The influence of Supply Chain Management on service delivery in KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport.

Master of Commerce in Management. University of KwaZulu-Natal. Pietermartzburg, 2017.ABSTRACT Supply chain management is the tool that was introduced by government to ensure that services are delivered effectively and efficiently through citizens of the country. Goods and services are provided to serve the interest of the people to deal with macroeconomic factors such as unemployment, poverty eradication, economic growth, health and education. The Department of Transport’s core functions are to construct, repair and maintain the provincial road network, as well as plan, regulate and provide an integrated transportation system. The Department is also responsible for managing road traffic systems. In conducting its business, the Department should ensure that it creates job opportunities and develops human resources and communities in support of the provincial growth and development plan. Supply chain management is the vehicle that will drive the department in fulfilling its mandate. If service delivery is compromised, the country could face huge protests, which often result in vandalizing of the infrastructure that is very costly to the state. Supply chain management plays a crucial role in influencing service delivery. Hence, the decision to conduct this study to explore the influence of supply chain management on service delivery at KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport. Non-probability sampling, the purpose sampling method, was used to select 15 participants. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to generate data from participants to understand the phenomenon under the study. This data collection technique gave the researcher an opportunity to follow up on interesting issues that emerged during the interviews and it also enables valuable information to be gained through probing the participants. Data collected was analysed using a thematic method. Findings revealed that proper planning is very important for linking demand management with the budget available. Accountability and responsibility is important when making decisions that will compromise service delivery. Supply chain management must be implemented to yield the results that will benefit all the stakeholders and necessary precautions should be taken to eliminate fruitless and wasteful expenditure

MIS-aligned Student Perspectives of Outsourcing and Offshoring

Outsourcing and offshoring (sourcing) aspects of IS functions have been common organizational activities for decades.However, the landscape is evolving. Organizations are shifting from primarily single vendor-client sourcing relationshipstoward innovative multi-vendor relationships integrated into organizational strategic plans. Current students are tomorrow’sleaders, and as such it is critical that IS programs teach cutting edge strategic sourcing concepts. We analyzed studentperceptions of the pros and cons of sourcing and found that current students largely anchor to a limited number of conceptsthat may be outdated and not representative of today’s competitive sourcing landscape. Current organizational trends insourcing require a different skill set for IS managers than those required in the past. More must be done to inform students ofcurrent trends in order to prepare them for the skills needed to be effective in their future IS roles. A framework of requiredskills for future IS managers is offered

Walmart: 2015 Global Responsibility Report

Traditional costs include expenses like supplies, energy and packaging. But the net true cost considers issues such as waste-to-landfill, greenhouse gas emissions, economic mobility, worker safety and food safety. These are all examples of the effects production may have on the environment, in local communities, or on the people who grow and make what we sell. We believe a business should strive for not just the lowest prices, but the lowest true cost for all.Low prices benefit customers, but low true costs benefit everyone.To do this, we can't sit on the sidelines until after a product is made. Walmart's role is unique. We have a large presence in the world, and with that presence comes great opportunity to change how business is done. In addition to tackling social and environmental issues in our own operations, we need to actively engage in and reshape the systems in which we work. This report shares what we are doing in three main areas:Creating economic opportunity for our associates, suppliers and people who work in retail and retail supply chains beyond WalmartEnhancing the sustainability of our operations and product supply chains for people and the planetBuilding strong communities where we operate

Barriers to social enterprise growth

This study investigates barriers to social enterprise growth. The research employs qualitative case study data gathered from young social enterprises to examine the interplay between social enterprise and individual, organizational and institutional barriers to growth. We find that social enterprise barriers to growth are based on values differences, business models and institutional norms. We theorize three strategic responses to overcome barriers to growth: values-based decision-making, leveraging social mission, and anchoring.We would like to gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the Oikos Foundation for Economy and Ecology and the Swiss National Science Foundation

Strategies for New Product Development in an Emerging Market

Some organizational leaders in emerging markets lack strategies for successful development of new products. By 2025, emerging markets will account for 50% of global consumption and represent significant opportunities for organizational leaders to steer their organizations toward market dominance. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies that organizational leaders used to successfully develop new products. The target population comprised leaders of 3 organizations in Nigeria who have successfully developed new products. The conceptual framework for this study was the disruptive innovation theory. Data were gathered from semistructured interviews with the organizational leaders and review of company documents. Data analysis involved the compilation of data, coding to organize the data, identification of themes that emerged, and linking those themes with the research. Triangulation and member checking were used to help ensure the trustworthiness of interpretations. Four themes emerged from data analyses relating to strategies used by organizational leaders to successfuly develop new products: leadership and business models, organizational structure and culture, target population and market needs, and affordability. The implications of this study for positive social change include the potential to improve the standard of living in Nigerian communities, which might enhance the participation of the rural people and local businesses in the global economy. Furthermore, the findings of the study may provide knowledge for organizations to become more profitable in emerging markets

