Analysis and Development of a Business Change Management Model into a Deployable Product

In order to stay competitive, companies need to proactively respond to and manage the changes in their dynamic business environment. The aim of this thesis is to create a business change management model that facilitates the deployment of changes in project form. The model has to be applicable to the IT project management methods, practices and project culture of the target organization. This study is conducted as a qualitative case study, and it is divided into theoretical and empirical parts. In the theoretical part, several business change management models are presented and theories on change management are studied from various perspectives. These theories are then combined with the theories of IT project management to form an organization specific business change management model for IT project purposes. In the empirical part, findings from semi-structured interviews, participant observation and document analysis are summarized and analyzed to create the activities and tools of the business change management model. The findings are also used to adjust the model to better suit the IT project management reality in the target organization. As the main contribution of this thesis, a holistic business change management model for IT project management purposes was developed. The model is integrated into the project management methodology of the target organization. It consists of four phases, which all contain a specific set of activities and tools to help the project managers in facilitating the change their IT project introduces to the organization

Total quality management framework for Libyan process and manufacturing industries

There are many challenges facing Libyan process and manufacturing industries in today's competitive market. One of these major challenges is the ability of Libyan companies to effectively introduce quality management approaches such as Total Quality Management (TQM) that can empower their people and improve their ability to respond to international competition. The main aim of this study was to identify the drivers and barriers to the adoption of TQM in Libyan process and manufacturing industry and to develop a model through which Libyan companies could implement and maintain improved quality systems. To achieve this aim, the research approach adopted both quantitative and qualitative methods. A generic framework of the critical success factors for implementing TQM was developed from the literature and endorsed by practitioners and experts in the field. Structured questionnaires were utilized to elicit the opinions of 400 managers from the Libyan process and manufacturing industries regarding the extent of quality management initiatives implemented in these companies. Semi-structured interviews were then used to identify mangers' opinions about the topics related to TQM implementation in companies in Libya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The research indicates a low level of critical TQM success factors within the Libyan companies, mostly caused by a minimal awareness of TQM philosophy, methods and tools, especially among top management. It also indicates that quality initiatives and practices in Libyan companies are still in the early stages and most of the companies studied were proceeding with quality improvement programmes without a well-defined vision and objectives. Based on these results the original TQM framework was modified for use within Libyan process and manufacturing industries. The framework propagates an approach to implementation incorporating top-down deployment and bottom-up participation. It prescribes guidelines for introducing TQM in four phases and is designed to help Libyan companies get started and move step-by-step towards a TQM culture. Moving from one phase to the next depends upon the harnessing of knowledge and expertise gained during the previous phase and fulfilling each phase assessment criteria. The implementation of this model will work faster and more efficiently if there is strong commitment from the top management and employees within the Libyan companies.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Factors influencing survivor qualities after downsizing

Today organisations all over the world have to cope with the ever-increasing rate of local and global change. Those in developing countries have to cope with the inefficiencies engendered by state-led economic, developmental and political strategies, such as new government regulations. These have had an impact on the management of human resources and are exemplified by an increasing adoption of strategies meant to reduce pressure on costs and margins. An increasing popular management response to these challenges has been to engage in some form of organisational restructuring such as downsizing. Often employees who remain (survivors) after downsizing are not given much attention, yet the achievement of new strategic goals depends on the survivors having positive attitudes, relentless commitment and high motivation. Research indicates that employees who are motivated and committed contribute vastly to the financial-bottom-line of the organisation. Therefore, downsizing organisations should continuously search for ways to increase such qualities among their survivors. The objective of this study was to identify the factors that influence the attitudes, commitment and motivation of survivors in a developing economy with a volatile environment. To achieve this objective, a theoretical survivor quality model was presented. In order to present the model, firstly, a literature survey on the importance of survivor quality in terms of attitudes, commitment, and motivation among survivors was conducted. Secondly, literature survey pertaining to the drivers of survivor quality was done, and thirdly, literature dealing with strategies to deal with survivor quality was surveyed. The theoretical survivor quality model was used to compile the research instrument that determined the attitudinal, commitment and motivational levels of survivors, how the three constructs are related after downsizing, as well as the factors influencing the observed levels. The questionnaire was randomly distributed among survivors in the selected manufacturing organisations in Zimbabwe. The empirical results obtained from the study showed that survivors in a developing economy with a volatile environment had moderate levels of attitudes, commitment ad motivation. Two categories of factors were identified as important in influencing these levels. They were downsizing strategy and demographic factors. The downsizing strategy factors were communication and victim support, while education, age, and number of years employed emerged as the demographic factors. The study further highlighted that older survivors with less education contributed more to the moderate levels of attitude, commitment and motivation observed. The study highlights that these variables must be taken into consideration when implementing downsizing in an economically volatile environment in order to manage survivor quality. A further point emanating from the study is that prior to downsizing, organisations should adopt effective communication strategies throughout the process. The key factors identified as influencing survivor quality in this study were integrated into the survivor quality model which can be used by other organisations in a similar context to manage survivor quality in order to increase their efficiency, effectiveness, iv and competitive advantage after downsizing

Metodología de implantación de modelos de gestión de la información dentro de los sistemas de planificación de recursos empresariales. Aplicación en la pequeña y mediana empresa

La Siguiente Generación de Sistemas de Fabricación (SGSF) trata de dar respuesta a los requerimientos de los nuevos modelos de empresas, en contextos de inteligencia, agilidad y adaptabilidad en un entono global y virtual. La Planificación de Recursos Empresariales (ERP) con soportes de gestión del producto (PDM) y el ciclo de vida del producto (PLM) proporciona soluciones de gestión empresarial sobre la base de un uso coherente de tecnologías de la información para la implantación en sistemas CIM (Computer-Integrated Manufacturing), con un alto grado de adaptabilidad a la estnictura organizativa deseada. En general, esta implementación se lleva desarrollando hace tiempo en grandes empresas, siendo menor (casi nula) su extensión a PYMEs. La presente Tesis Doctoral, define y desarrolla una nueva metodología de implementación pan la generación automática de la información en los procesos de negocio que se verifican en empresas con requerimientos adaptados a las necesidades de la SGSF, dentro de los sistemas de gestión de los recursos empresariales (ERP), atendiendo a la influencia del factor humano. La validez del modelo teórico de la metodología mencionada se ha comprobado al implementarlo en una empresa del tipo PYME, del sector de Ingeniería. Para el establecimiento del Estado del Arte de este tema se ha diseñado y aplicado una metodología específica basada en el ciclo de mejora continua de Shewhart/Deming, aplicando las herramientas de búsqueda y análisis bibliográfico disponibles en la red con acceso a las correspondientes bases de datos

Change management at Mobil Oil Australia

To remain competitive many businesses in the 1990’s have undertaken business process reengineering projects reorganising one or more parts of their operations. This paper results from a case study of the enterprise-wide review of Mobil Oil Australia Limited to increase profitability and change the culture of the organisation. A radical (to the Oil Industry) business unit organisation structure was designed, populated and implemented. The project was an immediate financial success and reenergized the company. Income after tax was six times higher after the reorganisation than in the previous year notwithstanding a continuing recession and the uncertainty caused by the restructuring. Return on capital employed increased from 2 % to 7%. Lessons can be learnt from the way the project was initiated and developed, the deployment of the project management structure and improvement methodology, the approach to the implementation of the new structure and the findings of the post implementation review