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Extending IT infrastructures in the service sector organisations through enterprise resource planning â a telecom case study
Copyright @ 2012 ISEing.Service Sector Organisations (SSOs) have significantly focused on adopting and implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to automate their prime business processes, enhance organisational productivity with lower costs and prompt service delivery to fulfil consumer demands. Thus, ERP systems are considered as a principal source to provide imperative information vital for strategic decision making process. On the contrary, ERP systems adoption and implementation is also highly considered as a challenging and expensive process that not only requires rigorous efforts but also demands to have an exhaustive investigation of influential factors that are critical to the adoption and implementation of ERP systems. As a result, the authors exhibit that it is of great significance to investigate this area within SSOs. In so doing, this paper thus focuses on the ERP critical success factors from five different categories such as: stakeholders; process; technology; organisation; and project based on the literature analysis. These perspectives comprise of 24 factors that are imperative for a successful ERP adoption and implementation. These factors are validated through an in-depth qualitative single case study based research. The findings from the literature and empirical demonstrate that most of the factors influencing the decision making process for ERP adoption and implementation are highly significant with exception to few that have either low or medium importance
An empirical investigation of the channels that facilitate a total quality culture
It is generally agreed that the culture of an organisation is a function of its values, beliefs and behavioural practices and that the influence of culture on an organisation is powerful and pervasive. There is also broad agreement that total quality management (TQM ) is a management paradigm that propagates certain values, behaviour and working methods. Moreover, that the successful introduction and practice of a total quality management approach requires close attention to, and more often than not modification of, organisational culture. Yet, culture is somewhat intangible, and regardless of the precise cultural aspirations, in order to change or maintain the desired culture an organisation needs a set of facilitating channels. These are mechanisms or necessary conditions that influence, mould and help sustain a desirable cultural orientation. This paper examines the channels that facilitate the development of a total quality culture based on the findings of an investigation of an international sample of organisations widely regarded as leading exponents of TQM
Strategic adoption of logistics and supply chain management
© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a thorough understanding of the adoption of logistics and supply chain management (SCM) in practice, particularly at a strategic level, through an investigation of the four perspectives taxonomy of the relationship between logistics and SCM. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a comprehensive literature review, three specific research questions are proposed. The empirical work addresses these questions and comprised three phases: focussed interviews, a questionnaire survey and focus groups. Findings: The findings provide a usage profile of the four perspectives and indicate a divergence between the understanding and adoption of logistics and SCM principles and concepts at a strategic level in firms. The findings also identify the critical success factors (CSFs) and inhibitors to success in addressing this divergence. Research limitations/implications: The insights generated using the authorsâ methodologically pluralist research design could be built upon to include case studies, grounded theory and action research. Replicating the research in other geographical areas could facilitate international comparisons. Practical implications: The findings allow practitioners to compare their perspectives on the relationship between logistics and SCM with those of their peers. The CSFs and inhibitors to success provide a rational basis for realising the strategic potential of logistics and SCM in practice. Originality/value: New insights are generated into practitioner perspectives vis-Ă -vis logistics vs SCM. A fresh understanding of those factors which drive and hinder the adoption of strategic SCM is also developed and presented
Attitudinal and behavioural determinants influencing decision makers when adopting integration technologies in local government
Over the last few years, the advent of innovative
or revolutionary integration technologies has
influenced pivotal decisions within top management
to strategically transform Local Government
Authorities (LGAs). These technologies may
represent a huge cost for adopting LGAs, but may
also offer the chance to achieve competitive
advantage through superior service delivery. With
the emergence of electronic Government (e-
Government), LGAs are turning to integration
technologies to fully automate and e-enable their
business processes and integrate their IT
infrastructures. While prior research on the adoption
of integration technologies in the private and public
domain has considered several determinants (e.g.
benefits, barriers, costs), little attention has been
given to investigate the attitudinal and behavioural
determinants influencing top managementâs decision
making process for the adoption of integration
technologies in LGAs. Notwithstanding, the
implications of this research have yet to be assessed,
leaving scope for timeliness and novel research.
