Rethinking the risk matrix

So far risk has been mostly defined as the expected value of a loss, mathematically PL (being P the probability of an adverse event and L the loss incurred as a consequence of the adverse event). The so called risk matrix follows from such definition. This definition of risk is justified in a long term “managerial” perspective, in which it is conceivable to distribute the effects of an adverse event on a large number of subjects or a large number of recurrences. In other words, this definition is mostly justified on frequentist terms. Moreover, according to this definition, in two extreme situations (high-probability/low-consequence and low-probability/high-consequence), the estimated risk is low. This logic is against the principles of sustainability and continuous improvement, which should impose instead both a continuous search for lower probabilities of adverse events (higher and higher reliability) and a continuous search for lower impact of adverse events (in accordance with the fail-safe principle). In this work a different definition of risk is proposed, which stems from the idea of safeguard: (1Risk)=(1P)(1L). According to this definition, the risk levels can be considered low only when both the probability of the adverse event and the loss are small. Such perspective, in which the calculation of safeguard is privileged to the calculation of risk, would possibly avoid exposing the Society to catastrophic consequences, sometimes due to wrong or oversimplified use of probabilistic models. Therefore, it can be seen as the citizen’s perspective to the definition of risk

Malaysian bilateral trade relations and economic growth

This paper examines the structure and trends of Malaysian bilateral exports and imports and then investigates whether these bilateral exports and imports have caused Malaysian economic growth. Although the structure of Malaysia’s trade has changed quite significantly over the last three decades, the direction of Malaysia’s trade remains generally the same. Broadly, ASEAN, the EU, East Asia, the US and Japan continue to be the Malaysia’s major trading partners. The Granger causality tests have shown that it is the bilateral imports that have caused economic growth in Malaysia rather than the bilateral exports

Exchange rate misalignments in ASEAN-5 countries

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the exchange rate misalignments for Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand before the currency crisis. By employing the sticky-price monetary exchange rate model in the environment of vector error-correction, the results indicate that the Indonesia rupiah, Malaysian ringgit, Philippines peso and Singapore dollar were overvalued before the currency crisis while Thai baht was undervalued on the eve of the crisis. However, they suffered modest misalignment. Therefore, little evidence of exchange misalignment is found to exist in 1997:2. In particular, Indonesia rupiah, Malaysia ringgit, Philippines peso and Singapore dollar were only overvalued about 1 to 4 percent against US dollar while the Thai baht was only 2 percent undervalued against US dollar

An integrated model for the measurement of online customer experience. An empirical international study.

With the emergence of the internet as a new business channel and its impact on the overall role of today¿s customers, existing models for the measurement of perceived quality, satisfaction and loyalty are worth revisiting. This is specifically important in light of the prominent progress of some of the new business concepts, particularly customer experience management, and the rising emphasis on customers¿ hedonic and emotional needs. This study attempts to bridge the gap in existing literature by examining the online customer experience in its entirety, attending within the study to both the utilitarian and hedonic needs of online customers and giving special attention to emerging aspects in the online environment, such as customer engagement in self-driven experiences. Therefore, the study includes a comprehensive review of a large body of knowledge, both in consumer behaviour and marketing literature as well as quality management literature, in addition to a scrutiny of 50 studies for different evaluation models in the online environment. This is in order to identify a list of attributes and factors that impact customer evaluations of online experiences. Upon the synthesis of the list of attributes and factors that impact customer evaluations of online experiences, an online blog was created as an environment for asynchronous focus groups. The online blog was beneficial in creating a deeper understanding of what online customers want and what impacts their experiences. Following, an online questionnaire was administered in two stages, once for measure purification purposes which received 90 pilot responses and once for mass data collection purposes which received 366 responses. As a result of this study, an integrated model for the measurement of online customer experience that emphasises the significance of the emotional component was proposed. The model consists of three components, each serve a specific measurement purpose. The XQual construct which consists of 7 attributes and 30 factors, is a performance measure of the experience in relation to specific aspects that address customers¿ utilitarian and hedonic needs. The satisfaction continuum consists of four factors and is an output measure for each experience or transaction with the online firm. The loyalty continuum consists of four factors and is an outcome measure that indicates customers¿ attitudinal commitment towards the online firm

The drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility in the supply chain. A case study.

