Analyzing Enterprise Systems Delivery Modes for Small and Medium Enterprises

Prior studies have suggested that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have unique characteristics that impact their ability to successfully implement enterprise systems. This paper analyzes three modes of delivery for enterprise systems: integrated ERP, Best of Breed (BoB), and Software as a Service (SaaS), and determines how well these delivery modes are aligned with the requirements of SMEs. An analysis of prior research on enterprise systems and SMEs suggests the integrated ERP approach may yield several additional benefits compared to the BoB and SaaS approaches for SMEs. The analysis framework presented can be used to guide the selection of appropriate enterprise systems delivery mechanisms for SMEs and ultimately help improve their effectiveness

Navigating Through the Maze of Business Process Change Methods

Business Process Management (BPM) is an approach adopted by many organizations for improving their business processes in order to serve their customers more efficiently and effectively. Literature on BPM offers a plethora of methods used as a guide when improving business processes. Some are promoted as methods for process reengineering, while others as methods for improvement, redesign, or innovation. The number of BPM methods is overwhelming, such that organizations are faced with the challenge to select one that best fits their needs. In this paper, we follow a systematic literature review approach to investigate the characteristics of existing BPM methods. We find that the ambition, nature and perspective of the methods are important to determine whether they can be used for radical or incremental process change. Our findings point to the lack of research done on methods for radical process change

THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF MEASUREMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF COMPANY'S PERFORMANCE

The concept of performance is one of the most important categories of economic analysis, it has been extensively used and it has a broad interpretation. To describe the concept of performance, the related words are used, linked by the noun “performance”: performance management, performance measurement, and performance assessment. In Latvia, these concepts have not been analysed and assessed; therefore, there is a necessity to carry out a theoretical investigation into the concept of performance as well as the concept of performance measurement and management. The research is based on the analysis of foreign scientific publications and special literature devoted to the concept of performance and issues of performance measurement and management. The aim of the research is to carry out a theoretical investigation into company’s performance and performance measurement and management General research methods are employed in this research: the monographic or descriptive research method, the comparative research method, carrying out exploration of the concepts “performance” and “performance measurement and management framework”, based on the extensive study of literature. As a result of the research, the investigation into the concept of performance has been carried out, systematization of the performance measurement and management frameworks and systematization of the small and medium-sized companies’ performance measurement and management frameworks have been performed

Performance measurement in SMEs: systematic literature review and research directions

[EN] The purpose of this paper is double. First, the research about performance measurement (PM) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be analysed in order to know its evolution. Next, the research gaps in the business context of these companies will be identi¿ed. This paper presents a systematic literature review of 131 articles of PM in SMEs between 2006 and 2019. A conceptual framework is proposed to characterize the studies according to three factors: (1) purpose of the approach; (2) scope of PM; and (3) business context in which the studies are articulated. The reviewed papers were selected from Scopus and Web of Science databases. For this study, we considered the works conducted in the manufacturing sector, and excluded those that focused on the services sector. The results show that most of the studies are concentrated in the context of individual company, on the other hand networks, clusters, and supply chains have received less attention. The information collected herein identi¿es research gaps that have not been dealt with in detail and are transformed into guidelines to be dealt with by new future speci¿c works in the domain of PM in SMEs.Rojas-Lema, X.; Alfaro Saiz, JJ.; Rodríguez Rodríguez, R.; Verdecho Sáez, MJ. (2021). Performance measurement in SMEs: systematic literature review and research directions. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence. 32(15-16):1803-1828. https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2020.1774357S180318283215-1

STATE OF THE ART CONCERNING THE INTEGRATION OF METHODS AND TECHNIQUES IN QUALITY MANAGEMENT – LITERATURE REVIEW AND AN AGENDA FOR RESEARCH

Quality management is becoming more and more important for the manufacturing as well as the service industry. In the last couple of years manifold approaches for quality management have been developed such as Six Sigma, Total Quality Management (TQM), Lean Manage-ment or KAIZEN for example. The increasing variety of quality management methods leads to challenges for quality managers since enterprises often use several approaches in parallel. Integration becomes a mean in handling this variety of methods and can lead to value-creating synergies. Nevertheless, integration in quality management is a poorly understood discipline yet. The main problem is a lack of guidelines, helping a practitioner in integrating heterogeneous approaches in a value-creating and systematic way. This paper approaches the complexity of the topic by taking a closer look at existing efforts concerning the integration of quality management methods and techniques. Based on the find-ings a research agenda is derived

Conocimiento en la Mejora de los Procesos de Negocio

Concientes del papel fundamental del conocimiento para el éxito de las organizaciones, este artículo presenta un revisión de la literatura con el fin de conocer cual es el aporte del conocimiento dentro de la mejora de procesos de negocio. Se trae a discusión dos caminos a seguir, la automatización y la continua incorporación del conocimiento en los procesos. La tecnológica debe ocupar un lugar en las empresas solo después que la mejora de procesos ha sido implementada. Por otro lado, la incorporación continua de conocimiento en los procesos permite formar un circulo repetitivo de mejora de procesos.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Navigating Through the Maze of Business Process Change Methods

Business Process Management (BPM) is an approach adopted by many organizations for improving their business processes in order to serve their customers more efficiently and effectively. Literature on BPM offers a plethora of methods used as a guide when improving business processes. Some are promoted as methods for process reengineering, while others as methods for improvement, redesign, or innovation. The number of BPM methods is overwhelming, such that organizations are faced with the challenge to select one that best fits their needs. In this paper, we follow a systematic literature review approach to investigate the characteristics of existing BPM methods. We find that the ambition, nature and perspective of the methods are important to determine whether they can be used for radical or incremental process change. Our findings point to the lack of research done on methods for radical process change

Lean manufacturing in small and medium-sized food processing enterprises : practice, performance and its determining factors

Why do only a few food processing SMEs take advantage of lean manufacturing? Is there anything inherent to food processing SMEs with respect to plant, product, process and organizational behavior influencing the applicability and effectiveness of lean manufacturing? In other words: What are the determining factors that contribute to the variations in operational performance in food processing SMEs and most importantly, how? This doctoral research provides some interesting insights into this topic. Firstly, food processing SMEs are mainly focusing on quality assurance (food safety) and less on quality improvement. Secondly, lean manufacturing implementation improves the operational performance, especially in relation to productivity and quality. Thirdly, variations in the use of lean manufacturing practices are substantial and some practices are yet to be fully used in the food sector. Fourthly, the size of the company is positively correlated with the degree of use of lean practices. Fifthly, the commitment of the top management, training, change agent, product and process characteristics of the food sector are critical for the success of lean manufacturing implementation. Food processing SMEs that manage these determining factors effectively have a higher probability of implementation success. Finally, a framework - house of lean for food SMEs - that takes into consideration the needs and characteristics of food processing SMEs has been proposed in order to assist managers in lean practices implementation