From Sensor to Observation Web with Environmental Enablers in the Future Internet

This paper outlines the grand challenges in global sustainability research and the objectives of the FP7 Future Internet PPP program within the Digital Agenda for Europe. Large user communities are generating significant amounts of valuable environmental observations at local and regional scales using the devices and services of the Future Internet. These communities’ environmental observations represent a wealth of information which is currently hardly used or used only in isolation and therefore in need of integration with other information sources. Indeed, this very integration will lead to a paradigm shift from a mere Sensor Web to an Observation Web with semantically enriched content emanating from sensors, environmental simulations and citizens. The paper also describes the research challenges to realize the Observation Web and the associated environmental enablers for the Future Internet. Such an environmental enabler could for instance be an electronic sensing device, a web-service application, or even a social networking group affording or facilitating the capability of the Future Internet applications to consume, produce, and use environmental observations in cross-domain applications. The term ?envirofied? Future Internet is coined to describe this overall target that forms a cornerstone of work in the Environmental Usage Area within the Future Internet PPP program. Relevant trends described in the paper are the usage of ubiquitous sensors (anywhere), the provision and generation of information by citizens, and the convergence of real and virtual realities to convey understanding of environmental observations. The paper addresses the technical challenges in the Environmental Usage Area and the need for designing multi-style service oriented architecture. Key topics are the mapping of requirements to capabilities, providing scalability and robustness with implementing context aware information retrieval. Another essential research topic is handling data fusion and model based computation, and the related propagation of information uncertainty. Approaches to security, standardization and harmonization, all essential for sustainable solutions, are summarized from the perspective of the Environmental Usage Area. The paper concludes with an overview of emerging, high impact applications in the environmental areas concerning land ecosystems (biodiversity), air quality (atmospheric conditions) and water ecosystems (marine asset management)

Reframing the Purpose of Business Education: Crowding-in a Culture of Moral Self-Awareness

Numerous high-profile ethics scandals, rising inequality, and the detrimental effects of climate change dramatically underscore the need for business schools to instill a commitment to social purpose in their students. At the same time, the rising financial burden of education, increasing competition in the education space, and overreliance on graduates’ financial success as the accepted metric of quality have reinforced an instrumentalist climate. These conflicting aims between social and financial purpose have created an existential crisis for business education. To resolve this impasse, we draw on the concept of moral self-awareness to offer a system-theoretical strategy for crowding-in a culture of ethics within business schools. We argue that to do so, business schools will need to (1) reframe the purpose of business, (2) reframe the meaning of professional success, and (3) reframe the ethos of business education itself

Assessing the Impacts of Crowdsourcing in Logistics and Supply Chain Operations

Crowdsourcing models, whereby firms start to delegate supply chain operations activities to a mass of actors in the marketplace, have grown drastically in recent years. 85% of the top global brands have reported to use crowdsourcing in the last ten year with top names such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Nestle. These emergent business models, however, have remained unexplored in extant SCM literature. Drawing on various theoretical underpinnings, this dissertation aims to investigate and develop a holistic understanding of the importance and impacts of crowdsourcing in SCM from multiple perspectives. Three individual studies implementing a range of methodological approaches (archival data, netnography, and field and scenario-based experiments) are conducted to examine potential impacts of crowdsourcing in different supply chain processes from the customer’s, the crowdsourcing firm’s, and the supply chain partner’s perspectives. Essay 1 employs a mixed method approach to investigate “how, when, and why” crowdsourced delivery may affect customer satisfaction and behavioral intention in online retailing. Essay 2 uses a field experiment to address how the framing of motivation messages could enhance crowdsourced agents’ participation and performance level in crowdsourced inventory audit tasks. Lastly, Essay 3 explores the impact of crowdsourcing activities by the manufacturers on the relationship dynamics within the manufacturer-consumers-retailer triads

A Systematic Literature Study from 2013 to 2018: The Role of Knowledge in Open Innovation

Knowledge plays a key role in the process of Open Innovation (OI). Nevertheless, by following the Knowledge Management (KM) lens OI has been barely examined. Therefore the aim of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the knowledge activities examined by previous literature to support OI results. The measures were taken to revise previous studies systematically in order to carry out a valuable literature review. After a collective analysis, we were able to garner a final review on 24articles. We subsequently identified and analyzed them by three major processes of OI. The findings enhanced the understanding of the various sources of knowledge practices and was able identify the best practices based on inbound, outbound and coupled processes to support OI activities. The empirical evidence found in the literature, highlights the shortcomings of the state-of-the-art and proposes possible avenues for studies. Despite knowledge being the most relevant resource integrated in OI activities, this is the first attempt to highlight how knowledge should be managed in an OI context by adopting knowledge lens. In addition to our research, we also recognize relevant topics that have been understudied so far which we are proposing as potential avenues for study. Keywords: Open Innovation, Closed Innovation, In-bound Open Innovation, Outbound Open Innovation, Knowledge Management. JEL Classifications: O10, O11, O31 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/irmm.933