relationship management. Furthermore, an architecture for such a system is proposed and how it meets these requirements is discussed

Evaluation of the Valley Transportation Authority’s DO IT! Program A “Ladders of Opportunity Initiative” Program Funded by the Federal Transit Administration

The U.S. Department of Transportation has increasingly demonstrated interest in developing programs that will enhance the workforce capacity of future transportation systems. To that end, the Department sponsored the 2015 Innovative Public Transportation Workforce Development program, directed by the Federal Transit Administration. This program sought to enhance the availability of skilled workers from targeted groups, including the underserved, underemployed, and/or minority groups into possible transit-oriented career paths. One of the 19 programs selected for funding was the “DO IT!” project proposed and developed by the Valley Transit Authority (VTA). VTA proposed to create an innovative education and training program that focused on attracting and ultimately hiring underserved, underemployed, and/or minority groups in its service area of Santa Clara County. The program was created with two major goals in mind: (1) to enable VTA to work with local youth who may not otherwise have the opportunity to be exposed to a career in public transportation – specifically in the area of transportation planning; and (2) to provide a ladder of opportunity into the middle class which will help strengthen our workforce and our intercity communities by building the critical skillset needed to maintain a competitive and efficient public transportation service. This report provides an evaluation of the “Do It! Program and presents recommendations for program replication or improvement

An Approach to Agent-Based Service Composition and Its Application to Mobile

This paper describes an architecture model for multiagent systems that was developed in the European project LEAP (Lightweight Extensible Agent Platform). Its main feature is a set of generic services that are implemented independently of the agents and can be installed into the agents by the application developer in a flexible way. Moreover, two applications using this architecture model are described that were also developed within the LEAP project. The application domain is the support of mobile, virtual teams for the German automobile club ADAC and for British Telecommunications

A rail revolution

This report summarises a number of initiatives undertaken across the Australian and New Zealand rail industry by the Australasian Railway Association from 2006 to 2008. It aims to provide a clear view on what the rail industry collectively needs in targeted occupations over the next five to 10 years and how skills and labour shortages need to be tackled. The report presents key findings and outlines actions required at company, industry and government levels. To conclude, a series of strategic recommendations are proposed offering a framework to the broader rail industry in order to facilitate continued industry growth and prosperity. This report was produced in partnership by Business Group Australia (BGA), InfoRM, APD HR Consulting and the Australasian Railway Association and funded by the Australian government

Creating Careers, Improving Care: A Win-Win Economic Advancement Strategy for Certified Nursing Assistants in Long-Term Care

Examines strategies for developing training and education programs that will facilitate career advancement for nursing assistants. Explores the link between recruitment, retention, and advancement practices and the quality of care provided by caregivers

Market forces, strategic management, HRM practices and organizational performance, a model based in european sample

This study uses structural equation modeling to test a model of the impact of human resources management practices on perceived organizational performance, on a large sample of European companies. The influences of competitive intensity, industry attractiveness and strategic management are considered in the model, and their direct and indirect influence on organizational performance is assessed. The model produced an adequate fit and results show that strategic management does influence human resource practices. Human resource flexibility practices and performance management have a positive impact on organizational performance, while training was not found to have a significant impact. A direct positive impact of competitive intensity and industry attractiveness on strategic management was supported by the data, as well as a direct positive effect of industry attractiveness on perceived organizational performance.