6,424 research outputs found
A comparative history of Department of Defense Management reform from 1947 to 2005
MBA Professional ReportThe purpose of this MBA Project is to document and analyze the history of management reform within the Department of Defense from 1947 through the present day based on the annual reports of the Secretaries of Defense to the Congress. Since its inception in 1947, the Department of Defense has undergone nearly constant management reforms. It appears that each administration attempts to introduce some type of management reform agenda to improve the Department of Defense business processes and incorporate recent management ideas from the business community. Some of the changes are real and significant; others are changes in name only. Through analysis of annual reports of the Secretaries of Defense, a compilation of significant management reforms was created for each secretary. These reforms were analyzed and compared to one another to identify both general trends and truly unique changes in management practices. Ultimately, this analysis will help distinguish the relative significance in the management reform effort of both the individual secretaries and the specific reform initiatives.http://archive.org/details/acomparativehist1094510068US Marine Corps (USMC) authors.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited
Automation and Adaptation: Information Technology, Work Practices, and Labor Demand at Three Firms
The use of information and communication technology to automate routine tasks involves two types of innovation: technological and organizational. Together, improvements in technological capabilities and complementary changes made by firms in the way they organize work and implement work practices constitute the conditions under which machines substitute for or complement human workers. Building on the prevailing model of routine-biased technical change and recent insights into organizational complementarities, I conduct three qualitative case studies in health care and real estate to assess the relationship between technology and firm-level labor demand. Unique combinations of technological innovation, organizational complementarity, and decision-making at each firm produce differential impacts for labor demand, with even similar technologies exhibiting quite different patterns of substitution for workers of all skill types. In addition, studying firm-level complementarities illuminates how and why the scope of the routine task may be growing, with particularly important implications for relatively higher skill workers
The transitions discourse in the ecological modernisation of the Netherlands
Discourse analysis, socio-technical transitions, ecological modernisation
Optical illusion? The growth and development of the Optics Valley of China
The âcultivatedâ nature of the Chinese science parks, against the background of a transitional economy, differentiates them from spontaneous and cooperative Western models, and is a phenomenon deserving close examination. We study the dynamics and features of the so-called Optics Valley of China (OVC) in Hubei, aiming to explore the characteristics of an embryonic local innovation system constructed in a less-favoured region. The results show that institutional factors are the leading forces in a cultivated science park like the OVC. However, along with the shifting focus of the local government, the OVCâs industrial scale has remained small and its industrial chain has remained incomplete. Moreover, the lack of trust and interactions between various components in this innovation system has been highly noticeable. All these features may be seen as warnings to the OVC that a revision of this innovation system is needed in order to avoid the fate of becoming an âoptical illusionâ
Unpacking the Difference Between Digital Transformation and IT-Enabled Organizational Transformation
Although digital transformation offers a number of opportunities for todayâs organizations, information systems scholars and practitioners struggle to grasp what digital transformation really is, particularly in terms of how it differs from the well-established concept of information technology (IT)-enabled organizational transformation. By integrating literature from organization science and information systems research with two longitudinal case studiesâone on digital transformation, the other on IT-enabled organizational transformationâwe develop an empirically grounded conceptualization that sets these two phenomena apart. We find that there are two distinctive differences: (1) digital transformation activities leverage digital technology in (re)defining an organizationâs value proposition, while IT-enabled organizational transformation activities leverage digital technology in supporting the value proposition, and (2) digital transformation involves the emergence of a new organizational identity, whereas IT-enabled organizational transformation involves the enhancement of an existing organizational identity. We synthesize these arguments in a process model to distinguish the different types of transformations and propose directions for future research
Electronic text processing in the large South African life assurance companies
Includes bibliographical references.The use of computer technology and magnetic storage media for production typing led to a new term "word processing". In this research word processing is considered to be part only of a more comprehensive concept - electronic text processing. This research project is directed towards the role of electronic text processing as an integral part of information management and integrated administrative support in the large South African life assurance companies. As far as could be determined this is the first comprehensive research done on electronic text processing against a business administration background at university level
Implementation of Performance Contracting in Kenya
In pursuit of the goal of performance improvement within the public sector, New Public Management emphasizes on the adoption of private sector practices in public institutions (Balogun, 2003). NPM models have therefore been invariably seen through the public service reform initiatives in many developing countries as the solution to reversing falling service delivery. In quest of this same goal, Kenya introduced performance contracting not only improve service delivery but also to refocus the mind set of public service away from a culture of inward looking towards a culture of business as focused on customer and results
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