Purpose: The paper studies the way in which a SME integrates CSR into its corporate strategy, the practices it puts in place and how its CSR strategies reflect on its suppliers and customers relations. Methodology/Research limitations: A qualitative case study methodology is used. The use of a single case study limits the generalizing capacity of these findings. Findings: The entrepreneur’s ethical beliefs and value system play a fundamental role in shaping sustainable corporate strategy. Furthermore, the type of competitive strategy selected based on innovation, quality and responsibility clearly emerges both in terms of well defined management procedures and supply chain relations as a whole aimed at involving partners in the process of sustainable innovation. Originality/value: The paper presents a SME that has devised an original innovative business model. The study pivots on the issues of innovation and eco-sustainability in a context of drivers for CRS and business ethics. These values are considered fundamental at International level; the United Nations has declared 2011 the “International Year of Forestry”

Investigating e-procurement barriers within six Saudi Arabian SMEs

Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Bedfordshire.This study aims to investigate factors affecting the adoption of e-procurement in Saudi Arabian SMEs. The study adopted the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model as a theoretical framework and foundation for the research to investigate current status and readiness, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived critical success factors and perceived future organisational performance. Through an extensive literature review and detailed data analysis, the study extended the model to incorporate perceived cultural and external factors that were found to be necessary for the adoption of e-procurement in Saudi Arabian SMEs. Through case studies and AHP analysis, the proposed model elements were validated and prioritised in the Saudi Arabian context. Three different methods were adopted for data collection. First, an exploratory study was conducted to understand the current status of e-procurement and provide an overview of the factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement using the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model.Second, a detailed survey was conducted to find the relative importance of various factors related to each of the five elements of the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model. Third, detailed interviews were conducted across four selected SMEs to gain an insight into the factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement. The results of the exploratory study were helpful in identifying perceived factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement. Detailed survey analysis using AHP validated the theoretical framework and the relevance of the factors of the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model. However, some of the factors were found to be more important than in the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model, while others were less important. Results of the qualitative study (interviews) found additional factors that were relevant to each of the five elements of the GN model. They further suggested that “Current e-procurement activities” was an additional factor in the “current status and readiness” element and “Increased transparency” was an additional factor in the “perceived benefits” element. Similarly, the analysis of the qualitative results found two additional factors in the “perceived barriers” element (i.e. absence of e-procurement specific laws and regulations and lack of trust in the electronic transfer of funds), three additional critical success factors (i.e. cost-benefit analysis of the solution, technical maturity of the marketplace and user-friendliness of the solution) and two additional factors in perceived future organisational performance (i.e. strategic alliance and networking and knowledge management and data warehousing). Further, analysis of the qualitative findings revealed two additional elements (i.e. perceived external and perceived cultural factors). The study thus suggests that organisational culture, cultural inertia and business culture of the country are three important cultural factors that are perceived to affect the adoption of e-procurement, while government support, having one’s own postal addresses and delivery services, providing secure and trustworthy online payment options, low cost and high speed internet connection, suppliers’ willingness and readiness, pressure from competitors, policy and regulations are the seven important perceived external factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement in Saudi Arabian SMEs. The results of the qualitative data analysis led to the development of an extended Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model to incorporate perceived culture and perceived external factors. The study has significant implications in terms of further e-procurement research for SMEs in Saudi Arabia and also its adoption in the developing world in general

Modelling turnover intention among frontline employees in the Malaysian retail and services industry

Problem in retaining frontline employees especially in the retail and services industry has continuously been a subject of concern to both academicians and practitioners in developed and developing countries since the employees' turnover rate is high. According to ILMIA, the retail and services industry’s turnover rate in Malaysia is gradually increasing; thus, creating serious concerns on efforts to retain frontline employees in this industry. Hence, this study was conducted to look into the extent organizational commitment, transformational leadership and organizational culture influence the turnover intention of employees in the Malaysian retail and services industry, by using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) as the underpinning theory. In fact, this study also looked into organizational commitment as a mediator. The study conducted the confirmatory factor analysis and the model fit analysis via AMOS. The respondents were employees of the Malaysia Retail Chain Association members. Six companies were involved in the study with 389 respondents. The study utilized the simple random sampling technique, in the survey. The findings revealed that all the variables were tested with acceptable normality that permitted the researcher to use AMOS as an analysis tool. The result revealed significant relationships among the variables; whilst organizational commitment was a possible mediator. The model fit analysis proved to be good, displaying significant p-value, entailed with a strong pattern matrix for the constructs’ dimensions. The theoretical contribution of the study is that it shows strong linkages and influences of the four constructs toward each other in one single model, and demonstrates the understanding of the extent of prediction variables on turnover intention. The practical contribution is that it reveals a possible solution involving transformational leaders, emphasizing organizational commitment and acclimatizing the organizational culture in the retail and services industry scenario in order to reduce employees’ turnover, to improve performance and to reduce recruitment and training costs

