Integration of decision support systems to improve decision support performance

Decision support system (DSS) is a well-established research and development area. Traditional isolated, stand-alone DSS has been recently facing new challenges. In order to improve the performance of DSS to meet the challenges, research has been actively carried out to develop integrated decision support systems (IDSS). This paper reviews the current research efforts with regard to the development of IDSS. The focus of the paper is on the integration aspect for IDSS through multiple perspectives, and the technologies that support this integration. More than 100 papers and software systems are discussed. Current research efforts and the development status of IDSS are explained, compared and classified. In addition, future trends and challenges in integration are outlined. The paper concludes that by addressing integration, better support will be provided to decision makers, with the expectation of both better decisions and improved decision making processes

Evolving IT management frameworks towards a sustainable future

Information Technology (IT) Management Frameworks are a fundamental tool used by IT professionals to efficiently manage IT resources and are globally applied to IT service delivery and management. Sustainability is a recent notion that describes the need for economic, environmental and social development with- out compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs; this applies to businesses as well as society in general. Unfortunately, IT Management Frameworks do not take sustainability into account. To the practitioner this paper demonstrates sustainability integration thereby allowing CIOs and IT managers to improve the sustainability of their organisation. To the researcher this paper argues that sustainability concerns need to be provided to IT Management through its integration into the mainstream of IT Management Frameworks. This is demonstrated through the high-level integration of sustainability in Six Sigma, C OBI T, ITIL and PRINCE2

Integrating Kano’s Model and SERVQUAL to Improve Healthcare Service Quality

The purpose of this research is focus on customer relationship management (CRM) strategies and relationship between service attributes and customer satisfaction through Kano’s model especially on healthcare service at the private hospital. The paper specifically investigates the applicability of the model and the key factors in the hospital service business. The hospital service quality much depends on the performance of the attributes that define a service. The aim of this paper is first to investigate the attribute of service quality using Servqual perspective, thus the management is able to adjust the relationship between performance of service attributes and customer satisfaction, and second, through a case study in the private hospital to prove that the importance of a service attribute is a function of the performance of that attribute. An empirical study using questionnaires with a focus on service enquiring about the performance of service key attributes and overall customer satisfaction was conducted using Servqual perspective including 5 parameters i.e. Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy. The data were fed into the Kano customer satisfaction model which used Five-level Kano questionnaire for analysis and comparison between one attribute to the others. This research found that there are three of the total 26 service quality attributes have been categorized as “attractive”. Four service quality attributes have been categorized as “must be”, and sixteen of them as “one-dimensional”. However, there is no service quality attribute can be categorized as “reverse” and “questionable”. It can be predicted that offering customers “must be” or expected quality attributes will not be enough for customer satisfaction in few next days cause of the contemporary world and the environment changing. Hence, companies should focus on “attractive” quality attributes instead of “must be” or “one-dimensional” attributes in order to satisfy customers and to achieve competitive advantage. The research limitations is the Kano model of customer satisfaction needs to be extended to other customer behavior variables and also management strategic response to increase customer loyalty; which not include in this paper. The implication is the methodology employed here can be easily applied by hospital management to evaluate customer behaviors and service quality performance

Knowledge integration and the integration of knowledge : management in the organisation

Copyright and all rights therein are retained by the authors. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and conditions invoked by each author's copyright. These works may not be re-posted without the explicit permission of the copyright holdersNew knowledge is constantly created in the organisation, yet most do not realise the benefit of this new knowledge. Indeed, knowledge integration has been one of the key failures for Knowledge Management (KM) practice. In this paper, we propose a model of knowledge integration which encapsulates current thinking on the subject. We then use a case study to highlight some of the challenges experienced by organisations in their attempts to integrate knowledge. The upshot of our proposal is that integration of knowledge should be aligned to a wider KM philosophy and culture in the organisation instead of being regarded as a single and disparate activity within the KM proces

Lean and green – a systematic review of the state of the art literature

The move towards greener operations and products has forced companies to seek alternatives to balance efficiency gains and environmental friendliness in their operations and products. The exploration of the sequential or simultaneous deployment of lean and green initiatives is the results of this balancing action. However, the lean-green topic is relatively new, and it lacks of a clear and structured research definition. Thus, this paper’s main contribution is the offering of a systematic review of the existing literature on lean and green, aimed at providing guidance on the topic, uncovering gaps and inconsistencies in the literature, and finding new paths for research. The paper identifies and structures, through a concept map, six main research streams that comprise both conceptual and empirical research conducted within the context of various organisational functions and industrial sectors. Important issues for future research are then suggested in the form of research questions. The paper’s aim is to also contribute by stimulating scholars to further study this area in depth, which will lead to a better understanding of the compatibility and impact on organisational performance of lean and green initiatives. It also holds important implications for industrialists, who can develop a deeper and richer knowledge on lean and green to help them formulate more effective strategies for their deployment

Measuring performance in healthcare

Hospitals invest in process management and process optimization from an organizational and patient perspective to increase efficiency and simultaneously the quality of their operations. Consequently, the use of process-oriented performance measurement systems gains importance. This study contributes to the development of a dashboard for the process of hip surgery using a case study design. We integrate strategic goals of hospital management and different stakeholders with the analysis of Business Process Management and Hospital Information Systems’ data. Process-oriented KPIs were integrated into the dashboard using a three-step approach. Dashboards enable healthcare organizations to put process-oriented performance measurement into practice

Improving sustainability performance through supplier relationship management in the tobacco industry

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how tobacco manufacturing companies can improve their sustainability performance via effective supplier relationship management (SRM). Design/methodology/approach: This study has adopted a single case study of an international tobacco company. The primary data involved semi-structured interviews with participants from the case company who are familiar with sustainable SRM in the tobacco industry and are engaging in various techniques to improve sustainability performance. Findings: The drivers for sustainable SRM commonly identified in literature are observable within the case company. There is also clear evidence of integrating sustainability in its SRM processes. However, the perception of sustainability as a requirement to meet stringent regulations limits its scope and drive in pursuing sustainable SRM. It has also limited supplier sustainability evaluation and performance metrics. Furthermore, the findings of this paper reinforce the importance of a procurement team’s ability to work with other functional teams in implementing sustainable SRM. The findings also contribute to the emerging literature on the impact of sustainability on supplier segmentation and multi-tier supplier management. Research limitations/implications: This study provides insight into the varying SRM methods used in the tobacco industry to ensure compliance and improve sustainability performance. However, further research is required to explore the generalisability of the findings of this study derived from a single case study. Originality/value: The tobacco industry is an under-researched industry, particularly in terms of sustainable operations and supply chain management practices. The findings of this study seem to be relevant to those comparable industries with stringent regulations as well

Sustainable business models: integrating employees, customers and technology

This Special Issue of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing has the same title as the 23rd International Conference CBIM 2018 (June 18-20, 2018, Madrid, Spain) “Sustainable Business Models: Integrating Employees, Customers and Technology”. In this edition of International Conference, following a competitive blind review process, papers from 126 authors and 25 countries were ultimately accepted. The best papers of the Conference were invited to submit to this Special Issue and we were also open to direct submissions from other authors. We present here the 17 accepted papers for publication in this Special Issue