Cooperatives Quality: evidence from Greece

The study of the role and contribution of ISO 9000 QMS to the corporate strategic development and organisational change and performance improvement of the Greek Agrocoops, as well as the identification and analysis of the drivers and constraints of this system’s effective implementation and efficient use has and/or should have been the subject of increased attention in recent times, as the majority of these organisations face increasing financial and business operating problems over the last three decades, as it was identified in a collective work of Papageorgiou et al, published in “Syneteristiki Poreia” (volumes of years 2000-2003) and the re-configuration of their organisational practices and activities, referring to any management system adapted and applied – e.g. the ISO 9000 QMS, is considered a must for their business survival in the words of Arvanitoyiannis (2001). As a result of the aforementioned facts and due to his current professional status, the researcher decided to focus his DBA research on issues relating to the role and contribution of the quality management systems - and more particularly of the ISO 9000 Quality Management Systems - to the achievement of Greek Agricultural Cooperatives’ corporate strategic goals and organisational performance improvement through the improvement of their business processes. The critical examination of the ISO 9000 – QualityManagement Systems’ implementation process and use purpose by the Agricultural Cooperatives sector in Greece is the broad and general Topic of my Doctorate Research. It is mainly connected with the following two current issues: - on one hand, with the reanimation of the ongoing dialogue and debate concerning the perspectives of the Agricultural Cooperatives in Greece and the future status of the 15% of the country’s active population, which is occupied in the broader agricultural sector (Bank of Greece, 2002), and - on the other hand, with the ever increasing public concern, interest and demand for safer, healthier and quality enhanced food products and services all over the world (ICAP, 2002 and Arvanitoyiannis, 2000)

ISO 9000 QMS: a strategic business development agent or a production quality assurance and marketing tool: the Greek agro-coops' experience

A serious business issue, recurring in the public debate held in Greece and concerning the future of the Agricultural sector, is the stated need of the Agro-coops’ sector’s organisational and operational reform and improvement (Karamichas, 2008; Tolios, 2003). This identified and/or suggested required strategic business development and change is considered to be a product and at the same time the source of the agro-coops’ required organisational performance improvement, as Kamenidis (2008), Arvanitoyiannis (2001) and Parnell (2000) suggest. Furthermore, they relate this strategic business development and change, and performance improvement process with the agro-coops’ business processes’ reconfiguration and resulting improvement. According to the majority of the proposed economic and business models, the major mechanism to accomplish the aforementioned aim - that is the strategic choice of the Agro-coops’ sector for operating effectively and efficiently - is and/or should be the adoption of the privately owned businesses’ sector organisational framework (Karamichas, 2008; Parnell, 2000). Furthermore, the agro-coops have to combine these adopted elements and practices with the particularities of the agricultural business sector, as Ian McPherson (1995) emphatically states. On the other hand, the distinct ownership structure of the agro-coops which is more democratic than hierarchical makes the implementation of change more difficult

The North Cyprus Conference Sector: Establishing a Competitive Advantage

North Cyprus had recently positioned itself as a conference destination. Given external and internal factors such as political isolation and the over dependency on casino tourism, policymakers have recognised the importance of the conference sector in creating sustainable growth for North Cyprus’s tourism driven economy. Increasingly, Turkish conference organisers are choosing North Cyprus as a destination to host conferences. As such, Turkish conference organisers were questioned via an internet based questionnaire to determine attributes considered important within the conference destination selection process. An Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) was performed, the findings identified that North Cyprus was perceived as a high performer with reference to; ease of accessibility, distance of destination, conference venue and accommodation price, safety and security, climate, hospitality, quality, quantity and availability of hotel rooms. However, in relation to North Cyprus, a unique application of IPA identified macro- and micro-destination attributes that North Cyprus should improve on; transportation within destination, availability of technological resources, the range of conference venues, conference staff training, destinations marketing activities and quality of local restaurants. The findings provided implications for destination managers in terms of branding, as well as conference venue and accommodation providers in terms of targeting conference organisers more effectively and promoting North Cyprus to conference sector stakeholders

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Managerial accountability reforms in the context of the Greek public sector. Patterns of continuity and change, in organisational life : the case of the Hellenic Railway Organisation (OSE)

The present study aims to depict the continuity and change in the patterns of interaction and accountability in the Hellenic Railway Organisation (OSE), as these are influenced by the application of managerial accountability reform, in the context of the Greek public sector. In particularly the present study focuses upon the effects on inner organisational patterns of interaction and accountability from the use of strategic and operational plans, in the effort of the Greek State to keep the company’s executive officer accountable for his/her decisions and actions. Critical to the present analysis is the role of the European Union in the reformation process in the Greek railway industry. Structuration Theory was used to provide a theoretical framework to guide the empirical research. In the course of the thesis it emerges that the power of subordinates to control the reformation process and to hold superordinates accountable for their actions and decisions was critical to the creation of meaningful and accountable relations between organisational actors and their outer organisational context. The dialectic of control is seen by the present study as the key factor that allows an organisational system to maintain a level of managerial and operational independence from elements of the institutional environment, with contradictory and conflicting interests, which aim to influence managerial and operational strategies. Managerial and operational independence of organisational systems, from their institutional environment, is seen as a precondition in order for organisational actors to develop relationships of trust and responsibility and to re-rationalise and modernise the patterns of organisational action and accountability. The inability of the OSE to efficiently apply its modernisation project is seen as the outcome of organisational actors’ inability to maintain a level of independence from the institutional environment and to formulate meaningful and accountable relationships. For that reason operational plans and performance objectives have failed to be coupled in the ongoing relationship between organisational actors in the OSE and their institutional environment. The disaggregation of the OSE into a holding company and company’s current dreadful financial and operational conditions are seen as the unintended consequences of the organisational action

