47,982 research outputs found

    Community Development Evaluation Storymap and Legend

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    Community based organizations, funders, and intermediary organizations working in the community development field have a shared interest in building stronger organizations and stronger communities. Through evaluation these organizations can learn how their programs and activities contribute to the achievement of these goals, and how to improve their effectiveness and the well-being of their communities. Yet, evaluation is rarely seen as part of a non-judgemental organizational learning process. Instead, the term "evaluation" has often generated anxiety and confusion. The Community Development Storymap project is a response to those concerns.Illustrations found in this document were produced by Grove Consultants

    Hard Lessons about Philanthropy & Community Change from the Neighborhood Improvement Initiative

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    Between 1996 and 2006, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation invested over $20 million in the Neighborhood Improvement Initiative (NII), an ambitious effort to help three neighborhoods in the Bay Area reduce poverty and develop new leaders, better services, more capable organizations, and stronger connections to resources. On some counts NII succeeded, and on others it struggled mightily. In the end, despite some important accomplishments, NII did not fulfill its participants' hopes and expectations for broad, deep, and sustainable community change. In those accomplishments and shortcomings, and in the strategies that produced them, however, lies a story whose relevance exceeds the boundaries of a single initiative. Our goal is to examine this story in the context of other foundation sponsored initiatives to see if it can help philanthropy support community change and other types of long-term, community-based initiatives more effectively.As we began to review materials and conduct interviews, we learned of NII's accomplishments in each neighborhood, including new organizations incubated, new services stimulated, and new leaders helped to emerge. We also quickly discovered multiple, and often conflicting, perspectives on NII's design, implementation, and outcomes that were hard to reconcile. Some of this Rashomon effect is to be expected in a complex, long-term community change initiative that evolves over time with changing players. Some can also be attributed to the different dynamics and trajectories in each of the three sites.We have tried to describe all points of view as accurately as possible without favoring any one perspective. Moreover, we have tried to look beyond the lessons drawn exclusively from NII and to position all of these varied opinions within a broader field-wide perspective, wherever possible.The frustrations of NII's participants and sponsors are mirrored in many other foundations' major initiatives. Indeed, our reviewers -- who have been involved in many such initiatives as funders, evaluators, technical assistance providers, and intermediaries -- all underscored how familiar they were with the challenges and pitfalls described here, both those related specifically to community change efforts and those pertinent to other initiatives. Because the opportunity to discuss the frustrations candidly has been limited, however, they often are relegated to concerns expressed sotto voce. So it was particularly important throughout the review to solicit from our interviewees ideas or suggestions for improving their work together. We offer these along with our own observations as a way to stimulate further reflection and debate, because we believe that philanthropy has an important role to play in improving outcomes for poor communities and their residents. Few foundations have been willing to contribute to this level of honest and sometimes painful public dialogue. But by commissioning this retrospective analysis, the Hewlett Foundation demonstrates a desire to help the field learn and move forward, and we applaud that

    A Historical Study of an Implementation Methodology: A Morphogenetic Analysis

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    To improve the results of Enterprise Systems (ES) implementation projects, new or revised implementation methodologies are introduced by ES vendors. Yet, the innovation and adoption of implementation methodologies (IM), which are computer-based and incorporate both project management and functional components, can be problematic. The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the adoption of an implementation methodology. We recount for the adoption of an implementation methodology through the lens of a realist theory of social change. Our qualitative study provides insight into IM instantiation as manifestation of IM adoption configuration generated by the interplay between structure and agency over time, and suggests four implementation methodology adoption configurations: fragmented, aggregated, integrated, and infrastructural. This study also offers a foundation for future work that may contribute to a more coherent view on the instantiation of IMs and adoption configurations

