Re-reengineering the dream: agility as competitive adaptability

Organizational adaptation and transformative change management in technology-based organizations is explored in the context of collaborative alliances. A Re-reengineering approach is outlined in which a new Competitive Adaptability Five-Influences Analysis approach under conditions of collaborative alliance, is described as an alternative to Porter’s Five-Forces Competitive Rivalry Analysis model. Whilst continuous change in technology and the associated effects of technology shock (Dedola & Neri, 2006; Christiano, Eichenbaum & Vigfusson, 2003) are not new constructs, the reality of the industrial age was and is a continuing reduction in timeline for relevance and lifetime for a specific technology and the related skills and expertise base required for its effective implementation. This, combined with increasing pressures for innovation (Tidd & Bessant, 2013) and at times severe impacts from both local and global economic environments (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2011) raises serious challenges for contemporary management teams seeking to strategically position a company and its technology base advantageously, relative to its suppliers, competitors and customers, as well as in predictive readiness for future technological change and opportunistic adaptation. In effect, the life-cycle of a technology has become typically one of disruptive change and rapid adjustment, followed by a plateau as a particular technology or process captures and holds its position against minor challenges, eventually to be displaced by yet another alternative (Bower & Christensen, 1995)

Harnessing agile concepts for the development of intelligent systems

Traditional and current approaches to intelligent systems design, have led to the creation of sophisticated and computationally-intensive packages and environments, for a wide range of applications. This paper proposes methods with which to extend the functionality of such systems, borrowing knowledge management concepts from the field of Agile Manufacturing. As such, this paper proposes that the future of intelligent systems design should be based not only upon the continuing development of artificial intelligence techniques, but also effective methods for harnessing human skills and core competencies to achieve these aims

Integration of decision support systems to improve decision support performance

Decision support system (DSS) is a well-established research and development area. Traditional isolated, stand-alone DSS has been recently facing new challenges. In order to improve the performance of DSS to meet the challenges, research has been actively carried out to develop integrated decision support systems (IDSS). This paper reviews the current research efforts with regard to the development of IDSS. The focus of the paper is on the integration aspect for IDSS through multiple perspectives, and the technologies that support this integration. More than 100 papers and software systems are discussed. Current research efforts and the development status of IDSS are explained, compared and classified. In addition, future trends and challenges in integration are outlined. The paper concludes that by addressing integration, better support will be provided to decision makers, with the expectation of both better decisions and improved decision making processes

Integrating the IS with the enterprise: Key EAI research challenges

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) technologies provide the means to integrate strategic business solutions within and across the component parts of organisational information system infrastructures. The continuing development of both digitally integrated business models, through various eCommerce and eBusiness initiatives, has meant that the importance of EAI within enterprise IS, has increased significantly. Noting that EAI incurs not only technological but stakeholder-level commitments, this paper outlines the product of a sustained investigation into key challenges within Enterprise IS and EAI, and provides a framework for future research and investigation into this emerging and evolving area

CRIBs (Climate Relevant Innovation-system Builders): an effective way forward for international climate technology policy

National systems of innovation (NSIs) provide the context within which all processes of technology development, transfer and uptake occur - they refer to the network of actors (e.g. firms, universities, research institutes, government departments, NGOs) within which innovation occurs, and the strength and nature of the relationships between them. Nurturing NSIs in relation to climate technologies provides a powerful new focus for international policy with potential to underpin more sustained and widespread development and transfer of climate technologies. This working paper builds on an invited presentation by one of the authors at a workshop on NSIs convened by the Technology Executive Committee (TEC) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It identifies policy recommendations for consideration of the TEC. The intention is both to inform possible recommendations by the TEC to the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) and to highlight potential areas for future work that the TEC could undertake on this issue

Virtual Reality Interactive Learning Environment

Open Building Manufacturing (ManuBuild) aims to promote the European construction industry beyond the state of the art. However, this requires the different stakeholders to be well informed of what ‘Open Building Manufacturing’ actually entails with respect to understanding the underlying concepts, benefits and risks. This is further challenged by the ‘traditional ways of learning’ which have been predominantly criticised for being entrenched in theories with little or no emphasis on practical issues. Experiential learning has long been suggested to overcome the problems associated with the traditional ways of learning. In this respect, it has the dual benefit of appealing to adult learner's experience base, as well as increasing the likelihood of performance change through training. On-the-job-training (OJT) is usually sought to enable ‘experiential’ learning; and it is argued to be particularly effective in complex tasks, where a great deal of independence is granted to the task performer. However, OJT has been criticised for being expensive, limited, and devoid of the actual training context. Consequently, in order to address the problems encountered with OJT, virtual reality (VR) solutions have been proposed to provide a risk free environment for learning without the ‘do-or-die’ consequences often faced on real construction projects. Since ManuBuild aims to promote the EU construction industry beyond the state of the art; training and education therefore needs also to go beyond the state of the art in order to meet future industry needs and expectations. Hence, a VR interactive learning environment was suggested for Open Building Manufacturing training to allow experiential learning to take place in a risk free environment, and consequently overcome the problems associated with OJT. This chapter discusses the development, testing, and validation of this prototype

WETICE 2004 Evaluating Collaborative Enterprises (ECE) Workshop - Final report

A summary of the fifth Evaluating Collaborative Enterprises (ECE) workshop which ran on June 14th at University of Modena, Italy. The overall theme of the workshop this year was evaluation within the software lifecyle rather than as a separate activity. Each of the five papers touched on this subject and the subsequent winner of Best Paper covered it thoroughly. Concerns about the level of interactivity within the workshop and WETICE itself prompted a format change to ``paired-paper'' sessions with plenty of discussion time. Several outstanding issus were identified during the discussion, including development of ``evaluation components'' alongside software components, the need to convince managers of the business case for evaluation and meta-evaluation of popular techniques with a view to avoiding studies that select inappropriate techniques or rely too heavily on one type of technique

Assessing the value dimensions of outsourced maintenance services

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the diverse nature of tangible and intangible value dimensions that contribute to customers' perception of value from outsourced maintenance services. Design/methodology/approach - A multiple case study approach has been adopted. Repertory grid, an in-depth structured interviewing technique, has been used in order to draw out the respondents' hidden constructs in evaluating outsourced maintenance services. Data have been collected from four customer organizations of outsourced maintenance services, and a total of 33 interviews have been undertaken. Findings - The paper has identified a range of tangible and intangible value dimensions that are of importance in maintenance outsourcing decision making. The most important value dimensions for maintenance outsourcing were found to be specialist knowledge, accessibility (of the service provider), relational dynamic, range of products and services, delivery, pricing and locality. Although the paper has identified the most important value dimensions the paper also emphasizes the need to take into account the full range of value dimensions in order to understand the whole value pattern in an organization. Practical implications - The results will be of use for maintenance service providers to help them to improve value-adding capacity of maintenance services. The results can also be applied by customers to help them assess the value they receive from outsourced maintenance services. Originality/value - A different perspective on maintenance outsourcing value is provided. The value patterns in different organizations and the viewpoints of respondents in different organizational roles are described. The dynamic nature of these tangible or intangible values over time and their interrelationships has also been explored