Strategy development in olympic airways in the air transport liberalisation era

Liberalisation, commercialisation and technological advances have forced organisations to adapt. Successful adaptation depends on the ability of senior managers to formulate and implement strategies that ensure services respond to the needs of today's industry. Few industries are as competitive as the airline industry. Moreover, the development of the airline industry is increasingly interlinked with the global economy. All airlines have introduced a range of strategies in an attempt to ensure their long-term competitiveness. The historical analysis of the implemented strategies in conjunction with performance may assist firms to avoid the mistakes of the past and improve their choice of strategies in the future to optimise performance. The thesis investigates the implementation of Porter's generic strategies and market orientation concept within Olympic Airways for the period 1990-2001, including the inter-relationship between these groups of strategies, and the resulting impact on airline performance. Olympic Airways has been selected because it presents interesting peculiarities as an airline. It is a nationalized carrier that enjoyed a monopoly in the domestic market for about forty years until European aviation liberalization changed the framework of operations. It has also had to cope with strong unions and much Government intervention. The literature review highlighted Porter's (1980) concept of generic strategy and Market Orientation concept, as epitomised by the work of Kohli & Jaworski (1990) and Narver & Slater (1990) as key strategies to implement. The adoption of appropriate combinations of these strategies by Olympic Airways could enable it to overcome some of its long-term inefficiencies and enable it to offer a competitive advantage over its domestic and international competitors. However, the literature also identifies that the effectiveness of a specific strategy depends on the time period that the strategy is applied, hence the research into the period 1990-2001. The data collection consisted of gathering secondary statistical data and conducting a number of qualitative interviews with senior managers at Olympic Airways. The results of the combined quantitative and qualitative analysis lead to useful conclusions regarding the application of Porter's generic strategies in conjunction with Market Orientation concept in the airline context and the resultant impact on Olympic Airways performance. The lack of any clear strategy for the whole of the period 1990-2001 has decisively affected the carrier's commercial and financial performance. Future management should emphasise low cost strategies, which exploit the opportunities that Greece, as a host country, provides. More emphasis should be placed on minimising the carrier's high labour costs. In addition, the carrier should focus on specific geographical areas (domestic and European routes, along with a few strategic long haul destinations) and strengthen its presence in these markets. The carrier must improve its product offering by following some less expensive market orientation strategies (e.g. internet sales, common advertising campaigns, etc.). Also, a radical improvement in interfunctional coordination is necessary. This would give Olympic Airways a competitive advantage in order to achieve survival in the increasingly fierce and deregulated marketplace

Managing change in educational organizations: managing and leading higher education in an era of change in Greece. Case study: University of Indianapolis, Athens.

This project attempts to contribute to the field of education, by presenting and analysing change and its management and how change has affected the operations of a foreign University branch. It describes a set of recommendations that will aid the case organization (University of Indianapolis Athens - UIA) and consequently educational organizations / institutions, in listing the various challenges affecting education and their operations in the 21st century. It is argued that identifying these changes / challenges is a requirement towards planning and managing them for any organization. The project goes beyond identification of changes, examining how these affect a specific organization. One of the objectives of this research is to consider the level of resistance and to identify ways to cope with change at educational organizations. In essence, the project deals with identifying the various triggers of change and attempts to examine how educational organizations can successfully cope with changes affecting them. In doing so, it examines a specific educational institution in Greece, UIA, and its state of readiness in coping and implementing change. Despite the importance of the topic, the existing literature contains little empirical evidence in relation to academic institutions such as Universities, Colleges or any form of educational establishment in Greece. Through a qualitative research activity using a sample of UIA staff and academics, it was suggested that there is a need for the University to ensure that it takes into consideration the various challenges affecting the Greek educational industry. The findings suggest that the recognition issue expected in 2007 – 2008 in Greece will transform the educational scene in Greek private education and this change will trigger new changes that will most probably be coping with increased enrolment, increased competition due to the low entry barriers, a more business – like stance towards the education industry and the students and a increased reliance on up to date technology in many of the University’s departments and operations. The findings also suggest that the University will need to plan and manage the changes anticipated through appropriate leadership and adequate communication and participation to avoid conflict and resistance

Examining sustainability performance in the supply chain: The case of the Greek dairy sector

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Industrial Marketing Management. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2013 Elsevier B.V.This paper evaluates the sustainability performance of the Greek dairy chain and the performance of its individual members by using key indicators in relation to efficiency, flexibility, responsiveness and product quality. We assessed the importance of these indicators based on the relevant perceptions of key members of this chain. A structured questionnaire was developed where nineteen sustainability-related issues were examined. Two hundred and fifty three members of the Greek dairy supply chain responded including breeders, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and catering companies. Our findings illustrate the immediate need for improvement in many key sustainability performance indicators. They also show the critical role of large dairy manufacturers who are the “sustainability performance champions” in this chain and are the driving force for the implementation of many sustainability initiatives.European Unio