23,555 research outputs found

    Perception of the Characteristics of External Environment of Organizations and Its Effect on Managers’ Environmental Scanning in Using Information Resources

    Get PDF
    Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of the present study is to investigate the characteristics of external environment of companies in the second industrial area of Ahvaz and its effect on managers\u27 environmental scanning behavior in using information resources. Method: An analytic survey method is used to analyze the relationship between variables. Findings: The findings showed that managers\u27 perception of various external environment is influenced by variability factors (economic sector, M=3.96), complexity (economic sector, M=3.77) and importance (customers\u27 sector, M=4.38). also the findings showed that managers\u27 environmental scanning can match managers\u27 perceived characteristics of various sectors of external environment, and from this aspect, they do the greatest scanning in economic environmental sector (M=7.4). The highest perceived strategic uncertainty (M=33.239) and environmental uncertainty (M=7.73) belonged to economic sector. Testing research hypotheses proved that managers\u27 perceived strategic uncertainty and environmental uncertainty from environmental sectors of companies has a direct relationship with environmental sectors in those parts; and there is a direct and significant relationship between perceived environmental uncertainty and the frequency with which information resources is used in environmental scanning

    Perception of the Characteristics of External Environment of Organizations and Its Effect on Managers’ Environmental Scanning in Using Information Resources

    Get PDF
    Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of the present study is to investigate the characteristics of external environment of companies in the second industrial area of Ahvaz and its effect on managers\u27 environmental scanning behavior in using information resources. Method: An analytic survey method is used to analyze the relationship between variables. Findings: The findings showed that managers\u27 perception of various external environment is influenced by variability factors (economic sector, M=3.96), complexity (economic sector, M=3.77) and importance (customers\u27 sector, M=4.38). also the findings showed that managers\u27 environmental scanning can match managers\u27 perceived characteristics of various sectors of external environment, and from this aspect, they do the greatest scanning in economic environmental sector (M=7.4). The highest perceived strategic uncertainty (M=33.239) and environmental uncertainty (M=7.73) belonged to economic sector. Testing research hypotheses proved that managers\u27 perceived strategic uncertainty and environmental uncertainty from environmental sectors of companies has a direct relationship with environmental sectors in those parts; and there is a direct and significant relationship between perceived environmental uncertainty and the frequency with which information resources is used in environmental scanning

    Final report of work-with-IT: the JISC study into evolution of working practices

    Get PDF
    Technology is increasingly being used to underpin business processes across teaching and learning, research, knowledge exchange and business support activities in both HE and FE. The introduction of technology has a significant impact on the working practices of staff, often requiring them to work in a radically different way. Change in any situation can be unsettling and problematic and, where not effectively managed, can lead to poor service or functionality and disenfranchised staff. These issues can have a direct impact on institutional effectiveness, reputation and the resulting student experience. The Work-with-IT project, based at the University of Strathclyde, sought to examine changes to working practices across HE and FE, the impact on staff roles and relationships and the new skills sets that are required to meet these changes

    Impact of Business Environmental Scanning Behaviour on the Entrepreneurial Performance of Micropreneurs: A Conceptual Framework

    Get PDF
    Today, business enterprises are generally immersed in a competitive and constantly changing environment. Research has shown that one way through which micropreneurs learn about the environment is Business Environmental Scanning (BES). However, most studies in BES behaviour [i.e., Degree of Interest (DOI) and Frequency of Scanning (FOS)] seem to have focused more on the medium sized and large enterprises, thereby neglecting the microenterprises. More so, it has been established that changes in the environment cause more uncertainties in microenterprises than in the medium sized and large enterprises. These changes ultimately affect the BES behaviour and Entrepreneurial Performance (ENP) of the microenterprises. This effect is influenced by the Entrepreneur and Enterprise Characteristics (IEC/ETC). Thus, this study reviewed extant literature to develop a framework with the following propositions: degree of interest is positively related to entrepreneurial performance; frequency of scanning is positively related to entrepreneurial performance; the relationship between the degree of interest and entrepreneurial performance is moderated by individual entrepreneur characteristics; the relationship between frequency of scanning and entrepreneurial performance is moderated by individual entrepreneur characteristics; the relationship between the degree of interest and entrepreneurial performance is moderated by enterprise characteristics; and the relationship between the frequency of scanning and entrepreneurial performance is moderated by enterprise characteristics. Micropreneurs can thus enhance their ENP by increasing their DOI/FOS and improving on their IEC/ETC. Again, empirical studies using this conceptual framework are suggested so as to validate the propositions and their generalization. Keywords: Individual entrepreneur characteristics, Enterprise characteristics, BES behaviour, Entrepreneurial performanc