Therefore, it is of high importance to investigate this
area within LGAs and contribute to the area of
strategic decision making by examining attitudinal
and behavioural determinants of top management in
relation to integration technologies adoption
IT service management: towards a contingency theory of performance measurement
Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) focuses on IT service creation, design, delivery and maintenance. Measurement is one of the basic underlying elements of service science and this paper contributes to service science by focussing on the selection of performance metrics for ITSM. Contingency theory is used to provide a theoretical foundation for the study. Content analysis of interviews of ITSM managers at six organisations revealed that selection of metrics is influenced by a discrete set of factors. Three categories of factors were identified: external environment, parent organisationand IS organisation. For individual cases, selection of metrics was contingent on factors such as organisation culture, management philosophy and perspectives, legislation, industry sector, and customers, although a common set of four factors influenced selection of metrics across all organisations. A strong link was identified between the use of a corporate performance framework and clearly articulated ITSM metrics
Integrating R&D and marketing in new product development
R&D - marketing integration is considered to be a critical activity within New Product Development (NPD). A theoretical framework for the study of R&D - marketing integration levels developed by Gupta et al (1986) is one of the most widely cited R&D - marketing integration frameworks in scientific literature. It is based on the presumption that strategy, environmental, organizational and individual factors are those determining R&D - marketing integration levels and consequently NPD success. Several empirical studies have been conducted to test this framework, however most of them have dealt only with portions of Gupta et al (1986)'s model. This paper is an attempt to put forward and test an integrated research protocol for the study of R&D - marketing integration, based on this theoretical framework. Empirical evidence gained from a questionnaire survey and two company case studies show, that people active within the R&D - marketing interface perceive the studied constructs as relevant for R&D - marketing integration, thus giving confirmation to Gupta et al (1986)âs model. The presented research protocol can therefore be considered as a valid start into R&D - marketing integration research within an integrated framework
The Performance Implications of Fit Among Environment, Strategy, Structure, Control System and Social Performance
Purpose â The paper examined concept of corporate performance. The paper seeks to examine
the impact of corporate social performance on the relationship among business environment,
strategy, organization, and control system and corporate performance.
Design/methodology/approach â The paper is based on a synthesis of the existing literatures in
strategic management and accounting filed.
Findings â The paper finds that corporate social performance defined as stakeholder relationship
become one important dimension of the strategic behaviors that an organization can set to
improve corporate performance.
Research implication â the contextual variables as discussed in strategic management and
accounting domain will be contingent upon strategic behaviors, which are behaviors of members
in an organization.
Originality/value â The paper integrates the contextual variables including business
environment, strategy, organization structure, and control system with corporate performance by
using corporate social performance as moderating variable by means of a recent literatures study
from strategic management and accounting field.
Keywords Contextual variable, strategic behavior, corporate social performance, corporate
performanc
Retail positioning through customer satisfaction: an alternative explanation to the resource-based view
Through exploring factors influencing effective retail positioning strategies in an emerging market environment, this paper challenges the role of isolation mechanism and heterogeneous idiosyncrasy argued by the resource-based view theory. By drawing on a sample of 11,577 customers from hypermarkets, electronic appliance specialty stores and department stores in major Chinese cities, we set up ten hypotheses and confirm a nine-item model for customeroriented retail positioning (perceived price, store image, product, shopping environment, customer service, payment process, after-sales service, store policies, and shopping convenience). Our results show that different retail formats achieve success through the implementation of similar positioning strategies, in which case, it is not heterogeneity but homogeneity that contributes to retailers' success greatly at the development stage of retail expansion. Our results challenge previously proved effectiveness of inimitability to success by the resource-based view, and support homogenous idiosyncrasy of retailers in the implementation of customer-oriented positioning strategies in an emerging market
Outsourcing the logistics function: the supply chain role of third-party logistics service providers in UK convenience retailing
Logistics, defined as the process of strategically managing the procurement, movement and storage of materials; parts; finished inventory and related information flow through the organisation and its
marketing channels, is increasingly being recognised as a vital part of an organisationâs marketing strategy.
In many organisations, the logistics function is currently facing significant challenges. Pressures from
increasing competition and high customer service-level expectations have created a need for more
professional and better-equipped logistics services. Confronted with such competitive pressures, these
organisations are faced with decisions of the make OR buy kind with regard to the logistics processes of supply and distribution. In addition, the emergence of a need to focus on core capabilities has led many organisations to contract out all, or part of, the logistics function to third-party providers.
This paper explores the challenges of outsourcing logistics in the UK convenience-retailing sector
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