Business Process Improvement in Resource Management

This project was implemented in a Medical Device Manufacturing company located in Minnesota, United States of America which is also known to be the world\u27s largest standalone medical technology development company. This proposal will focus on Process improvement in resource management associated to projects. This project involves in utilizing reporting techniques which helps the management to have a high-level visibility on projects in terms of resource management so that, they can take data driven decisions accordingly to resolve issues in the process. This project was initiated by Project management office team and held solely responsible for executing the project and maintenance of the process after successful completion

Temporary organisations as hybrids : Challenges and mechanisms for public value creation

Peer reviewe

Risk-Optimized Design of Production Systems by Use of GRAMOSA

Today production and logistic systems are getting more complex. This is a problem which the planning and design of such systems have to deal with. One main issue of production system development in series production is the planning of production processes and systems under uncertainty. New and existing production technologies are often not fully adoptable to new products. This is why some of the main characteristics, like, for example, cost, time, or quality, are not definable at the beginning. Only value ranges and probabilities can be estimated. However, the adaptation process is controllable, which means that the adaptation results are depending on the existing development budget and its resources. This paper presents an approach for the optimized allocation of development resources regarding the adaptation risks of production technologies and processes. The modeling concept GRAMOSA is used for integrated modeling and discrete event-based simulation of the aspired production system. To this end a domain-specific modeling language (DSML) is applied. The further risk-based analysis of the simulation results and the optimized allocation of the development budget are done by use of mathematical optimization

CHARTING PROGRESS IN THE SOFTWARE ACQUISITION PATHWAY

The Department of the Navy (DON) recently implemented the Department of Defense (DOD) Software Acquisition Pathway (SWP), a software acquisition strategy for custom application and embedded software. The purpose of the SWP is to enable rapid and iterative delivery of high-priority software capability to the intended user. But while the SWP uses an agile software development approach, neither the DOD nor the DON have yet provided comprehensive governance tools and methods for SWP programs to iteratively plan, track, and assess acquisition outcomes in agile environments. To close this gap, the author systematically researched commercial software engineering management and digital product development practices as well as prior DOD software acquisition reform studies. Based on the results, the author showed that Earned Value Management is incompatible with the SWP and recommended alternative techniques to measure cost and schedule performance. Additionally, the author recommended a phased approach to manage DON SWP custom application programs, whereby a minimal, unitless work breakdown structure is used to track progress until demonstrating the minimum viable product to the user in a testing environment; product-based metrics are then tracked until initial release of the custom application software; and then outcome-based goals are iteratively set, tracked, and assessed using the Objectives and Key Results framework for as long as the custom application software is in use.Captain, United States Air ForceApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Integrating quality and innovation in services in dynamic and turbulent environments