    Environmental scanning practice of enterprise 50 Small Medium Enterprise (E50 SMEs) in Malaysia

    Get PDF
    This study investigates the effects of organizational and owner/ manager profile on environmental scanning practice of Enterprise 50 Small Medium Enterprise (E50 SMEs) in Malaysia. It investigates the extent of environmental scanning practice and the factors related to information sources that E50 SMEs utilized for environmental scanning. Based on the constructs of the measures, a research scale was developed for the study and data were collected via self-administered mail survey among the E50 SMEs in Malaysia. The results showed positive effects of organizational and owner/ manager profile on environmental scanning practice of E50 SMEs. There are also findings on the extent environmental scanning on the business environment sectors of E50 SMEs with respect to utilization of information sources. Implications of our findings for SMEs owner/ managers and practitioners, the study’s limitations and future research directions are subsequently addressed

    Strategic development

    Get PDF
    Discusses the education, training and development of library and information workers in relation to strategic management, providing examples of professional education, workplace learning, short courses and extended programmes in the field. Defines the field and identifies its key elements, then explains their significance and suggest methods of development, illustrated by examples from practice. Covers strategy tools, organisational structure, organisational culture, managing change and performance evaluation. Includes annotated resource list of 55 books, articles and case studies arranged in 10 sections and sub-sections. Appendix provides outlines of strategy development workshops showing examples of practical activities contributing to the development of a service strategy while developing the strategic skills of participants

    Facilitating leadership decisions

    Get PDF
    This chapter illustrates that in order to reach a decision a leader must decide which persons should be involved in the process and when. A relatively common method of involving others is delegating the decision to a group. A main objective of this is often to generate as many innovative ideas as possible, and different techniques can be employed for this, including brainstorming. The proposal generated must then be validated by the group using different criteria on the basis of which it is then relatively easy to filter out proposals that do not reach the goals that have been set. However, a leader needs to collect additional information in order to reach a decision. By the use of information technology vast amounts of information may be accumulated. Thus, different kinds of filtering or weeding methods must be used in order to quickly obtain relevant information. This information can help leaders create forecasts and minimize risks. They must also be able to present their ideas in the most attractive way possible in order to be heard and arrive at decisions. The design of the presentation is therefore critical. Sometimes it is not enough for leaders just to present an idea, they are then obliged to negotiate in order to reach a decision

    The study of the relationship between perceived richness of information resources at Academic library and attitude towards using them

    Get PDF
    This study aimed to investigate the relationship between perceived richness of information resources at academic library and the attitude to use them by students\u27 of Islamic Azad University of Ahvaz; and conducted by an analytical survey method. Using stratified random sampling 380 students were selected and data were collected using researcher made questionnaire. Results showed that the students have no tendency (mean=3.2281) to use the information resources of library. Meanwhile, the library information resources in terms of update (mean=3.2281), accessibility (mean=3.1702), quality (mean=3.1342), transparency (mean=3.1325) and quick feedback ability (mean=3.1325) are above average and in a relatively favorable level; but, in terms of interactivity (mean=2.9746) they are at a relatively unfavorable. Results also demonstrated that there exist a significant positive relationship (Sig=0.000) between the perceived richness of information resources and the attitude to use them (r=0.689) .Due to the richness of various information resources, electronic resources (mean=2.35) has been specified richer than others. The update feature for periodicals (mean=3.69) and electronic resources (mean=3.76), and the feature of quality (mean=3.76) were the most important ones compared to the other dimensions of information richness. The study findings indicated that paying attention to the features of information resource richness could be effective in increasingthe students’attitude to use the information resources

    Review of the environmental and organisational implications of cloud computing: final report.

    Get PDF
    Cloud computing – where elastic computing resources are delivered over the Internet by external service providers – is generating significant interest within HE and FE. In the cloud computing business model, organisations or individuals contract with a cloud computing service provider on a pay-per-use basis to access data centres, application software or web services from any location. This provides an elasticity of provision which the customer can scale up or down to meet demand. This form of utility computing potentially opens up a new paradigm in the provision of IT to support administrative and educational functions within HE and FE. Further, the economies of scale and increasingly energy efficient data centre technologies which underpin cloud services means that cloud solutions may also have a positive impact on carbon footprints. In response to the growing interest in cloud computing within UK HE and FE, JISC commissioned the University of Strathclyde to undertake a Review of the Environmental and Organisational Implications of Cloud Computing in Higher and Further Education [19]

    IT Alternatives to Social Control in Organizations

    Get PDF
    This paper extends theories of control as an organization design tool and empirically explores the efficacy of delegation technologies in providing the equivalent of social (clan) control for effort-averse agents engaged in low programmable, low outcome measurement task environments
    corecore