    An agency theory model of ERP implementation

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    Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are becoming rapidly indispensable in order for large and medium sized organizations to run their operations. Therefore, management needs to know the factors that drive successful ERP implementation, a product of the continuous interaction between the implementation consultants and client firms. Agency theory has been successfully used by different researchers to explain relationships between two parties seeking a common outcome. This paper develops a model of testable propositions for applying agency theory to study the relationship between implementation consultants and client organizations deploying the ERP systems, and to consequently evaluate how the relationship affects the implementation success

    EXPLORING THE ERP PRE-IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS IN A SMALL-AND-MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISE: A CASE STUDY OF A NORWEGIAN RETAIL COMPANY

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    This study examines the ERP pre-implementation process in a Small-and-Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME), and identifies critical issues in this process. The ERP pre-implementation phase comprises issues of selecting ERP software, vendors, and consultant. It is a critical process especially for SMEs which normally have limited resources and IT competencies. Interesting findings from this study demonstrate that ERP pre-implementation in a SME is a demanding process which required a high level of knowledge and competencies about the system, and tough negotiation processes between project leader, vendor, resellers and consultants. By using the CEO’s business network to check the resellers’ track records, and invite prospective resellers for auditions, the project team was able to find a proficient reseller and consultant. In addition, the company organized business case scenarios to test the competencies of consultants. Building a long term partnership and trust between the company, the reseller and the consultant was considered critical. Thus, to choose the most sufficient actors for implementing and supporting the system, seemed to be just as critical as selecting the system itself

    Coordination among ERP Consultants: Controlling Mechanisms

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    Consultants are deemed critical to the success of an ERP implementation because of the breadth and complexity of the system, the management of multiple modules, and the one-time nature of the project that limits desire to increase investment in a permanent workforce. However, consultants often fail to effectively coordinate their activities, making integration of the ERP problematic. Coordination across module implementation of the ERP is essential to the overall success. Achievements of consultants are often controlled by organizations though the negotiated contract, but just how do consultants apply controls to meet their obligations and reach an effective level of integration for the system? A qualitative analysis of consultant perspectives on coordination controls will serves as the basis of the study. Grounded theory techniques will be applied to surface appropriate controls applied by consultants. Taiwan ERP consultants serve as the interview cases. We expect that the level of knowledge of the tasks and procedures could be a determinant of the choice of control mechanisms adopted by ERP consultants firms

    Enterprise architecture development and implementation in public sector: The Malaysian perspective

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    Enterprise Architecture (EA) is gaining the attention from the public sector as a solution to improve the function of e-Government. However, public sector agencies are having difficulties with its development and implementation due to inflexibility and complexity of the agencies’ business function and information technology structures. The objective of this paper is to identify the challenges faced by the Malaysian public sector agencies that are in development and implementation phase of EA. In order to get the holistic perspective of EA development and implementation scenario in each organisation, a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach is applied. A multiple case study research approach is utilized to achieve this study objective. Data were collected through interviews with the agencies EA team, general observation during the EA workshops as well as review of EA related documents. The result shows there are twenty challenges identified which is consistent with other challenges stated in literature except for talent management issue. Thus, this provides a new insight on how the public sector should implement their EA as compared to any other organisation

    Implementing e-Services in Lagos State, Nigeria: the interplay of Cultural Perceptions and Working Practices during an automation initiative : Nigeria e-government culture and working practices

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    Accepted for publication in a forthcoming issue of Government Information Quarterly.The public sector’s adoption of Information and Communication Technologies is often seen as a way of increasing efficiency. However, developing public e-Services involves a series of organisational and social complexities. In this paper, we examine the organisational issues of implementing an ERP system, which was designed and developed within the context of Lagos State’s e-Services project. By doing so, we showcase the impact of organisational cultural perceptions and working practices of individuals. Our findings illustrate the strong role of cultural dimensions, particularly those pertaining to religion and multi-ethnicity. Our study provides insights to international organisations and governments alike toward project policy formulation within the context of ICT-based initiatives and reforms that aim to bring forward developmental progress.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
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