Programa doutoral em Industrial and Systems EngineeringOrganizations seek internally to develop adaptation and resilience processes in the face of context variables that change noticeably. Customers’ needs are dynamic, and organizations must also respond in a dynamic way. The aim of the research, based on quality, innovation, and complexity theories, is to analyse how organizations facing dynamic and turbulent environments develop Adaptation Mechanisms and internal change, supported by internal organizational Dynamic Capabilities, oriented to guarantee Service Quality in the Construction Sector, adapted to the specific context of Ecuador. This work emphasized an exploratory and a descriptive study. Twenty-four case studies in the Construction Sector were conducted. Information was collected from customers and managers through semi-structured interviews, and a survey that involved 273 customers and 230 managers was implemented. A model, entitled Service Quality and Innovation Model (SQiM), which proposes an explanation of the patterns of interaction between organization and their environment, was developed. The model and its components were validated through a survey and a discussion panel with managers. The results suggest that there are new Service Quality dimensions in the Construction Sector. From the customers’ perspective: requirements management and process optimization, emotional intelligence, ergonomic analysis, permanent training of the bricklayers, and bonus items. From the managers’ perspective: waste reduction planning, project monitoring and deeper socialization of technical aspects. On the other hand, the main Adaptation Mechanisms are integral training, budget savings management, paradigm change, management system improvement, teamwork empowerment, permanent feedback, versatile construction project, innovation, service approach and formal approbation. In addition, there are benefits arising from the performance measurement process, to identify improvement opportunities. The study may be generalised to other contexts, and the model and its components could be used or adapted to other contexts and economic activities, which need adaptation processes and resilient management.As organizações procuram internamente desenvolver processos de adaptação e resiliência face a variáveis de contexto que mudam visivelmente. As necessidades dos clientes são dinâmicas, e as organizações devem também responder de uma forma dinâmica. O objetivo da investigação, baseada em teorias da qualidade, da inovação e da complexidade, é analisar como as organizações que enfrentam ambientes dinâmicos e turbulentos desenvolvem Mecanismos de Adaptação e mudança interna, apoiados por Capacidades Dinâmicas organizacionais internas, orientadas para garantir a Qualidade de Serviço no Sector da Construção, adaptadas ao contexto específico do Equador. Este trabalho enfatizou um estudo exploratório e descritivo. Foram realizados 24 estudos de casos no Sector da Construção. Foram recolhidas informações de clientes e gestores através de entrevistas semiestruturadas, e foi implementado um inquérito que envolveu 273 clientes e 230 gestores. Foi desenvolvido um modelo, intitulado Service Quality Innovation Model (SQiM), que propõe uma explicação dos padrões de interação entre as organizações e o seu ambiente. O modelo e as suas componentes foram validadas através de um inquérito e de um painel de discussão com gestores. Os resultados sugerem que existem novas dimensões de Qualidade de Serviço no Sector da Construção. Da perspetiva dos clientes: gestão de requisitos e otimização de processos, inteligência emocional, análise ergonómica, formação permanente dos pedreiros, e itens de bónus. Da perspetiva dos gestores: planeamento da redução de resíduos, acompanhamento do projeto e socialização mais profunda dos aspetos técnicos. Por outro lado, os principais Mecanismos de Adaptação são: a formação integral, gestão da poupança orçamental, mudança de paradigma, melhoria do sistema de gestão, capacitação do trabalho em equipa, feedback permanente, projeto de construção versátil, inovação, abordagem de serviço e aprovação formal. Além disso, há benefícios decorrentes do processo de medição do desempenho, para identificar oportunidades de melhoria. O estudo pode ser generalizado a outros contextos, e o modelo e as suas componentes podem ser utilizados ou adaptados noutros contextos e atividades económicas que necessitam de processos de adaptação e gestão resiliente.Algoritmi Research Centre and the Department of Production and Systems, School of Engineering, University of Minho, PortugalSENESCYT - Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación – EcuadorDepartment of Applied Chemistry and Production System, Faculty of Chemistry Sciences, University of Cuenca, Ecuado

Collaboration Strategies to Reduce Technical Debt

Inadequate software development collaboration processes can allow technical debt to accumulate increasing future maintenance costs and the chance of system failures. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore collaboration strategies software development leaders use to reduce the amount of technical debt created by software developers. The study population was software development leaders experienced with collaboration and technical debt at a large health care provider in the state of California. The data collection process included interviews with 8 software development leaders and reviewing 19 organizational documents relating to software development methods. The extended technology acceptance model was used as the conceptual framework to better understand the social and cognitive influences on the perceived usefulness of collaboration in reducing technical debt. An inductive analysis of the data was used for coding, triangulation, and identifying themes related to the use of collaboration strategies to reduce technical debt. Prominent themes included using collaboration at all stages of development, using continuous verification processes, promoting a participatory culture, and using tools to support distributed teams. The study findings showed an environment that promotes collaboration, a culture that encourages participation, and accessibility to collaborative tools that may reduce technical debt in software projects. The results of this study may contribute to positive social change by demonstrating how individuals with diverse backgrounds and different perspectives can work together to improve critical software that people depend on every day