Educational Manager Perceptions Towards Integrated Management Information System Implementation in Yemen

The government of Yemen has been developing government offered services designed to improve the quality of education management. Yemen\u27s managers of education and managers of higher education in the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) have sought to improve quality of education, reduce costs, and provide timely information for decision-making processes by implementing an integrated management information system (IMIS). The problem was the lack of understanding the barriers that hinder successful IMIS implementation by the MOE and MOHE, and the role that lack of collaboration has played in prior unsuccessful attempts. The purpose of this case study was to identify barriers and success factors related to previous attempts to implement an IMIS in Yemen\u27s MOE and MOHE. Diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory and the technology acceptance model (TAM) provided the conceptual framework. A purposeful sampling was used to select participants for semistructured interviews. The interviews were conducted with 3 ministry personnel, 8 managers, and 4 administrators from various governorates who are currently working or have worked in the Yemen MOE or MOHE. Open coding was used to identify themes and patterns. Themes were related to insufficient human and material resources, lack of understanding and acceptance of IMIS, inadequate IMIS education and training, incompetent program managers, and fear of change. These findings may contribute to positive social change by improving the management of education, thereby the overall quality of education in Yemen. Improving management in education could increase the quality of life by contributing to increase of prosperity through a better-educated society, an active citizenry, and a reduction in the level of societal violence

Recovering the divide : a review of the big data analytics—strategy relationship

Research on big data analytics has been burgeoning in recent decades, yet its relationship with strategy continues to be overlooked. This paper reviews how big data analytics and strategy are portrayed across 228 articles, identifying two dominant discourses: an input-output discourse that views big data analytics as a computational capability supplementing prospective strategy formulation and an entanglement discourse that theorizes big data analytics as a socially constructed agent that (re)shapes the emergent character of strategy formation. We deconstruct the inherent dichotomies of the input-output/entanglement divide and reveal how both discourses adopt disjointed positions vis-à-vis relational causality and agency. We elaborate a semiotic view of big data analytics and strategy that transcends this standoff and provides a novel theoretical account for conjoined relationality between big data analytics and strategy

Bringing corporate strategy to life through firm-wide and strategic supply chain performance alignment, to perform as required within strategic supply chains

Background: The corporate strategy gap between formulation and execution is an ongoing struggle, with few execution efforts aligned with strategy, contributed by a continually changing business environment, poor performance management, slow strategy execution and inadequate technology capabilities. These matters are increasing complexity for top management in corporate strategy formulation and cascading, which are key to building a world-class firm. To address this problem in practice, this research study focused on executives at B2B firms operating in strategic supply chains and identified gaps in the literature. In the supply chain performance management domain, there is limited research on top management’s supply chain-related role and supply chain’s role in corporate strategy formulation. In the strategic performance management domain, linkages with supply chain are unclear, and there is limited research on corporate strategy cascading. This study aims to resolve the research problem: How do executives at top performing B2B firms in Australia form and cascade corporate strategy firm-wide to ensure that the firm performs as required within its strategic supply chains? Methodology: This research study develops and examines a theoretical framework through a qualitative interpretive methodology and explores the intersection of two major domains Strategic Performance Management and Supply Chain Performance Management by applying Dynamic Capabilities Theory. The research problem was dissected into two research issues to explore the sensing, seizing, and transforming dynamic capabilities and microfoundations of dynamic capabilities associated with corporate strategy formulation and cascading to help resolve the research problem. Findings: This research study found that top management are dedicated to supply chain performance management from a strategic planning perspective during corporate strategy formulation, because they know that strategic supply chain elements in corporate strategy drives value and firm growth. Using dynamic capabilities, top management incorporate strategic supply chain considerations into corporate strategy to seize strategic supply chain opportunities and performance objectives, by sensing the requirements of strategic supply chains, to transform the firm and strategic supply chain operations to be capable of seizing the opportunities, to gain and sustain significant supply chain competitive advantages and superior supply chain performance. Top management recognise strategic supply chains as critical to business success, and value supply chain knowledge and expertise in the top management team as well as participation from key personnel from cross-functional areas, especially key supply chain-focused personnel. Successful corporate strategy cascading and firm-wide strategic alignment to strategy entails the development and alignment of business plans and budgets, strategic performance alignment, supply chain strategy alignment, cross-functional alignment, people performance strategic alignment (individual, rewards and teams), performance behaviour alignment and strategic supply chain alignment. Further, the findings of this study enrich the discourse on strategic supply chain performance management by supporting the view that dynamic capabilities enable executives and B2B firms to gain and sustain significant competitive advantages and superior supply chain performance within strategic supply chains. Contribution: The findings enabled the development of a revised theoretical framework that addresses the gaps identified in the literature. This research study advances the body of knowledge of the two major domains and the Dynamic Capabilities Theory, and identifies the sensing, seizing, and transforming dynamic capabilities and microfoundations of dynamic capabilities associated with corporate strategy formulation and cascading with a strategic supply chain performance focus. The key components of corporate strategy cascading are identified, and a definition is proposed. A key output of this research study included a Strategic Supply Chain Performance Management Framework outline as a guide for executives at B2B firms operating in strategic supply chains, which identifies the key components to formulate and cascade a corporate strategy with a strategic supply chain performance focus to achieve and sustain superior competitive advantage. A new term and definition for strategic supply chain performance management is also proposed