THE APPLICATION OF LEARNING ORGANISATION THEORY TO THE MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE With reference to the Engineering Sector

Recent contributions to the literature on organisations have emphasised the need for constant adaptation to keep pace with the accelerating rate of environmental change. The learning organisation is proposed as one of the most effective means of achieving succesful adaptation through a central focus on learning. This thesis examines the development of the .ideas which have led to the concept of the learning organisation and the application of this concept to the management of change. A number of reasons are proposed for the current adoption of learning organisation theory, these include the restructuring and downsizing of organisations, new Human Resource Management practices, improved understanding of learning and systems thinking. Organisational change is examined in relation to learning and a number of models of change management are considered. Different approaches to the evaluation of change are also discussed and some examples outlined. Some of the elements which comprise a learning organisation are described and the relationships between these indicated. The project aimed to apply learning organisation theory to the management of change by studying firms which were intending to become learning organisations. A generic model was constructed and used to form the basis of a specially designed diagnostic instrument for the measurement of learning organisation characteristics. This took the form of a questionnaire called the Learning Organisation Research Inventory (LORI). Data were collected from two large organisations in the engineering sector via administration of the questionnaire and interviews with employees. Analysis of the quantitative data was based on nine conceptual categories derived from the literature. Factor analysis was carried out on the second data set but this failed to provide a satisfactory classification. It was proposed that further factor analysis be conducted on a larger sample. The results of the study indicated that the generic model was probably inappropriate; there were factors specific to the engineering sector and to these particular companies which probably influenced the success of learning initiatives and indicated the need for a sector-specific model. Neither organisation could be said to be a learning organisation and it did not prove possible to identify the components of such organisations. However, the lack of certain characteristics in these organisations appeared to have acted as barriers to learning. It was proposed that a learning orientation might be a more useful perspective than a learning organisation and may perhaps be easier to achieve. A new model of a learning orientation was developed from the research; it is suggested that, subject to further testing, this might form the basis for future studies of this type

The design and development of a knowledge-based lean six sigma maintenance system for sustainable buildings. The design and development of a hybrid Knowledge-based (KB)/Gauging Absence of Pre-requisites (GAP)/Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model for implementing lean six sigma maintenance system in sustainable buildings' environment

The complexity of sustainable building maintenance environment requires managers to define and implement appropriate quality benchmark system suitable for this function. Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is one of the most effective process improvement and optimization philosophy that maintenance organisations can implement in their environment. However, literature review has shown that 90% of failures in LSS implementations are due to lack of readiness to change, the unawareness of the required benchmark organisation capabilities, and improper control of priorities. The contribution of the current research approach is in developing a hybrid Knowledge-Based (KB)/GAP/AHP System, consisting of three stages (Planning, Designing and Implementation) and containing over 2500 KB rules. The KB System can assist the decision-makers in identifying the obstacles behind the organisation readiness to change into a benchmark LSS maintenance environment. Thus the KB System will be used to achieve benchmark standards by determining the gap existing between the current environment and the benchmark goal, and then suggest a detailed plan to overcome these hurdles in a prioritised and structured manner, thus achieving cost benefits. To ensure its consistency and reliability, the KB System was validated in three Oman-based maintenance organisations, and one published case study for a UK-based organisation. The results from the validation were positive with the System output suggesting list of top priorities and action plans for achieving benchmark LSS standards for these organisations. The research concludes that the developed KB System is a consistent and reliable methodology for assisting decision-makers in designing, planning, and implementing LSS for benchmark sustainable building maintenance